Evan Morris, PhD
Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and of Biomedical EngineeringCards
Appointments
Contact Info
Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
PO Box 208042, Tompkin's East 2
New Haven, CT 06520-8042
United States
About
Titles
Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and of Biomedical Engineering
Biography
Morris specializes in using kinetic modeling and image processing to extract physiological information from dynamic PET images. His current projects include:
- Modeling and texture analysis to image Non-small cell lung cancer with tyrosine kinase inhibitor tracers
- Novel kinetic modeling to image dyskinesias in Parkinson's
- Continued Optimization of Dopamine Movies to study Addiction and Behavior
- Applying principles in functional connectivity and machine learning to analyze dopamine movies
- Imaging new targets in Depression, Alcoholism
Using multimodal PET to understand the opioid system in alcoholism.
Creating new parametric images to speed drug discovery
Morris and his group continue to refine mathematical and statistical aspects of their techniques for making "dopamine movies" of the brain. With their dopamine movies, Morris and colleague Kelly Cosgrove and their team discovered sex differences in brains of smokers smoking cigarettes (J Neurosci Dec 10, 2014).
Appointments
Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
ProfessorPrimaryBiomedical Engineering
ProfessorSecondaryPsychiatry
ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Bioimaging Sciences
- Biomedical Engineering
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- Morris-Cosgrove Lab
- MR Center
- Neural Disorders
- Neuroscience Research Training Program (NRTP)
- Neuroscience Track
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
- Program for Biomedical Ethics
- Psychiatry
- Radiobiology and Genome Integrity
- Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
- Yale Cancer Center
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral fellowship
- Massachusetts General Hospital (1995)
- PhD
- Case Western Reserve Univ (1991)
- SB
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biology, Chemical Engineering (1983)
Research
Overview
Professor Morris specializes in using kinetic modeling to extract physiological information from dynamic PET images.
Morris and his group continue to refine mathematical and statistical aspects of their techniques for extracting transient neurotransmitter fluctuations induced by drugs or behaviors from dynamic PET data. The end-product of these modeling/image processing techniques are minute-by-minute "movies" of neurotransmitter release in the brain. Recent papers by Morris et al., (Neuroimage 2010) and Normandin et al (Neuroimage 2012) and Sullivan et al (AJNMMI 2013) and Kim et al (Hum Brain Map 2014) demonstrate the work. The culmination of these theoretical developments resulted in a paper by Cosgrove et al (J Neurosci 2014) showing differences in brain responses of male and female smokers while smoking.
Current projects include
a. relating occupancy of neuroreceptors by medications to medication efficacy
b. relating neurotransmitter dynamics to drug-seeking behavior
c. understanding medication efficacy through its effect on neurotransmitter dynamics
d. developing new models of temporal patterns in PET data as biomarkers of disease and risk
e. developing metrics for assessing the accuracy and precision of parametric images
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Gelsina Stanley
Sule Tinaz, MD, PhD
Amar Patel, MD
David Matuskey, MD
Georges El Fakhri, PhD, DABR
Yiyun Huang, PhD
Publications
2024
Modeling PET Data Acquired During Nonsteady Conditions: What If Brain Conditions Change During the Scan?
Morris E, Emvalomenos G, Hoye J, Meikle S. Modeling PET Data Acquired During Nonsteady Conditions: What If Brain Conditions Change During the Scan? Journal Of Nuclear Medicine 2024, jnumed.124.267494. PMID: 39448268, DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.124.267494.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAcute Stress Increases Striatal Connectivity With Cortical Regions Enriched for μ and κ Opioid Receptors
Zhukovsky P, Ironside M, Duda J, Moser A, Null K, Dhaynaut M, Normandin M, Guehl N, El Fakhri G, Alexander M, Holsen L, Misra M, Narendran R, Hoye J, Morris E, Esfand S, Goldstein J, Pizzagalli D. Acute Stress Increases Striatal Connectivity With Cortical Regions Enriched for μ and κ Opioid Receptors. Biological Psychiatry 2024, 96: 717-726. PMID: 38395372, PMCID: PMC11339240, DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.02.005.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsMajor depressive disorderFunctional connectivityEffects of stressAcute stressK-opioid receptorsStriatal connectivityEtiology of major depressive disorderCortical regionsMontreal Imaging Stress TaskEffects of acute stressGlobal FCIncreased striatal connectivityVentral attention/salience networkAllen Human Brain AtlasDefault mode networkCortical connectivityHuman Brain AtlasMDD studiesDepressive disorderFrontoparietal networkNeurobiological effectsMode networkStress taskDimensional approachMDD riskIntense exercise increases dopamine transporter and neuromelanin concentrations in the substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease
de Laat B, Hoye J, Stanley G, Hespeler M, Ligi J, Mohan V, Wooten D, Zhang X, Nguyen T, Key J, Colonna G, Huang Y, Nabulsi N, Patel A, Matuskey D, Morris E, Tinaz S. Intense exercise increases dopamine transporter and neuromelanin concentrations in the substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. Npj Parkinson's Disease 2024, 10: 34. PMID: 38336768, PMCID: PMC10858031, DOI: 10.1038/s41531-024-00641-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsDopamine transporterSubstantia nigraDopaminergic neuronsDopamine transporter availabilityNeuroprotective effects of exerciseDopaminergic systemClinical progression of PDEarly PDSubstantiaNeuromelanin contentNigraLoss of dopaminergic neuronsEffects of exerciseNM-MRIDopamineSystem of patientsProgressive loss of dopaminergic neuronsParkinson's diseaseClinical progressionProgression of PDNeuroprotective effectsClinical trialsIntensity exercisePET imagingProgressive loss
2023
SLIC-Occ: functional segmentation of occupancy images improves precision of EC50 images
Ibrahimy A, Hoye J, Wu H, de Laat B, Kim S, Wilson D, Morris E. SLIC-Occ: functional segmentation of occupancy images improves precision of EC50 images. EJNMMI Physics 2023, 10: 80. PMID: 38079001, PMCID: PMC10713928, DOI: 10.1186/s40658-023-00600-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeasuring Heart Rate Accurately in Patients With Parkinson Disease During Intense Exercise: Usability Study of Fitbit Charge 4
Colonna G, Hoye J, de Laat B, Stanley G, Ibrahimy A, Tinaz S, Morris E. Measuring Heart Rate Accurately in Patients With Parkinson Disease During Intense Exercise: Usability Study of Fitbit Charge 4. JMIR Biomedical Engineering 2023, 8: e51515. PMID: 38875680, PMCID: PMC11041416, DOI: 10.2196/51515.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsTheoretical maximum heart rateHeart rateParkinson's diseaseExercise sessionsIntense exerciseExercise programExercise intensityHigh-intensity exercise sessionsEarly-stage Parkinson's diseaseIntensive exercise programAerobic physical exerciseCohort of patientsBackground Parkinson’s diseaseRole of exerciseHigh-intensity exerciseCommon neurodegenerative diseaseMean heart rateMaximum heart rateHR monitorAverage heart rateR interval measurementRecent pilot studyPolar H10Nonmotor symptomsClinical cohort
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Behavioral and Neurochemical Mechanisms Underlying Stress-Precipitated Drinking
HIC ID2000021685RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date09/30/2022Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge21 years - 55 yearsImaging smoking-induced dopamine release utilizing PET imaging and nicotine patches
HIC ID2000023239RolePrincipal InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date05/31/2023Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge18 years - 55 yearsImaging SV2A in mood disorders
HIC ID1511016789RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date03/15/2022Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge18 years - 70 years
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
honor Fulbright Senior Scholar to Israel for Teaching and Research
International AwardCouncil for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), US State DepartmentDetails12/01/2015Israelhonor Graduate Mentor of the Year (Natural Sciences)
Yale University AwardYale Graduate SchoolDetails05/19/2013United States
News & Links
News
- February 23, 2024
High-intensity Exercise May Reverse Neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s Disease
- December 13, 2023
Yale Forum for Jewish Faculty and Friends Expands on Educational Offerings
- March 29, 2022
Post-doctoral researcher wins travel award
- October 02, 2020
Yale PET Center Receives $10.2M BRAIN Initiative Grant to Build New Scanner
Related Links
- (Almost) Everything You Wanted to Know about what we Measure with PET – but were Afraid to Ask (video)
- Biomedical Engineering Dept
- Diffusion explained in terms of Random Walks (video)
- Morris homepage
- PET Center Publications
- PET Talks!
- Speech at Yale Convocation 2013 (video)
- Video Article: Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
- Modeling Non-Steady Dynamics in the Brain. (Open Kinetic Modeling Initiative Webinar)
Get In Touch
Contacts
Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
PO Box 208042, Tompkin's East 2
New Haven, CT 06520-8042
United States
Locations
Laboratory for Medicine and Pediatrics (LMP)
Academic Office
15 York Street, Ste Suite 92 B
New Haven, CT 06510