Ansel Hillmer, PhD

Ansel obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2014. The two prongs of his research include the characterization of novel PET imaging targets and paradigms, and applying these paradigms to study psychiatric conditions in new and innovative ways. Current projects include using PET to image the glutamate system via mGluR5 receptors in alcohol use disorder; imaging the effects alcohol has on the brain's immune system; characterizing novel radiotracers of immune-related targets in the brain; endogenous opioid signaling in the context of cannabis use; and method development for analyzing multimodal imaging datasets using MRI and PET data.