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Dr. Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp

Scientist

LS medcap GmbH, Hechingen, Germany

About

I am a German-American clinical neuroscientist with a research background in treatment-resistant epilepsies. During my PhD and my two postdoctoral research positions I have analyzed functional and structural brain connectivity based on magnetic resonance images (big data) using network and spatial statistics. I am always working for sound clinical science as a full-time advocate for cutting-edge science.

Interests

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Brain Disorders
  • Connectomics
  • Neuroimaging
  • Open Science

Education

  • PhD in Medical Imaging, 2018

    University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

  • MSc in Cognitive Science, 2014

    University of Osnabrück, Germany

  • MSc in Cognitive Science, 2014

    University of Trento, Italy

  • BA in Disability Studies, 2011

    Protestant University of Applied Sciences Bochum, Germany

Publications

Fiber ball white matter modeling in focal epilepsy

DOI
Lorna Bryant, Emilie T. McKinnon, James A. Taylor, Jens H. Jensen, Leonardo Bonilha, Christophe de Bezenac, Barbara A. K. Kreilkamp, Guleed Adan, Udo C. Wieshmann, Shubhabrata Biswas, Anthony G. Marson, Simon S. Keller
February 2021 Human Brain Mapping

Highlights

  • We estimated intra- and extra-axonal diffusion characteristics in patients with longstanding focal epilepsy.
  • Fiber ball imaging (FBI) and fiber ball white matter modeling parameters were calculated along tracts.
  • Patients with refractory epilepsy had significantly greater markers of extra‐axonal diffusivity compared to those with non-refractory epilepsy.
  • These could be markers of neuroinflammatory processes or a reflection of reduced axonal density.
  • FBI is a clinically feasible MRI approach that provides the basis for more interpretive conclusions about brain microstructure.

Altered structural connectome in non-lesional newly diagnosed focal epilepsy: Relation to pharmacoresistance

DOI
Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Andrea McKavanagh, Batil Alonazi, Lorna Bryant, Kumar Das, Udo C. Wieshmann, Anthony G. Marson, Peter N. Taylor, Simon S. Keller
January 2021 Neuroimage:Clincal

Highlights

  • Patients showed showed widespread connectome alterations relative to controls.
  • Relative to controls, patients /w seizure-freedom (SF) had increased diffusivity.
  • Patients /w persistent seizures (PS) had increased diffusivity relative to controls.
  • Subgroup-specific connectomes were found for both patient groups (SF vs PS).
  • Patients with generalized seizures and those without had altered connectomes.

Comparison of manual and automated fiber quantification tractography in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

DOI
Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Lucy Lisanti, G. Russell Glenn, Udo C. Wieshmann, Kumar Das, Anthony G. Marson, Simon S. Keller
September 2019 NeuroImage:Clinical

Highlights

  • Tractography approaches showed moderate to good agreement for tract morphology.
  • Along- and whole-tract diffusivity was significantly correlated across approaches.
  • Whole-tract AFQ but not manual tract diffusivity correlated with clinical variables.
  • Absence of excellent agreement between approaches warrants caution.

Neuroradiological findings in patients with “non-lesional” focal epilepsy revealed by research protocol

DOI
Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Kumar Das, Udo C. Wieshmann, Shubhabrata Biswas, Anthony G. Marson, Simon S. Keller
August 2018 Clinical Radiology

Highlights

  • Patients with focal refractory epilepsy with previous ‘non-lesional’ clinical MRI.
  • A dedicated epilepsy research protocol with expert image re-evaluation.
  • 33% patients were found to have potentially epileptogenic brain lesions.
  • Dedicated epilepsy protocol with artifact-free MRI may increase lesion pick-up-rate.

Hippocampal subfield segmentation in temporal lobe epilepsy: Relation to outcomes

DOI
Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Bernd Weber, Samia B. Elkommos, Mark P. Richardson, Simon S. Keller
March 2018 Acta Neurologica Scandinavica

Highlights

  • Patients with left TLE had smaller volumes of the contralateral presubiculum and hippocampus‐amygdala transition area compared to those with right TLE.
  • No significant differences in hippocampal subfield volumes between patients who were rendered seizure free and those with persistent postoperative seizures.
  • Ipsilateral hippocampal subfield volumes are not related to the chronicity/severity of TLE.
  • In patients with TLE and HS, MRI analysis of hippocampal architecture may have limited value for prediction of postoperative outcomes.

Automated tractography in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy using TRActs Constrained by UnderLying Anatomy (TRACULA)

DOI
Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Bernd Weber, Mark P. Richardson, Simon S. Keller
January 2017 NeuroImage:Clinical

Highlights

  • We investigated white matter tract alterations in TLE using an automated tool.
  • Patients showed bilateral tract alterations but were more prominent ipsilaterally.
  • Along-the-tract analyses revealed the exact location of tract diffusion alterations.
  • Alterations correlated with chronicity/severity of TLE but not hippocampal atrophy.

Preoperative automated fibre quantification predicts postoperative seizure outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy

DOI
Simon S. Keller, G. Russell Glenn, Bernd Weber, Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Jens H. Jensen, Joseph A. Helpern, Jan Wagner, Gareth J. Barker, Mark P. Richardson, Leonardo Bonilha
November 2016 Brain

Highlights

  • We investigated regional tissue characteristics of preoperative temporal lobe white matter tracts.
  • Relative to controls, both patient groups exhibited strong and significant diffusion abnormalities along tracts.
  • Only patients with persistent postoperative seizures showed evidence of pathology in the ipsilateral dorsal fornix and in the contralateral parahippocampal white matter bundle.
  • Diffusion characteristics of these regions could classify individual patients according to outcome with 84% sensitivity and 89% specificity.

Investigating conceptions of intentional action by analyzing participant generated scenarios

DOI
Alexander Skulmowski, Andreas Bunge, Bret R. Cohen, Barbara A. K. Kreilkamp, Nicole Troxler
November 2015 Frontiers in Psychology

Highlights

  • We asked our participants to come up with their own scenarios and to explain why these are examples of intentional or unintentional actions.
  • We employed content analysis to extract contexts and components that people associated with these action types.
  • Unintentional actions were predominantly associated with bad outcomes while intentional actions were more strongly linked to positive outcomes.
  • People’s conceptions of intentional action seem to involve more aspects than previously reported, such as decisions and thoughts about the action.

Retrospective Head Motion Correction Approaches for Diffusion Tensor Imaging: Effects of Preprocessing Choices on Biases and Reproducibility of Scalar Diffusion Metrics

DOI
Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Domenico Zaca, Nico Papinutto, Jorge Jovicich
May 2015 Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Highlights

  • Goal: To evaluate how retrospective head motion correction strategies affect the estimation of scalar metrics.
  • Preprocessing choices affected DTI measures and their reproducibility.
  • The DTIPrep pipeline showed significantly higher reproducibility (P<0.001) relative to the other pipelines.
  • The use of an iteratively averaged b0 image as motion correction reference (as performed by DTIPrep) affects both scalar values and improves test–retest reliability.

Thalamotemporal Alteration and Postoperative Seizures in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

DOI
Simon S. Keller, Mark P. Richardson, Jan-Christoph Schoene-Bake, Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh, Samia Elkommos, Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Yee Yen Goh, Anthony G. Marson, Christian Elger, Bernd Weber
January 2015 Annals of Neurology

Highlights

  • Goal: To Identify common brain structural and connectivity alteration in patients with persistent postoperative seizures
  • Patients with persistent seizures had significant atrophy of bilateral dorsomedial and pulvinar thalamic regions.
  • Patients with persistent seizures had significant alterations of DTI‐derived thalamotemporal probabilistic paths bilaterally.
  • Patients with bihemispheric alterations of thalamotemporal structural networks may represent a subtype of mTLE that is resistant to surgery.

Teaching

  • Since 2020: Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)

    AdvanceHE, United Kingdom

  • 2016-2023: Mentor of PhD students

    Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Germany

  • 2016-2022: Supervisor of Master students

    Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

  • 2019-2020: Invited Course Instructor on Module ‘Clinical, Anatomical and Cellular Basis of Neurological Dysfunction’

    3rd-year Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences

    Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

  • 2019-2020: Invited Course Instructor on Module ‘Neuroimaging and Cognitive Neuroscience’

    3rd-year Bachelor of Science in Psychology

    Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

Awards

  • 2019: Hackathon Travel Award

    Organization of Human Brain Mapping, United States of America

  • 2019: Travel Grant

    Guarantors of Brain, United Kingdom

  • 2014: Post-graduate Study Bursary

    Epilepsy Action, United Kingdom

  • 2014-2017: PhD Studentship

    University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

  • 2013: Erasmus Mundus Double-Degree Studentship

    University of Osnabrück, Germany

    University of Trento, Italy