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MRI inventor inspires students to make their own discoveries

Dr. Raymond Damadian gives a presentation at Liberty University.
Dr. Raymond Damadian gives a presentation at Liberty University.

As part of Liberty University Research Week, Dr. Raymond Damadian, known as “the father of the MRI,” gave a keynote presentation Tuesday night in the Science Hall, sharing how he envisioned and ultimately saw to fruition a way to scan the human body using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Afterward, he took time to answer student questions and challenged them to continue to push the bounds of human understanding.

Damadian began with an explanation of the more than 10-year process that ultimately led to the first MRI scan on July 2, 1977. He credited God with giving him the idea to compare the decay rate between healthy and diseased cells — what makes the stark contrast on scans that show tumors and other abnormalities. He referred to the chemical bonds at the molecular level as God’s gift of the “water of life,” as mentioned in Revelation 22:17, and credited it with making the technology work.

“God’s ‘water of life’ had given us the unprecedented detail of the body’s vital organs that had never before been seen by the medical imaging of X-ray,” Damadian said.

En route to the discovery, Damadian experienced some opposition, including people in the medical community who ridiculed his idea as “absolute nonsense.” Damadian also experienced great coincidences that allowed him to continue the research and to which he attributes to God’s leading and the prayer of loved ones.

Damadian, a medical doctor and research scientist, described some recent discoveries he and his team have made in cerebrospinal solution that he believes may lead to future discoveries in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and other diseases. He also shared evidence in support of the creationist position versus evolution.

During the Q and A, Damadian explained that on the path to a great medical discovery one should be prepared to contend with resistance from the general status quo, as he did.

“As I made this discovery, I could see the prospect that we could save millions of lives,” he said. “There was no way to turn your back on it.”

As a medical doctor, Damadian said, “the highest motivation” is patient wellness.

So in the face of opposition, with “one experiment after the other” telling him that he was “on the side of truth,” Damadian persevered.

He challenged the students to not simply be awestruck by the pioneers of science but rather to be motivated by them.

“There is nothing as exhilarating as a new discovery,” he said. “Go make one.”

Research Week continues through Saturday with a number of events highlighting student research and scholarship. View the full schedule online.

Liberty University students listen to a speech from Dr. Raymond Damadian.
Liberty University students listen to a speech from Dr. Raymond Damadian.
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