Graeme F Mason PhD

Professor of Diagnostic Radiology and of Psychiatry; Director Metabolic Modeling and Director Psychiatric MRS; Director, Neuroimaging Sciences Training Program; Chair, Magnetic Resonance Research Center Protocol Review Committee

Biographical Info

Dr. Grame F. Mason develops experimental models and methods for studies of brain metabolism using 1H and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) in conjunction with 13C isotopic labeling in vivo. His work began during his graduate studies at Yale where he used a rat model for the experimental determination of brain glucose transport kinetics and substrate competition for oxidative brain metabolism. Dr. Mason received further training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he guided the group's 13C-labeling studies of the human brain in vivo in the 4.1T whole-body MR system. Dr. Mason currently studies metabolism and neurotransmission in the brain in vivo, including effects of psychiatric disorders and substances such as alcohol and nicotine; Dr. Mason examines healthy subjects and patients to investigate relationships among GABA, glutamate, and glutamine concentrations and their rates of synthesis and release in the brain, in particular with regard to effects of nicotine and alcohol in acute and chronic use.

International Activity

  • Compartmental analysis and sensitivities of kinetic carbon-13 labeling studies
    Athens, Greece (2011 - 2011)
    Oral Presentation
  • Espectroscopia por ressonância magnética: teoria e aplicação ao estudo dos efeitos cerebrais de étanol em dose aguda
    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2011 - 2011)
    Oral Presentation
  • Efeitos agudos de étanol no cérebro investigados pela técnica de espectroscopia de ressonância nuclear
    Porto Alegre, Brazil (2011 - 2011)
    Oral Presentation
  • Efeitos agudos de étanol no cérebro investigados pela técnica de espectroscopia de ressonância nuclear
    Porto Alegre, Brazil (2011 - 2011)
    Oral Presentation
  • Acetate transport and utilization in the Brain: characterization and ability to change
    Paris, France (2010)
    Oral Presentation
  • Acetate transport and utilization in the Brain: characterization and ability to change
    Paris, France (2010 - 2010)
    Oral Presentation
  • Efeitos neuroquímicos do álcool e da nicotina observados in vivo com ressonância magnética
    Juiz de Fora, Brazil (2010 - 2010)
    Oral Presentation
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Applied to Study Neurochemistry
    Lanzhou, China (2009)
    Oral Presentation
  • Neurochemical Effects of Acute Nicotine and Alcohol
    Lanzhou, China (2009)
    Oral Presentation
  • Member Doctoral Thesis Evaluation Committee
    Lanzhou, China (2009)
    Member Doctoral Thesis Evaluation Committee
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Neurotransmitters in Psychiatric Disorders
    Wuhan, China (2009)
    Oral Presentation
  • Quebec, Canada (2008 - 2008)
    Chair, organizing committee for the ISMRM Workshop on Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy for Neuropsychiatric Disorders
  • Espectroscopia Cerebral por Ressonância Magnética: Métodos, Limitacões e Perspectivas
    Sao Paulo, Brazil (2008)
    Oral presentation
  • Espectroscopia nos Transtornos Psiquiátricos
    São Paulo, Brazil, Brazil (2008)
    Oral Presentation
  • Emprego da espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear para determinação do GABA, glutamato e outros metabólitos no sistema nervoso central
    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2008)
    Oral Presentation
  • Variações do GABA e glutamato no córtex occipital de pacientes não alcoolistas durante infusão contínua de etanol
    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2008)
    Oral Presentation
  • MRS Methodology for Studies of Alcoholism
    Paris, France (2008)
    Oral Presentation
  • Co-Chair
    Banff, Canada; Alberta, Canada (2005 - 2005)
    Organizing committee for the ISMRM Workshop on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Education & Training

Ph.D.
Yale University (1991)
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Center for Nuclear Imaging Research, Birmingham, AL, Medicine (1993 - 1994)
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Yale University, New Haven, CT, Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry (1991 - 1993)
Graduate Study
Yale University, New Haven, CT, Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry (1986 - 1991)
Research Assistant
Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Honors & Recognition

  • NIH Graduate Fellowship
    National Institutes of Health (1986-1991)
  • National Science Foundation Fellowship Honorable Mention
    National Science Foundation (1986)
  • Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Scholarship
    Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (1984-1986)
  • John White Scholarship for Excellence in Spanish
    (1984-1986)
  • Student Travel Awards
    Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (1991, 1992)
  • Stanley Foundation Young Investigator Award
    Stanley Foundation (1998-2000)
  • NARSAD Young Investigator Award
    NARSAD (2000-2002)
  • Honorable Mention – alternate for Memorial Travel Award for American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
    American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2000)
  • NARSAD Young Investigator Award
    NARSAD (2002-2004)
  • Memorial Travel Award
    American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2002)
  • Editor’s Recognition Award for Reviewing with Special Distinction
    Radiology (2003, 2004)
  • Editor's Recognition for Reviewing
    Biological Psychiatry (2009)

Professional Service

  • National Institute of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (6/1/2003 - 6/1/2009)
  • International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2007 - 2008)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2006 - now)
  • International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) (2005 - 2006)
  • Chair, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) (2003 - 2005)
  • International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2003 - 2005)
  • Member, Biological Psychiatry (2002 - now)
  • International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) (2001 - 2003)
  • Member, Research Society on Alcoholism (06/25/2008 - 06/25/2009)
  • Member, Research Society on Alcoholism (06/25/2006 - 06/25/2008)
  • Member, Society of Biological Psychiatry (06/01/2011)
  • Member, Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) Association of America (01/01/2005 - 12/31/2009)

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