Many brain pathologies that can now be detected only from brain tissue samples may be made visible on MRI, says Professor Alejandra Sierra Lopez.
Conventional MRI scans cannot detect the tiniest biological changes involved in brain diseases. However, it’s not often possible to take a brain tissue sample for diagnostic purposes or to plan treatment. Sierra Lopez’s research group develops multiscale imaging approaches to bridge the gap between imaging and microscopic findings.
“One of our central research questions is how biological changes occurring at the cellular and tissue levels can be detected non-invasively using MRI.”
After obtaining her PhD in Madrid in 2006, Sierra Lopez came to Kuopio to pursue postdoctoral research. Over the past 20 years, she has built a unique research group that combines advanced MRI with high-resolution microscopy and computational analysis. “This allows us to link imaging signals to the underlying brain structure, cellular organisation and tissue composition. Ultimately, the goal is to develop more sensitive and specific imaging tools for the early detection, characterisation and monitoring of brain diseases and disorders.”
“Our research follows a two-way approach. First, we work from cellular-level information to MRI, trying to understand how biological processes such as inflammation, neurodegeneration, or plasticity shape the MRI signal. This involves developing new MRI methods, tissue models, and computational tools that can extract more specific information about brain tissue.”
“Second, we work from MRI to cellular level information by building predictive models that can infer cellular and histological properties directly from MRI measurements. The long-term goal is to make MRI more biologically informative – a form of non-invasive histology,” Sierra Lopez explains.
Imaging epileptogenic tissue and cancer infiltration
In a recent collaborative project with Kuopio University Hospital, Sierra Lopez’s group has applied their approach to MRI scans and brain tissue samples from patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. For these patients, the only available treatment option is the surgical removal of the epileptogenic brain zone, after which the resected tissue can also be used for research.
“This enables us to study how the brain tissue becomes epileptic and to develop MRI approaches that can identify the epileptogenic tissue and guide its surgical removal or even more advanced treatments. We are actually about to publish some promising results from this project.”
“In addition to epilepsy, we now focus on cancer patients and try to develop methods to support brain cancer surgery. There, we want to be able to differentiate healthy brain tissue near the tumour from tissue that has been infiltrated by tumour cells.”
Besides MRI, the team develops other diagnostic tools such as automated analysis of histological images that can help neuropathologists carry out more detailed assessments of brain diseases.
Sierra Lopez points out that their current clinical collaborations are based on years of preclinical research with animal models. “In recent years, we have worked more closely with hospital teams, which has been really exciting. There is still a long way to go before our methods could be routinely used in hospitals, but we are one step closer, as we can already test them in clinical settings and get feedback from clinicians.”
Kuopio turned out to be the perfect package
“My career has grown alongside the development of the imaging research community in Kuopio. This is a fantastic place to do research,” Sierra Lopez says.
Over the years, she has built a unique research vision which she believes could not be fully realised anywhere else.
“Kuopio Bioimaging Unit now has the MRI scanners and expertise for all possible scenarios, and Kuopio University Hospital is close by. But it’s also the people who have always welcomed and helped me put my ideas to practice.”
By now she has also perfected her research group, whose multidisciplinary expertise spans from neuroscience to physics, engineering, imaging technology and data science. “It has been an achievement in itself for us to find a common language between disciplines, and now this group is at the forefront of understanding MRI and taking it to a different level.”
This is evidenced by various prestigious research grants she has received from the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the Research Council of Finland as well as the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is also actively involved in shaping the global research community in the field as Vice Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Tissue Microstructure Imaging.
Alejandra Sierra Lopez
Professor of Multiscale Neuroimaging, University of Eastern Finland, 1.1.2026–
- Licentiate in Biochemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, 2000
- Licentiate in Chemistry, UNED, Madrid, 2001
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Autonomous University of Madrid, 2006
- Docent in Microstructural Imaging, University of Eastern Finland, 2016
Key roles:
- Research Director, University of Eastern Finland, 2019–2025
- Academy of Finland Research Fellow, University of Eastern Finland, 2014–2019
- Senior Scientist, University of Eastern Finland, 2013–2014
- Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Eastern Finland, 2010–2012
- Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Eastern Finland, 2006–2009
- Doctoral Researcher, “Alberto Sols” Biomedical Research Institute, Spain, 2001–2006
