An Eye To The MRI

“The variety and quality of the data in UK Biobank allows us to address a very diverse range of important research questions. Without the altruism of its participants in giving their own time and effort, this depth of data would not exist".

~ Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabragh

Meet Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and cardiology specialist at St Bartholomew's hospital.

Zahra leads research aiming to understand determinants of disease across different organ systems. She highlights the value of multi-organ imaging for capturing changes in organs which may be indicative of a disease before its development (when an individual is in a ‘pre-clinical’ state, before symptoms or any visits to the GP). For example, unhealthy changes identified on heart MRI scans prior to development of heart disease.

These early insights allow for elucidation of disease pathways and permit identification of ‘at risk’ individuals at a stage when there is a potential window for treatments to alter disease
progression.

The large highly detailed multi-organ imaging data in UK Biobank is, according to Zahra, “an amazing research resource”. UK Biobank’s Imaging Study accelerates researchers’ understanding of how imaging data can advance health prediction and disease prevention.

Another important factor is the standardised format of the images in UK Biobank. This allows for imaging features to be reliably compared between participants. In addition, the repeat imaging component of UK Biobank, which uses identical protocols, ensures that changes in imaging features in the same individuals can be compared over a time interval of e.g. 2-7 years. These comparisons are highly informative for investigating how quickly people are aging, and how rapidly changes, which may represent mechanisms of disease, are occurring in different organ systems.

Zahra said that “The variety and quality of the data in UK Biobank allows us to address a very diverse range of important research questions. Without the altruism of its participants in giving their own time and effort, this depth of data would not exist. UK Biobank is changing the way we do research into
disease and our understanding of human health in a fundamental way; its value is huge and only going to become more significant as time goes on”.