Dr. Simone Beer

Physicist

Research Topics

PET, MRI/PET, ML/AI, Methods development

Contact

+49 2461/61-1954

E-Mail

http://www.fz-juelich.de/inm/inm-2

ORCID

Twitter

Address

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße
52428 Jülich

Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM)

Molecular Organization of the Brain (INM-2)

Building 15.16 / Room R 3033

About me

Sleep and circadian rhythms are fundamental in biological organisms, and growing evidence indicates that they are associated with several major neurodegenerative disorders. Functional and structural neuroimaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows to study the effect of sleep on the brain as well as to image biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases. Artificial intelligence and machine learning with open-science multi-omics data can be used to study the relationship between environmental factors and genetics, and neurodegenerative diseases. These highly interdisciplinary approches often require methodology which goes beyond the state of the art.

My major research interest is the development and performance evaluation of advanced neuroimaging and machine learning methods to study the link between sleep, circadian variation, and neurodegeneration. The main research topics are:

The use of explainable AI to extract new information from multi-omics data
Phantom development for hybrid MRI/PET
PET imaging in awake animals (SleepLess Project)
Quantitative PET

I teach PET technique, radiation protection and mathematics within the Module "Experimental and Translational Neuroimaging" of the Master Programme Translational Neuroscience at Heinrich-Heine-University (HHU) Düsseldorf.

Publications

Pierling, A. L., E.-M. Elmenhorst, D. Lange, E. Hennecke, D. M. Baur, S. Beer, T. Kroll, B. Neumaier, D. Aeschbach, A. Bauer, H.-P. Landolt and D. Elmenhorst (2021). "Cerebral A1 adenosine receptor availability in female and male participants and its relationship to sleep." NeuroImage 245: 118695.

Willuweit, A., M. Schöneck, S. Schemmert, P. Lohmann, S. Bremen, D. Honold, N. Burda, N. Jiang, S. Beer, J. Ermert, D. Willbold, N. J. Shah and K.-J. Langen (2021). "Comparison of the Amyloid Load in the Brains of Two Transgenic Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Models Quantified by Florbetaben Positron Emission Tomography." Frontiers in Neuroscience 15.

He, X., F. Wedekind, T. Kroll, A. Oskamp, S. Beer, A. Drzezga, J. Ermert, B. Neumaier, A. Bauer and D. Elmenhorst (2020). "Image-Derived Input Functions for Quantification of A1 Adenosine Receptors Availability in Mice Brains Using PET and [18F]CPFPX." Frontiers in Physiology 10.

Talalwa, L., G. Natour, A. Bauer, A. Drzezga and S. Beer (2020). "Radiological characteristics of a new experimental rubber elastomeric polymer used in three-dimensional printing with different infill densities and patterns." Journal of Physics Communications 4(12): 125006.

Talalwa, L., G. Natour, A. Bauer, A. Drzezga, A. Gordji-Nejad and S. Beer (2020). "T 1-mapping and dielectric properties evaluation of a 3D printable rubber-elastomeric polymer as tissue mimicking materials for MRI phantoms." Materials Research Express 7(11): 115306.

Gordji-Nejad, A., A. Matusch, S. Li, T. Kroll, S. Beer, D. Elmenhorst and A. Bauer (2018). "Phosphocreatine Levels in the Left Thalamus Decline during Wakefulness and Increase after a Nap." The Journal of Neuroscience 38(49): 10552.

Lohmann, P., A. Willuweit, A. T. Neffe, S. Geisler, T. P. Gebauer, S. Beer, H. H. Coenen, H. Fischer, B. Hermanns-Sachweh, A. Lendlein, N. J. Shah, F. Kiessling and K. J. Langen (2017). "Bone regeneration induced by a 3D architectured hydrogel in a rat critical-size calvarial defect." Biomaterials 113: 158-169.

Elmenhorst, D., K. Mertens, T. Kroll, A. Oskamp, J. Ermert, E. M. Elmenhorst, F. Wedekind, S. Beer, H. H. Coenen and A. Bauer (2016). "Circadian variation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 availability in the rat brain." Journal of sleep research 25(6): 754-761.

Kroll, T., D. Elmenhorst, A. Matusch, A. A. Celik, F. Wedekind, A. Weisshaupt, S. Beer and A. Bauer (2014). "[18F]Altanserin and small animal PET: Impact of multidrug efflux transporters on ligand brain uptake and subsequent quantification of 5-HT2A receptor densities in the rat brain." Nuclear Medicine and Biology 41(1): 1-9.

Kroll, T., D. Elmenhorst, A. Weisshaupt, S. Beer and A. Bauer (2014). "Reproducibility of Non-Invasive A1 Adenosine Receptor Quantification in the Rat Brain Using [18F]CPFPX and Positron Emission Tomography." Molecular Imaging and Biology 16(5): 699-709.

Elmenhorst, D., T. Kroll, F. Wedekind, A. Weisshaupt, S. Beer and A. Bauer (2013). "In vivo kinetic and steady-state quantification of 18F-CPFPX binding to rat cerebral A1 adenosine receptors: validation by displacement and autoradiographic experiments." Journal of nuclear medicine 54(8): 1411-1419.

Kroll, T., D. Elmenhorst, A. Matusch, F. Wedekind, A. Weisshaupt, S. Beer and A. Bauer (2013). "Suitability of [18F]Altanserin and PET to Determine 5-HT2A Receptor Availability in the Rat Brain: In Vivo and In Vitro Validation of Invasive and Non-Invasive Kinetic Models." Molecular Imaging and Biology 15(4): 456-467.

Last Modified: 04.11.2025