George Harston

My research focusses on acute neuroimaging in stroke and global brain dysfunction. I have a particular interest in non-contrast metabolic and perfusion imaging, including chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) techniques and arterial spin labelling. 

The research projects on which I work involve recruiting patients directly from the Emergency Department and hospital wards into imaging studies based in the Acute Vascular Imaging Centre. I work closely with colleagues in the Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB) and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) to develop novel MRI techniques and the tools for their analysis and interpretation. 

I aim to develop novel imaging biomarkers in order to improve the understanding of pathophysiology of acute neurological dysfunction in patients. Our previous and ongoing work includes pH-weighted imaging and serial measures of cerebral blood flow to better understand the processes leading to ischaemic injury. I am developing image processing frameworks with which to better understand tissue death, and secondary injury following stroke. I also have an interest in functional connectivity in acute neurological dysfunction and how this relates to recovery.

I was awarded my medical degree from the University of Cambridge in 2006. I completed my DPhil in Clinical Medicine in 2015, before taking up a Clinical Lecturer position later that year. I was appointed as a Consultant Physician in Acute General Medicine, Geratology and Stroke Medicine at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2018, and as Chief Medical and Innovation Officer at Brainomix, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford.