Molecular Imaging Research
University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University have a strong tradition of innovation and leadership in molecular imaging, strengthened by industry partnerships to develop and deploy novel technology and techniques. The research team encompasses a multi-disciplinary team including physicians, scientists, technologists, radiopharmaceutical production staff, and graduate students. Our research aims to develop and translate new molecular imaging agents, support the expansion of targeted molecular therapies to validate and develop new instrumentation and image processing technologies. UH / Case Western Reserve University houses infrastructure that supports research along the entire chain of molecular imaging – from radioisotope production to image analysis. Researchers have access to equipment including a cyclotron, a GMP radiopharmaceutical production facility, clinical and pre-clinical PET/CT scanners, a PET/MR scanner, and computing resources.
Molecular imaging agents are developed and tested in a pre-clinical environment, including variously labeled peptides, proteins, antibodies, and antibody fragments for PET, optical, ultrasound, and photoacoustic imaging. Multimodal molecular imaging agents that can provide complementary and synergistic information via combinations of these imaging techniques are also in development. In addition, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University are expanding the critical roles that molecular imaging can play in image-guided drug delivery to cancer and other diseases with biocompatible/biodegradable nanomaterials (e.g., silica-based, polymer-based, among others).
Research interests include quantitative imaging biomarkers of treatment response, automated analysis of 18F-NaF PET/CT imaging, machine learning applications to PET/CT and PET/MR image analysis, quantitative harmonization of PET scanners, and PET/MR imaging, among others.
University Hospital and Case Western Reserve University's molecular imaging research program is enriched by its many collaborative relationships with other departments and institutions. Notably, collaborations between UH, Case Western Reserve University and industry partners, including Philips Healthcare and MIM Software, have led to multiple joint molecular imaging research projects.