Cara E. Morin, MD, PhD
- Pediatric Radiologist, Division of Radiology and Medical Imaging
- Assistant Professor, UC Department of Radiology
- cara.morin@cchmc.org
- Board Certified
About
Biography
My clinical area of expertise is pediatric radiology, specializing in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart and abdomen. I’m also a researcher working to improve the efficiency and quality of MRI pictures in children of all ages. My work focuses on developing and optimizing rapid MRI sequences, enhancing access to pediatric-specific MRI sequences, and developing and studying the role of quantitative MRI sequences in improving diagnosis.
I have three children, and I often envision them in the MRI scanner trying to follow the instructions we give patients to obtain the best images. I’m not sure my children could follow the instructions, which leads me to believe that we need to make the process easier for all patients. For example, an MRI of the heart and abdomen requires patients to hold their breath for the best image quality. Working with physicists, we’re developing new strategies to eliminate the need for breath-holding, which is very difficult for some children and impossible for babies or sedated children. We’re also improving quantitative MRI sequences, which will hopefully improve the diagnostic accuracy of many different diseases, including liver and renal tumors.
PhD: University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 2009.
MD: University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 2011
Residency: University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 2016
MRI Fellowship: Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, 2017
Pediatric Radiology Fellowship: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2018.
Interests
Pediatric radiology
Services and Specialties
Interests
MRI of the heart and abdomen
Publications
Evaluation of 0.55T MRI for Simultaneous R2* and Fat Fraction Quantification in the Presence of Hepatic Iron Overload and Steatosis Using Simulations and Phantoms. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 2026; 95(3):1737-1752.
Reference values for mean diameter and cross-sectional area of the pulmonary arteries in teenagers using ECG-gated 3D balanced steady‑state free precession MRI. Pediatric Radiology. 2026.
Surveillance imaging detects hepatocellular adenomas and carcinomas in individuals with Fontan circulation. European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2025.
Longitudinal changes and predictors of cardiac extracellular volume fraction in sickle cell anemia. Blood Red Cells Iron. 2025; 1(3).
Pediatric pulmonary nodules: current state of knowledge, AI applications, and future directions. Pediatric Radiology. 2025.
Impact of disease genotype and severity of anemia on myocardial extracellular volume fraction in sickle cell disease (SCD) and non-SCD hemolytic anemias. Blood. 2025; 146(Supplement 1):2957.
A longitudinal study on the impact of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on sickle cardiomyopathy. Blood. 2025; 146(Supplement 1):6050.
Liver stiffness measured by MR elastography in children and adults with Fontan circulation: defining expected values and clinical associations. Pediatric Radiology. 2025; 55(12):2601-2610.
Does the addition of fentanyl premedication impact brown fat uptake in children undergoing a warming protocol for FDG PET? Pediatric Radiology. 2025; 55(12):2643-2650.
Benign and Malignant Pediatric Liver Masses: Radiologic-Pathologic Update from the Pediatric LI-RADS Working Group. Radiographics. 2025; 45(11):e240246.
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