SUMMARY
Simona Nikolova, Ph.D., studies the development of medical imaging methods to detect brain biomarkers of disease. This has included early detection of stroke using novel pulse sequence development and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). She uses magnetic resonance spectroscopy to detect traumatic brain injury, migraine, Alzheimer's and stroke. The overarching theme of Dr. Nikolova's research is the application of new analysis methods and imaging acquisition to detect novel substrates of neurological diseases for improved diagnosis.
Her current research builds on MRI findings to develop novel biomarkers for predicting the persistence of post-traumatic headache and migraine. The current inability to predict which people with acute post-traumatic headache will have persistent headaches is a major limitation in clinical practice.
Focus areas
- Translational multimodal imaging in traumatic brain injury. Dr. Nikolova assesses the frequency and persistence of post-traumatic headache following brain injury. She studies the clinical and metabolic biomarkers associated with brain trauma using structural, metabolic and functional imaging.
- Novel biomarkers in post-traumatic headache. Dr. Nikolova researches novel imaging methods to predict persistence of post-traumatic headache.
- Novel imaging biomarkers in migraine. Dr. Nikolova studies novel imaging techniques to predict persistence of migraine. She uses functional and metabolic imaging to identify changes in pain perception from brain areas of people with migraine.
- Machine learning in biomedical applications. Dr. Nikolova uses machine learning and deep learning to create predictive models of headache. Her goal is to use these tools to inform analytic models and improve the understanding of possible underlying neuronal mechanisms of headaches.
Significance to patient care
The ability to predict headache persistence will help guide clinicians in deciding whether to start headache treatment during the acute phase of headache. Once headache becomes persistent, currently available therapies provide limited benefits. Results of animal and human studies suggest that early treatment of post-traumatic headache might be more effective than later treatment.
Over half of people with acute post-traumatic headache will have natural resolution of their headaches without intervention. Giving medicine to all people with acute post-traumatic headache is not necessary. The prediction of post-traumatic headache persistence allows clinicians to initiate early treatment for people who are unlikely to have natural headache resolution. This avoids giving medicine to individuals who are not likely to have headache persistence.