1. An MRI apparatus comprising: a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet, and an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module to transmit RF signals to an RF coil assembly to acquire MR images; and a computer programmed to: prepare a double inversion recovery (DIR) sequence comprising a pair of inversion pulses and an excitation pulse; cause the plurality of gradient coils, the RF transceiver system, the RF switch, the pulse module, and the RF coil assembly to execute the DIR sequence and acquire MR data from an imaging subject; and reconstruct an image based on the acquired MR data; and wherein preparation of the DIR sequence comprises optimizing a first inversion time (TI 1 ) between the pair of inversion pulses and a second inversion time (TI 2 ) between one of the pair of inversion pulses and the excitation pulse to cause a first tissue of the imaging subject to be suppressed in the image and to reduce a T1 contrast between a second tissue and a third tissue of the imaging subject in the image.