Dr. Mikulis's research interests are in the application of novel imaging methods to the clinical environment. He established one of the first fMRI labs in Canada in 1993 and is currently involved in developing advanced neurovascular imaging methods with major program arms including:

  1. Quantitative measurement and clinical application of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) metrics, leading to the development of “the brain stress test” (analogous to the cardiac stress test) that assesses the effectiveness of the cerebral circulatory system in meeting the metabolic needs of the brain;
  2. High resolution and functional imaging of intra and extra-cranial blood vessel walls to improve diagnostic accuracy for diseases that directly affect blood vessels; and
  3. Discovery of a new method for measuring brain blood flow that does not require injection of contrast agents.

Research in these areas has improved the assessment of the structure, function and performance of the vascular system in health and disease. These capabilities have shown the value of mapping abnormal vascular performance measures in a number of conditions including the early diagnosis of dementia and improving the diagnostic accuracy of acute concussion. Translation of these methods has been achieved locally, nationally and internationally.

For a list of Dr. Mikulis's publications, please visit PubMed, Scopus or ORCID.


Professor and Co-Director, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Professor, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto