Bioenergetics: Open Access

Manfred Brauer

Manfred Brauer
Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
University of Guelph, Canada

Biography

Professor Brauer received his Honours B.Sc. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Calgary, Alberta, and his M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta in the laboratory of Prof. Brian Sykes. Professor Brauer has been at the University of Guelph since 1987. He has been a visiting scholar at the Lawson Research Institute in London, Ont. and the Max Planck Institute in Goettingen, Germany. He has obtained research support from NSERC, Alcoholic Beverages Medical Research Foundation, Deutscher Akademisher Austaushdienst and the NIH (National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse).

Research Interest

Professor Brauer’s research interests are in NMR Spectroscopy and Imaging of the liver, with emphasis in hepatic metabolism, bioenergetics and toxicology. His group is uses nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) to elucidate the mechanisms of altered bioenergetics in the livers of intact, living animals non-invasively. MRI provides detailed anatomy of the liver within the subject, while localized in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy provides  valuable bioenergetic and metabolic information. Prof. Brauer has used these techniques to study the effects of classical hepatotoxicants such as bromobenzene, the halocarbons and chronic ethanol administration on rat liver in situ. Hepatotoxicants alter hepatic water, lipids, electrolyte distribution, bioenergetic status, and the liver′s ability to metabolize test compounds. He is presently using functional MRI to study the hypoxic effects of long-term alcohol intoxication on the liver.