Imaging Science Advances Research To Improve Hoosier Health, Lives
INDIANAPOLIS - Researchers at the Indiana Center of Excellence in Biomedical
Imaging have an eye on the future. They are dedicated to developing better
imaging technologies and imaging agents to study, diagnose and improve
patient health.
The IN-CEBI, located in Research II, conducts its own research efforts
and supports interdepartmental research activities at the Indiana University
School of Medicine.
A bonus for IN-CEBI's research efforts in Research II is a patient imaging
suite with more advanced technology than many hospitals. Researchers dedicated
to developing the next generation of imaging agents used for MRI and CT
scans have a space devoted to human clinical trials.
"One of the valued amenities of the IN-CEBI is its patient imaging
suites, which gives us ample space for clinical trials of the radiopharmaceuticals
developed in our labs and the newly opened Biotechnology Research and
Training Center near the IUSM campus," says Center Director Gary
Hutchins, Ph.D. "Our researchers are developing new imaging agents
for PET and CT to detect and evaluate cell growth and death. This enhances
early detection of diseases and treatment of diseases and gives us a better
look at the biochemical processes of the brain and body."
Housed in Research II are other amenities that make the IN-CEBI one of
the most technologically advanced centers of its kind. It has the latest
in imaging tools, including PET (positron emission tomography), a PET/CT
(the latest in imaging modalities combing the in vivo precision of PET
with the anatomical accuracy of computed tomography), 3 Tesla MRI (magnetic
resonance imaging), an angiography suite for the development of minimally
invasive diagnostic and therapeutic methods for vascular disease and cancer,
as well as small animal imaging scanners designed and built at the center.
Within the confines of Research II and the BRTC, which was dedicated
in April, the center features a patient imaging suite, chemistry labs
to develop radiopharmaceuticals for clinical and research use and an instrumentation
facility to develop new imaging technology.
There was little in the way of imaging research support services at IN-CEBI
before Dr. Hutchins joined the faculty in 1992. Dr. Hutchins is vice chairman
for research in the Department of Radiology and John W. Beeler Professor
of Radiology. His research focus is on quantifying biological processes
in vivo as they apply to the cardiac autonomic nervous system and its
disruption in disease, cancer cell growth and death, and the brain's response
to sensory, cognitive or pharmacologic stimulations.
Over the past decade, physiologic-based imaging techniques have been
incorporated into numerous research programs through the collaborative
efforts of Dr. Hutchins and his colleagues in the IU Department of Radiology
with individual program investigators in cancer, cardiovascular and neuroscience
research. Those efforts have resulted in the incorporation of imaging
in 160 grant awards or contracts. The total funding for these awards is
approximately $58 million.
One area of research which has greatly expanded under the umbrella of
the IN-CEBI is the Interventional Radiology Research Laboratory. A relatively
new field of radiology, the focus of the IRRL is devising new technologies
that are more effective and less invasive for treating arterial disease,
management of dialysis access and less toxic drugs for liver cancer.
Gordon McLennan, M.D., assistant professor of radiology, has directed
the IRRL for two years. The lab is in the growth process and under Dr.
McLennan's leadership has grown from two radiology technicians to seven
full-time employees, including two research fellows, and has received
more than $300,000 in external funding.
The IN-CEBI was made possible by nearly $28 million in grants and internal
university support. Grants from Indiana's 21st Century Research and Technology
Fund, the National Cancer Institute and Lilly Endowment, Inc., have been
awarded to support center activities. Seed funding and space for the program
were contributed by the IU Department of Radiology and the School of Medicine.
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Media Contact: Mary Hardin
317-274-7722
mhardin@iupui.edu
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