My group is working on the development of novel MR pulse sequences for free-breathing motion corrected 3D whole heart MRI of the coronary arteries and the myocardium with a major focus on the development of advanced motion correction techniques, novel contrast mechanisms and quantitative tissue characterization. We are also very active in molecular MRI of atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction using novel target-specific contrast agents (elastin, collagen, albumin, fibrin, macrophages, oxLDL) and recently started with the development and validation of preclinical PET/MR and multimodal PET/MR contrast agents. We were among the first to demonstrate coronary wall remodeling using black blood MRI in a pilot clinical study. We have also led the first successful pre-clinical and clinical studies of a new fibrin specific MR contrast agent and have demonstrated the feasibility of imaging coronary vessel wall fibrosis and inflammation, using clinically approved MR contrast agents. Currently we are investigating the merits of target-specific MR and PET contrast agents for non-invasive imaging of endothelial integrity, dysfunctional vascular and myocardial remodeling and inflammation in models of atherosclerosis, aortic aneurysm and myocardial infarction. We also apply molecular imaging for the better understanding of deep venous thrombus (DVT) resolution and the better guidance of thrombolysis. 

Dr. Botnar received his PhD from the ETH Zurich. From 1996-97 he was a Research Associate in the Department of Radiology at the University Zurich. In1997, he joined the Cardiac MR Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

In 2003, Dr. Botnar became the Scientific Director of the Cardiac MR Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and was appointed to Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. In 2005, Dr. Botnar accepted a Professorship of Biomedical Imaging at the Technische Universität München where he setup a cardiac MR program with a special focus on pre-clinical and translational multi modality imaging. His work was funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education, by the German Excellence Program, and by industry. At the end of 2007, he joined the Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at King’s College London where he is currently Chair of Cardiovascular Imaging and Head of the Biomedical Engineering Department. Dr. Botnar is a Fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Medicine and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance; he was a board member of Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance from 2008-2011 and was on the scientific advisory board of the High Risk Plaque initiative. He is currently Associate Editor of the Journal of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (JCMR), a Senior Editor of the Journal of Molecular Imaging and Biology and has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed original papers, 40 review articles and 25 book chapters in the field of CMR. He also holds 8 patents and is an editor of a CMR textbook on Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging.