Telephone: (631) 344-3604
e-mail: changl@bnl.gov

Application of physiological and functional MRI techniques to brain disorders.

Research Interests

Recent and current research in Linda Chang’s laboratory has focused on the application of advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopic (MRS) techniques to the study of various brain diseases. She has also applied perfusion MRI, magnetization MRI, diffusion MRI, and BOLD-fMRI to assess the effects of HIV-associated brain diseases (including HIV dementia, cerebral toxoplasmosis and CNS lymphoma) and substance abuse (particularly stimulant abuse such as cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine abuse). In addition, she is interested in applying non-invasive imaging techniques as surrogate markers to evaluate medication and treatment effects in the brains of patients with HIV and those with addiction. Her ongoing research is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the University AIDS Research Program in California.

Education & Concurrent Positions

B.Sc. University of Maryland, 1981; M.Sc. Georgetown University, 1982; M.D. Georgetown University, 1986.

Chair, Medical Department, BNL.

Selected Publications

Gender effects on persistent cerebral metabolite changes in the frontal lobes of abstinent cocaine users. L. Chang, T. Ernst and C.M. Mehringer. American Journal of Psychiatry 156, 716-722 (1999).

Cerebral metabolite changes correlate with clinical severity of HIV-1 cognitive motor complex. L. Chang, T. Ernst, M. Leonido-Yee, I. Walot and E. Singer. Neurology 52, 100-108 (1999).

Perfusion MRI detects rCBF abnormalities in early stages of HIV-cognitive motor complex. L. Chang, T. Ernst, O. Speck and M. Leonido-Yee. Neurology 54, 389-396 (2000).