Martina F. Callaghan is an Irish medical physicist who is the Director of the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. Her research considers the development of in-vivo histology using MRI.

Early life and education

Callaghan studied physics at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

. She moved to

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

for her graduate research, where she joined Joseph Hajnal and David Larkman at

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of H ...

and earned her Ph.D. Her research considered image reconstruction using under-sampled datasets. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at

and

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

, focusing on parallel transmit technology, lipid quantification in clinical populations and the use of nanotechnology in oncology.

Research and career

Callaghan joined the

Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging The 'Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging'' at University College London is a world-leading interdisciplinary centre for neuroimaging research based in London, United Kingdom. Researchers at the Centre use expertise to investigate how the hum ...

in 2012. She was promoted to Deputy Head of Physics in 2013, and became Deputy Head of the Physics Group in 2013. In 2016 she was appointed Head of Physics. In 2019 she became Deputy Centre Director and in 2020 was promoted to Professor of MRI Physics. Callaghan was responsible for the launch of 7T MRI at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Her research considers advanced, microstructure brain imaging as a means to understand the structure and function of brains. She makes use of quantitative imaging to understand tissue microstructure through measurements of iron levels and myelination. In particular, 7T MRI offers hope to interrogate the neural circuitry that is involved with human cognition. She is interested in inter-individual ageing and in-vivo histology using MRI. In 2022, Callaghan was appointed Director of the

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Martina Living people Alumni of Imperial College London Irish scholars and academics Medical physicists Alumni of the University of Limerick Year of birth missing (living people) Women medical researchers Irish women scientists Academics of University College London