Dr. MacVicar’s research has focused on the mechanisms required to maintain a healthy brain by finding ways to prevent neuronal damage. His work has provided new insights into potential targets for preventing brain damage via neuronal death during stroke.
Dr. MacVicar has been a leader in the development and application of advanced brain imaging techniques during his career. He discovered that brain tissue is more transparent in infrared wavelengths, which are used widely to visualize nerve cells in intact brain tissue. With Image Science, a company he founded, he developed software that was widely used to control scientific image acquisition equipment and imaging analysis.
The MacVicar lab has implemented two-photon microscopy, uncaging techniques and expression of genetically encoded indicators that provide unparalleled visualization of complex interactions in the living brain. This application of advanced imaging techniques has allowed his lab to make significant contributions to our understanding of how neuronal activity is regulated both intrinsically and by the surrounding microglia and astrocytes. In addition the lab is actively investigating how to prevent neuronal death and disruptions in brain circuits in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease and stroke.