United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Dr. Dieter J. Meyerhoff

DIETER JOHANNES MEYERHOFF, Dr. rer. nat.

Dieter Meyerhoff

Professor of Radiology in Residence
Department of Radiology UCSF

NCIRE title: Senior Researcher
VA title: Research Radiologist


 

Education


Oct 80 - Dec 81 Diploma in Chemistry
Westphälische Wilhelms‑Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
Jan 82 - Mar 85 Doctorate in Chemistry (Dr. rer. nat.),cum laude
Westphälische Wilhelms‑Universität Münster, Münster, Germany.
Multi-Electron Ligands with 2,2'-Bipyridyl-, Phosphine- or Arsine-Donor Groups: Synthesis, Complexation, and Application.
Thesis Advisor: Prof. Th. Kaufmann
Apr 85 - Apr 86 Post-Doctorate
Department of Chemistry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory,
University of California Berkeley, CA, USA


 

Employment


 

Outside UCSF School of Medicine

Apr 85 - Apr 86 Post-doctoral Research Associate
Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley
May 86 - May 87 Visiting Assistant Researcher
Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley

Inside UCSF School of Medicine

May 87 - May 90 Visiting Assistant Researcher
Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
May 90 - Aug 92 Assistant Specialist
Departments of Medicine and Radiology, University of California San Francisco
Sept 92 - Jun 98 Assistant Professor of Radiology in Residence
Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco
Jul 98 - Jun 04 Associate Professor of Radiology in Residence
Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco
Jul 04 - Present Professor of Radiology in Residence
Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco


 

Honors


Jun 96 – present Ad hoc/temporary member of various NIH Study Sections (NIAAA, NAED, NIMH)
Oct 00 – present Permanent Member NIH Study Section (Alcohol and Toxicology - ALTX3)
Sep 06 - present Extramural Advisory Board (EAB) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Ad hoc Member
June 2007 Board of Scientific Counselors NIAAA Ad Hoc Member: Intramural Research Review
Oct 07 - present NIH Study Section Member NIAAA ZAA1, CC12, Neuroscience Research Review


 

Recent Publications


 

  1. * D.J. Meyerhoff, R.Blumenfeld, D.Truran, J. Lindgren, D, Flenniken, V.A. Cardenas, L. Chao, J. Rothlind, C.Studholme, M.W. Weiner. Effects of heavy drinking, binge drinking, and family history of alcoholism on regional brain metabolites Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 28(4):650-661 (2004).
  2. * T.C. Durazzo, S.Gazdzinski, P. Banys, D. J. Meyerhoff. Cigarette smoking exacerbates chronic alcohol-induced brain damage. A preliminary metabolite imaging study. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 28(12): 1849-60 (2004).
  3. C.T. Yiannoutsos, T. Ernst, L. Chang, P.L. Lee, T. Richards, C.M. Marra, D.J. Meyerhoff et al. and the HIV MRS Consortium. Regional patterns of brain metabolites in AIDS Dementia Complex NeuroImage 23(3):928-35 (2004).
  4. C.W. Bloomer, D.D. Langleben, D.J. Meyerhoff. Magnetic resonance detects brainstem changes in chronic, active heavy drinkers. Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging 132:209-218 (2004).
  5. S. Gazdzinski, T.C. Durazzo, D.J. Meyerhoff. Temporal dynamics and determinants of whole brain tissue volume changes during recovery from alcohol dependence. Drug Alcohol Depend 78, 263–273 (2005).
  6. J.C. Rothlind, T.M. Greenfield, A.V. Bruce, D.J. Meyerhoff, D. Flenniken, J. Lindgren, and M.W.Weiner. Lower Neuropsychological Functioning in HIV Disease Associated with Active Heavy Alcohol Use. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 11(1):70-83 (2005).
  7. V.A. Cardenas, C.Studholme, D.J. Meyerhoff, E.Song, M.W. Weiner. Chronic active heavy drinking and family history of problem drinking modulate regional brain tissue volumes Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 138(2):115-30 (2005).
  8. V.A. Cardenas, L.L. Chao, R. Blumenfeld, E. Song, D.J. Meyerhoff, M.W. Weiner, C. Studholme. Using Automated Morphometry to Detect Associations Between ERP Latency and Structural Brain MRI in Normal Adults. Human Brain Mapping 25(3):317-27 (2005).
  9. G.F. Mason, M. Bendszus, D.J. Meyerhoff, H.P. Hetherington, B.Schweinsburg, B. D. Ross, M.J. Taylor, J.H. Krystal. Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Studies of Alcoholism: From Heavy Drinking to Alcohol Dependence and Back Again. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 29(1): 150-158 (2005).
  10. D. J. Meyerhoff, C. Bode, S. J. Nixon, E.A. de Bruin, J.C. Bode, H.K. Seitz. Health risks of chronic moderate and heavy alcohol consumption: How much is too much? Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 29(7):1334-40 (2005).
  11. * S. Gazdzinski, T.C. Durazzo, C. Studholme, E. Song, P. Banys, D.J. Meyerhoff. Quantitative brain MRI in alcohol dependence: Preliminary evidence for effects of concurrent chronic cigarette smoking on regional brain volumes. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 29(8): 1484-95 (2005).
  12. G. Jahng, L. Stables, A. Ebel, G. B. Matson, D. J. Meyerhoff, M.W. Weiner, N. Schuff. Sensitive and Fast T1 Mapping Based on Two Inversion Recovery Images and a Reference Image. Med Phys. 32(6):1524-8 (2005).
  13. * T.C. Durazzo, S.Gazdzinski, P. Banys, D. J. Meyerhoff. Brain metabolite concentrations and neurocognition during short-term recovery from alcohol dependence: Preliminary evidence of the effects of concurrent chronic cigarette smoking. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 30(3): 539-551 (2006).
  14. S. Gazdzinski, T.C. Durazzo, G.H. Jahng , Frank Ezekiel,. P. Banys, D.J. Meyerhoff. Effects of Chronic Alcohol Dependence and Chronic Cigarette Smoking on Cerebral Perfusion – a Preliminary Magnetic Resonance Study. Alcoholism: Clin Exp Res 30(5): 947-958 (2006).
  15. T.C. Durazzo, J.C. Rothlind, S.Gazdzinski, P. Banys, D.J. Meyerhoff. A comparison of neurocognitive function in non-smoking and chronically smoking short-term abstinent alcoholics. Alcohol 39(1):1-11 (2006).
  16. T.C. Durazzo, S.Gazdzinski, P. Banys, D. J. Meyerhoff. The neurobiological and neurocognitive consequences of chronic cigarette smoking in alcohol use disorders. Alcohol and Alcoholism 42(3):174-185 (2007).
  17. V.A. Cardenas, C. Studholme, S. Gazdzinski, T.C. Durazzo, D.J. Meyerhoff. Deformation based morphometry of brain changes in alcohol dependence and abstinence Neuroimage 34:879-887 (2007).
  18. T.C. Durazzo, V.A. Cardenas, C. Studholme, M.W. Weiner, D.J. Meyerhoff. Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers: effects of chronic cigarette smoking on brain structure. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 87(1):76-82 (2007).
  19. R. Paul, C.T. Yiannoutsos, E.N. Miller, L. Chang, C.M. Marra, G. Schifitto, T. Ernst, E. Singer, T. Richards, J. Jarvik, R. Price, D.J. Meyerhoff, D. Kolson, R.J. Ellis, G. Gonzalez, R. Lenkinski, R.A. Cohen, B.A. Navia for the ACTG 301 and 700 teams and the HIV MRS Consortium. Proton MRS and Neuropsychological Correlates in AIDS Dementia Complex: Evidence of Subcortical Specialty. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007: 19(3):283-92 (2007).
  20. T.C. Durazzo, Rothlind, J., Gazdzinski, S., Banys, P., D.J. Meyerhoff. Chronic smoking is associated with differential neurocognitive recovery in abstinent alcoholic patients: a preliminary investigation. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research 31(7):1114-27 (2007).
  21. T.C. Durazzo, S. Gazdzinski, D.J. Meyerhoff, The neurobiological and neurocognitive consequences of smoking in alcohol use disorders. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 42(3), 174-185 (2007).
  22. P.H. Yeh, Gazdzinski, S., Durazzo, T.C., Sjostrand, K., D.J. Meyerhoff. Statistical modeling of brain and ventricular volume changes during abstinence from alcohol: The effects of chronic smoking and associations with neurocognitive function. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 91(2-3):195-204 (2007).
  23. T.C. Durazzo, J. Rothlind, V.A. Cardenas, C. Studholme, M.W. Weiner, D.J. Meyerhoff. Chronic Cigarette Smoking and Heavy Drinking in HIV: Consequences for Neurocognition and Brain Morphology. Alcohol: An International Biomedical Journal 41:489-501(2007).
  24. S. Gazdzinski, T.C. Durazzo, P.-H. Yeh, D. Hardin, D.J. Meyerhoff. Hippocampal Volumes And Medial Temporal Lobe Metabolites In Abstinent Male Alcoholics: Injury and Short-Term Recovery are Modulated By Chronic Cigarette Smoking Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging 162, 133-145 (2008).
  25. L.G. Kaiser, K.Young, D.J. Meyerhoff, G. Matson. A detailed analysis of localized J-difference GABA editing: theoretical and experimental study at 4 Tesla. NMR Biomed. 21(1):22-32 (2008).


 

Summary of Research Program


 

    The overall primary goal of my research is to help alleviate the curse of addiction by providing a better understanding of brain damage associated with chronic alcohol consumption and of the mechanisms of targeted bio-medical treatment of substance dependence and addiction. In our lab we use various multi-nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MR) methods to determine mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases in general and, specifically, the behavioral and cognitive significances of MR-detectable brain changes in chronic alcohol drinkers and HIV infected patients. Structural MRI, metabolic imaging via MR spectroscopy, perfusion, and diffusion imaging each provide a distinctly different view at brain injuries and associated mechanisms, which may or may not be related. To this end, I study abstinent alcoholics in treatment, but a more unique focus of my research is on effects of chronic drinking on brain integrity and cognition in active heavy drinkers. This group constitutes by far the majority of individuals affected by consequences of chronic substance use in our society today.

    Similar MR methodology is applied to test the hypothesis that veterans with Gulf War Illness have distinct metabolic and/or morphological brain changes, which are not accounted for by common confounds such as chronic alcohol abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, or depression. Finally, some of these studies are in the process of being implemented in parallel on our new whole-body 4Tesla Bruker/Siemens MR scanner that was installed in December 2003. Major focus of these studies is the measurement of common brain amino acids in recovering alcoholics and active heavy drinkers that are not as easily detected on our 1.5Tesla system.


 

Primary Lab Personnel


 

  • Timothy Durazzo, PhD
    Assistant Adjunct Professor of Radiology
    x4157

  • Stephan Gazdzinski, PhD
    Physicist and Associate Researcher NCIRE
    x2553

  • Anderson Mon, PhD
    Physicist and Postdoctoral Researcher UCSF
    x2453