Ulrike Dydak

Ulrike Dydak is a Professor in the School of Health Sciences at Purdue University, Director of the Purdue Life Science MRI Facility, and Associate Director of the Women's Global Health Institute. She holds courtesy appointments in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at Indiana University School of Medicine and the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Purdue.

• Mag.rer.nat, 1996, University of Vienna, Austria
• PhD, 2002, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Her research focuses on developing novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) techniques for clinical and life science applications. Key areas include neuroimaging of manganese and iron toxicity, GABA/glutamate quantification in neurological and psychiatric disorders, and 31P/1H MRS for liver cancer risk assessment. Her work bridges Medical Physics, Neurotoxicology, and Women's Health, with recent projects investigating occupational manganese exposure in welders, metabolic changes in postpartum depression, and accelerated spectroscopic imaging methods.

Her 15 most recent publications emphasize advancements in 31P-MRSI for liver monitoring, GABA mapping in neurotoxicity, and metal quantification in the brain. These works highlight collaborations across institutions and technical innovations in relaxometry, compressed sensing, and multinuclear imaging.

• Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award (2018)
• Robert R. Landolt Excellence in Teaching Award (2018)
• Midcareer Research Award (2017)
• Purdue Faculty Scholar (2015)
• NIH/NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award (2011)

As Director of the Purdue Life Science MRI Facility, she oversees neuroimaging infrastructure for academic research. Her grants include NIH/NIEHS R01 funding for manganese toxicity studies and international collaborations on metal exposure. She contributes to clinical translation of MRS techniques and serves in leadership roles for the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and NIH study sections.