Brain imaging has long been a critical piece of understanding cerebral palsy, but translating MRI findings into meaningful clinical insights remains a challenge. Thanks to support from the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation grant and collaboration across CP Research Network sites, the CP Research Network Imaging Registry is beginning to make that connection possible.

Join us on Monday, August 31 at 8 pm ET for an update from Rose Gelineau-Morel, MD, of Children’s Mercy Kansas City, as she shares the latest progress from the CP Research Network Imaging Registry Project, including advances in MRI analysis, lesion mapping, and the development of tools that may help researchers better understand how differences seen on brain imaging relate to movement, function, and outcomes in people with cerebral palsy.

Over the past year, participating sites have contributed nearly 100 MRI scans and linked clinical data to the Imaging Registry. During this webinar, Dr. Gelineau-Morel will discuss:

• Progress in MRI collection and analysis across participating CP Research Network sites
• Development of detailed lesion mapping techniques to better understand brain injury patterns in cerebral palsy
• Efforts to automate MRI analysis using artificial intelligence tools, potentially reducing months of manual work
• Early work exploring how imaging findings may connect to clinical features and functional outcomes

The webinar will also include discussion of emerging quantitative imaging technologies and how advanced MRI analytics may eventually support both research and clinical care.

Dystonia is one of the most challenging and misunderstood movement disorders affecting people with cerebral palsy. Families often ask why some individuals develop dystonia while others with seemingly similar diagnoses do not, and clinicians frequently have limited tools to connect what they see on an MRI with the symptoms a person experiences in daily life.

The CP Research Network Imaging Registry was created to help answer those questions. By combining MRI scans with detailed clinical information from across the network, researchers are working to identify patterns in the brain that may be associated with dystonia and other movement disorders. Understanding these connections could help improve how dystonia is recognized, measured, and studied in people with cerebral palsy.

In the long term, this work may lead to more personalized approaches to care, helping clinicians better explain MRI findings to families, identify individuals at risk for dystonia earlier, and develop research studies that target the brain networks most closely linked to dystonic symptoms. While this research is still in its early stages, the Imaging Registry is creating a unique resource that has the potential to transform our understanding of dystonia in cerebral palsy and open new pathways for future treatments and interventions.

Rose Gelineau-Morel, MD is a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City and leads the CP Research Network Imaging Registry project. Her work focuses on understanding how brain imaging can be used to better characterize cerebral palsy and related movement disorders. Through collaboration across CP Research Network sites, she is helping build one of the largest collections of MRI and clinical data available for cerebral palsy research.

Join us to learn how the CP Research Network Imaging Registry is advancing imaging research and creating new opportunities to connect what we see on an MRI with what matters most to individuals and families living with cerebral palsy.