Rutgers University has opened a new brain imaging research center dedicated to helping patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, the school announced Wednesday.

The Rutgers Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research houses a state-of-the-art 3T MRI scanner that measures changes in brain blood flow, oxygen use, and glucose utilization.

As part of the university’s Brain Health Institute, researchers will use the imaging center to develop new therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, depression, and other related disorders.

“[The center] will play a key role in rapidly moving discoveries made by neuroscientists in basic science labs into the clinic for the benefit of patients,” Director of the Brain Health Institute Gary Aston-Jones, PhD, said in a statement.

Internationally renowned brain imaging expert David Zald, PhD, who is also a professor of psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, will lead the new center. The MRI facility will also support ongoing efforts across the public New Brunswick, New Jersey, university.

“An advantage of the new center is that we have access to unique medical expertise due to our association with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital,” Zald explained July 7. “This allows our researchers to work with a range of clinical populations, which are not always as accessible at other facilities in the state.”