NIH ROADMAP GRANT AWARDED TO BME SCIENTIST
Paul Dayton has been awarded a NIH Roadmap grant for $1,451,200.00 to study the Development of High Resolution Probes for Cellular Imaging. His research title: High-Sensitivity Molecular Imaging with Ultrasound (RMI).
Recently, the development of targeted contrast agents for molecular imaging has caught the attention of the medical and scientific community. Targeted ultrasound contrast agents, microbubbles which bear adhesion ligands to specific molecular targets expressed in areas such as angiogenesis, inflammation, or thrombus have the potential to make a significant impact in the detection, assessment, and localization of pathologies otherwise undetectable with medical imaging. Because of the convenience and availability of ultrasound as an imaging technology, targeted contrast agents for use with ultrasound have the potential to rapidly transform this modality into an even more powerful clinical tool. Unfortunately, recent studies with targeted ultrasound contrast agents have failed to illustrate the sensitivity hoped for to make this technique revolutionary. In this proposal, we present a plan to increase the sensitivity of ultrasound to targeted contrast agents over an order of magnitude. Our model target for these studies is angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels), which is required for tumor growth beyond 1-2 mm in diameter. The integrin alpha(v)beta(3) is over-expressed in regions of angiogenesis, and has been shown to correlate with tumor grade. These properties make the alpha (v)beta(3) integrin an ideal target for site-directed contrast agents. This proposal describes a three-part method to achieve the desired substantial increase in sensitivity by combining a completely new contrast agent with a novel contrast agent delivery technique, and we package these improvements with the substantially improved detection strategies only possible due to the improvements in the agent and the delivery. The combined tools and experience of the Departments of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, the School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Cancer Center at the University of California, Davis, provide a unique and qualified research group for implementing this new system for molecular imaging with ultrasound.
Small Animal Imaging Resource Program (SAIRP)
University of California, Davis
UC Davis Mouse Cancer Imaging Program
Simon R. Cherry, Principal Investigator
University of California, Davis
Grant number: 1R24CA110804
http://imaging.bme.ucdavis.edu/
The UC Davis Mouse Cancer Imaging Program (MCIP) integrates our expertise and resources in small animal imaging and mouse pathology, with our leading cancer researchers, to create new opportunities and directions for studying the basic biology, treatment and prevention of cancer. The MCIP is part of the new Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging (CMGI), a 4000 sq. ft. dedicated core facility for small-animal imaging located in the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility at UC Davis. The CMGI currently has 3 microPET scanners (microPET II, microPET Focus 120, microPET P4), bioluminescence imaging (Xenogen IVIS 100), ultrasound (Siemens Antares with research interface), and 2-D digital fluorescence and autoradiography imaging (Amersham Biosciences Storm 860). As part of the SAIRP, we will be adding microCT capability and adding an upgrade to the Xenogen system to make it capable of in vivo fluorescence imaging. Mouse pathology also forms an integral part of the MCIP and is incorporated through expertise in the UC Davis Mouse Biology Program. The MCIP is enhanced by a range of important ancillary resources, including a biomedical cyclotron (CTI RDS 111) and radiochemistry program, expertise in mouse handling and physiologic monitoring, core laboratories and expertise for creating genetically-engineered mouse models, and support for networking, data handling, databases, and biostatistics.
The MCIP currently supports a range of base grants covering basic cancer biology, mouse models of human cancer, and development and validation of diagnostic and therapeutic agents for novel cancer targets. The MCIP also supports imaging for one of the Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium (MMHCC) grants (PI Cory Abate-Shen, UMDNJ). Research projects supported by the MCIP include the development of a fast dynamic CT system for small animal imaging and a low-cost PET scanner for the biology lab. Other components of the MCIP include the development of an extensive database and archiving system for data and image management, and a yearly workshop on small-animal imaging techniques and methods.
The overall goal of the MCIP is to provide cancer researchers at UC Davis and collaborating institutions with the knowledge, support and technology to carry out in vivo imaging studies in mouse models of cancer, and to further develop the technologies and methods for small-animal imaging, including radiotracer and contrast agent development, instrumentation, and quantitative data analysis.
The Whitaker Foundation
Katherine Ferrara , Principal Investigator
The Whitaker Foundation will spend out and close on June 30, 2006, after 30 years of grant-making with a focus on biomedical engineering education and research.
Grants have supported the creation of 30 new departments of biomedical engineering at colleges and universities across the United States and the construction of 13 buildings to house classrooms and laboratories. UC Davis has benefited from these grants with assistance for the Biomedical Engineering program startup and construction of the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility.
Through its competitive grant programs, the foundation has supported biomedical engineering across the board by funding research, education programs, curriculum development, fellowships, internships, textbooks, conferences, meetings, leadership development, faculty hiring, classroom and laboratory construction and renovation, building construction, industrial collaborations, government collaborations, professional societies, and international fellowships and scholarships.
Whitaker investigators have created more than 200 products and devices---including heart-assist pumps, defibrillators, and tools for image-guided surgery---and started more than 100 health technology companies over the past 27 years, according to a foundation survey.
In April, the foundation surveyed 1,220 biomedical engineers who had received funding under the foundation's Biomedical Engineering Research Grants program since it began in 1976. About half responded.
Preliminary results show that investigators have created 154 medical devices and 98 healthcare products. Some of these are for clinical use and others for research. Investigators have also begun 101 companies, obtained 278 patents and granted 125 intellectual property licenses. Twenty-six investigators reported having been responsible for new products, devices, patents, licenses and a company start-up. Results of the survey are still being assessed, but preliminary findings also show that:
- Most investigators continue to hold an appointment in an academic biomedical engineering program or department.
- Whitaker investigators have supported more than 13,000 biomedical engineering students at all educational levels.
- Almost all investigators have continued to advance the work they began under their Whitaker-sponsored research project.
Molecular Imaging Training Grant
Katherine Ferrara , Principal Investigator
Molecular Imaging is a newly emerging field in which the modern tools of molecular & cell biology are being married to state-of-the-art technology for noninvasive imaging. The goals of this field are to develop technologies and assays for imaging molecular/cellular events in living organisms. These approaches should help to lead to better methods to study biological processes and to diagnose and manage diseases. At UC Davis, we have assembled a core group of faculty who are committed to molecular imaging training and represent the key scientific components of the molecular imaging field.
The foundation for this new training program is the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering that forms the natural home for molecular imaging science. The goal of this training grant is to train outstanding imaging scientists, and to train students in sufficient depth in the biological sciences that they can apply imaging principles and methods to the study of systems in vivo. To learn more about the Molecular Imaging Training grant, please download the brochure in PDF format:here.