Jean Tkach, PhD

Medical Physicist, Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging
Professor, UC Department of Radiology

jean.tkach@cchmc.org

About

Biography

Jean Tkach, PhD, received her undergraduate and graduate training in biomedical engineering. She is an MRI physicist by training who has been involved in MRI research since 1985.

Dr. Tkach joined the Cincinnati Children's faculty in the Fall of 2010. Throughout her career, the majority of her effort has been dedicated to the development, implementation, optimization and application of novel MRI acquisition techniques to address clinical as well as more fundamental research questions. The majority of these efforts have been dedicated toward neuroimaging. However, she has also been actively involved in research to advance the fields of cardiac, body and musculoskeletal MR imaging. Although most of Dr. Tkach's work has been directed toward human imaging, she also has been actively involved in multiple animal MR imaging studies.

Dr. Tkach’s research currently focuses on the development and implementation of state of the art MRI acquisition techniques optimized for (and to best address the most relevant clinical needs of) the neonate that exploit new technology being developed for this purpose. Most recently, Dr. Tkach received the Caffey Award for the Best Basic Science Research Paper at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Pediatric Radiology.

Dr. Tkach is also is a consultant on the Circulatory System Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Interests

Neonatal MR acquisition technique development, optimization and application

Services and Specialties

Radiology and Medical Imaging

Research Areas

Center for Translational Fibrosis Research

Publications

Evaluation of synthetic images derived from a neural network in pediatric brain magnetic resonance imaging. Nagaraj, UD; Meineke, J; Sriwastwa, A; Tkach, JA; Leach, JL; Doneva, M. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2025; 121:110427.

Slice-to-Volume Reconstruction of Fetal Brain MR Imaging in Clinical Practice. Nagaraj, UD; Greer, JS; Debnath, P; Tkach, JA; Kline-Fath, BM. American Journal of Neuroradiology. 2025; 46:1726-1730.

T1 signal intensity ratio variability based on sampling strategies in the pancreas of children and young adults. Mathur, AK; Dillman, JR; Abu-El-Haija, M; Vitale, DS; Tkach, JA; Trout, AT. Abdominal Radiology. 2025; 50:3722-3733.

Comparison of volumetric and linear measurements of intestinal inflammation and treatment response in children with newly diagnosed ileal Crohn disease. Derinkuyu, BE; Bard, A; Naim, I; Tkach, JA; Denson, LA; Dillman, JR. European Radiology. 2025; 35:5064-5072.

Multi-band vs. conventional diffusion-weighted MRI of the abdomen in children and young adults. Debnath, P; Tkach, JA; Abramson, ZR; Abu Ata, NK; Coley, BD; Epstein, KN; Griffin, L; Zhang, B; Trout, AT; Dillman, J; Morin, CE. Abdominal Radiology. 2025; 50:3363-3373.

"Black " contrast effect on MR arthrography using new generation high-relaxivity gadolinium contrast agent at recommended doses. Meyers, AB; Tkach, JA; Patel, MN; Dillman, JR. Pediatric Radiology: roentgenology, nuclear medicine, ultrasonics, CT, MRI. 2025; 55:1531-1533.

Circulating and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers of Intestinal Fibrosis in Small Bowel Crohn's Disease. Dillman, JR; Tkach, JA; Fletcher, JG; Bruining, DH; Lu, A; Kugathasan, S; Alazraki, AL; Knight-Scott, J; Stidham, RW; Adler, J; Anton, CG; Imbus, RA; Dudley, JA; Denson, LA. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2025; 31:1380-1391.

Rapid abdominopelvic MR imaging in the emergency department: establishing a program and addressing the challenges. Ayyala, RS; Dillman, JR; Tkach, JA; Trout, AT. Pediatric Radiology: roentgenology, nuclear medicine, ultrasonics, CT, MRI. 2025; 55:887-894.

Longitudinal evaluation of pediatric and young adult metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease defined by MR elastography. Alves, VD P V; Mouzaki, M; Xanthakos, SA; Zhang, B; Tkach, JA; Ouyang, J; Dillman, JR; Trout, AT. European Radiology. 2025; 35:2474-2486.

Maternal Hypertension and Adverse Neurodevelopment in a Cohort of Preterm Infants. Jain, S; Ting Fu, T; Barnes-Davis, ME; Sahay, RD; Ehrlich, SR; Liu, C; Habli, M; Parikh, NA. JAMA Network Open. 2025; 8:e257788.