Firat Kara

Assistant Professor of Radiology | Mayo Clinic

Firat Kara, PhD

Neuroimaging researcher in brain aging, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and women's brain health.

I use MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, PET imaging, blood-based biomarkers, and cognitive measures to study brain aging, with a dedicated focus on women's brain health across reproductive aging, menopause, Alzheimer's disease risk, and multiple sclerosis.

Current appointment

Assistant Professor of Radiology, Mayo Clinic

Location

Rochester, Minnesota

PhD focus

Neuroscience-focused doctoral research, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Research Focus

Alzheimer's disease and brain aging

Multimodal MRI, MRS, PET, and blood biomarkers to characterize early neurochemical, microstructural, and molecular changes across the Alzheimer's disease continuum.

Women's brain health

Imaging and blood-based biomarkers of reproductive aging, menopause, hormone therapy, and sex-related differences that influence long-term neurodegenerative risk.

Multiple sclerosis imaging

Translational MRI, MRS, and PET approaches to study inflammatory and neurochemical markers of disease activity.

Women's health priority

Women's Brain Aging

A major part of my work focuses on how female-specific and menopause-related factors shape brain aging and dementia risk. I study imaging biomarkers in women across reproductive aging, perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause, including premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy, menopausal hormone therapy, vasomotor symptoms, insomnia, blood pressure, and sex differences in Alzheimer's disease and related brain-health outcomes.

See also my Women's Health Research Cluster profile.

Selected Publications

  1. Long-term amyloid PET and MRI outcomes in a menopausal hormone therapy trial. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2026. Kantarci K, Kara F, Tosakulwong N, Fought AJ, Schwarz CG, Senjem ML, et al. doi
  2. 1H-MR spectroscopy biomarkers are associated with plasma-derived biomarkers of amyloid-beta and tau in the early phase of AD continuum. Neurobiology of Aging, 2026. Kara F, Joers JM, Przybelski SA, Algeciras-Schimnich A, Gunter JL, Jack CR Jr, et al. doi
  3. Decoding thalamic glial interplay in multiple sclerosis through proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025. Kara F, Neyal N, Kamykowski MG, Schwarz CG, Kendall-Thomas J, Morrison HA, et al. doi
  4. Premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy and Alzheimer's disease imaging biomarkers later in life. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2025. Kantarci K, Kapoor E, Geske JR, Castillo A, Fields JA, Kara F, et al. doi
  5. Understanding proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy neurochemical changes using Alzheimer's disease biofluid, PET, postmortem pathology biomarkers, and APOE genotype. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2024. Kara F, Kantarci K. doi
  6. 1H MR spectroscopy biomarkers of neuronal and synaptic function are associated with tau deposition in cognitively unimpaired older adults. Neurobiology of Aging, 2022. Kara F, Joers JM, Deelchand DK, Park YW, Przybelski SA, Lesnick TG, et al. doi
  7. Long-term ovarian hormone deprivation alters functional connectivity, brain neurochemical profile and white matter integrity in the Tg2576 amyloid mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 2021. Kara F, Belloy ME, Voncken R, Sarwari Z, Garima Y, Anckaerts C, et al. doi

See the full record on PubMed and Google Scholar.

Professional Memberships and Networks

Deadlines

Grant cycles and conference abstract deadlines I'm tracking, on a timeline. Blue marks grant deadlines, purple marks conference abstracts; italic entries are expected dates estimated from prior years. Passed deadlines drop off automatically. Labels stay short to keep things uncluttered — click an entry to open its page, or hover to see the exact date and days remaining.

AARGA LOI Aug 14, 2026 BrightFocus Sep 1, 2026 Menopause Brain Health Sep 8, 2026 ADDF biomarker Sep 14, 2026 Haver Foundation Sep 30, 2026 NIH R01 Oct 5, 2026 AARGA full Oct 14, 2026 NIH R21/R03 Oct 16, 2026 ISMRM’27 Oct 28, 2026 AAIC’27 Expected Jan 2027 NIH R01 Feb 5, 2027 NIH R21/R03 Feb 16, 2027 Menopause’27 Expected Spring 2027 EMAS’27 Expected Spring 2027

Notes

Women's brain aging

Public synthesis of work on menopause, hormone therapy, vascular risk, PET/MRI biomarkers, cognition, and brain aging.

MRS and blood biomarkers

Notes on how MR spectroscopy measures relate to plasma amyloid and tau biomarkers in the early Alzheimer's disease continuum.

Affiliations and Collaboration

I am based in Mayo Clinic Radiology.