R. Mark Henkelman was a Canadian

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

researcher in the field of

medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to revea ...

, who was appointed as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

(2005) and the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(2019) in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the field of

magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and ...

. He died on June 28, 2024.

Research career

Henkelman obtained a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

, followed by a PhD exploring the use of

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

, under the supervision of Peter Ottensmeyer, at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. The Ontario provincial government granted the Princess Margaret Hospital (now known as the

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Un ...

) funding to purchase the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in Canada in 1982, making Henkelman one of the first to use and engage in MRI research in Canada, where he studied MRI image artifacts and developed image-guided surgery techniques, and used MRI in disease settings, such as

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

. Henkelman then served as the vice-president of research at the Sunnybrook Health Science Centre before returning to the laboratory, and later in 2001, left to found a mouse imaging centre. Henkelman was the director of the Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics' (TCP) Mouse Imaging Centre (MICe), where MICe uses digital imaging technologies to characterize mouse models of different human diseases. For example, Henkelman supervised then

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

, Jacob Ellegood (now a research associate at MICe), who partnered with Jason P. Lerch (an associate professor at the

, and a MICe principal investigator), to scan mice with magnetic resonance imaging, specifically those with

Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

. Henkelman was appointed a

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Imaging Technologies in Human Diseases and Preclinical Model Cluster in 2008. He was a professor emeritus at the

's Department of Medical Biophysics, and a senior scientist emeritus at The Hospital for Sick Children. Henkelman's publications has been cited over 38,000 times, and has an

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with success indicators such as winning t ...

and

i10-index Author-level metrics are citation metrics that measure the bibliometric impact of individual authors, researchers, academics, and scholars. Many metrics have been developed that take into account varying numbers of factors (from only considering ...

of 98 and 327 respectively. He has received the Robert L. Noble Prize in 2008, the

Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize The Killam Prize (previously the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize) was established according to the will of Dorothy J. Killam to honour the memory of her husband Izaak Walton Killam. Five Killam Prizes, each having a value of $100,000, were aw ...

in 2010, the Gold Medal of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in 1998, and was appointed a Fellow of the

in 2005, and an Officer of the

in 2019.

Selected bibliography

* Singh, Sheila K., Cynthia Hawkins, Ian D. Clarke, Jeremy A. Squire, Jane Bayani, Takuichiro Hide, R. Mark Henkelman, Michael D. Cusimano, and Peter B. Dirks. "Identification of human brain tumour initiating cells." ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' 432, no. 7015 (2004): 396. * Stanisz, Greg J., Ewa E. Odrobina, Joseph Pun, Michael Escaravage, Simon J. Graham, Michael J. Bronskill, and R. Mark Henkelman. "T1, T2 relaxation and magnetization transfer in tissue at 3T." '' Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: An Official Journal of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine'' 54, no. 3 (2005): 507-512. * Henkelman, R. Mark. "Measurement of signal intensities in the presence of noise in MR images." ''

Medical Physics Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been incl ...

'' 12, no. 2 (1985): 232-233. * Henkelman, R. M., G. J. Stanisz, and S. J. Graham. "Magnetization transfer in MRI: a review." ''

NMR in Biomedicine ''NMR in Biomedicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published since 1988 by John Wiley & Sons. It publishes original full-length papers, rapid communications, and review articles in which magnetic resonance spectroscopy or imaging me ...

: An International Journal Devoted to the Development and Application of Magnetic Resonance In Vivo'' 14, no. 2 (2001): 57-64. * Henkelman, R. Mark, Xuemei Huang, Qing‐San Xiang, G. J. Stanisz, Scott D. Swanson, and Michael J. Bronskill. "Quantitative interpretation of magnetization transfer." '' Magnetic resonance in medicine'' 29, no. 6 (1993): 759-766.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henkelman, Mark Members of the Order of Canada Canadian biophysicists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada

Research career

Selected bibliography

See also

References