The Department of Nuclear Medicine participates in a number of national multi-center research studies and is part of National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) data collection. The department is also involved in American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) trials in conjunction with radiation oncology. Below are current department research activities:
- Clinical quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging using PET tracers such as Rb-82 and [N-13] ammonia. This is a series of myocardial perfusion experiments quantifying coronary artery perfusion with Rb-82 chloride, a PET perfusion tracer. (Richard Brunken, MD & Frank Difilippo, PhD)
- Ongoing multicenter trial to evaluate the novel imaging agent I-124 G250 antibody. This is a positron emitting antibody for imaging patients with renal cell carcinoma. (Shyam Srinivas, MD)
- Novel sensitive and specific method of parathyroid imaging using CT, I-123 and Tc99m sestamibi. Finding were published in the 12/08 issue of Journal of Nuclear Medicine. (Donald Neumann, MD, PhD)
- Collaborating with the pulmonary department to develop methods to image hypoxia in adults with asthma. (Donald Neumann, MD, PhD & Frank Difilippo, PhD)
- Collaborating with the pulmonary department in a multi-institutional trial to imaging primary pulmonary hypertension using FDG-PET. (Donald Neumann, MD, PhD & Frank Difilippo, PhD)
- Nuclear imaging of the brain. This primarily focuses on localizing epileptic foci for patients with seizure using FDG-PET and SPECT imaging. Developing novel PET imaging protocols to differentiate radiation necrosis and tumor recurrence in patients that underwent radiation treatment for brain tumor. (Guiyun Wu, MD)
- Clinical SPECT/CT and PET/CT imaging for assessment of treatment response for patients with cancer. Presentations of these findings have been made at the national meetings of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, American College of Nuclear Physician and Radiological Society of North America. (Sankaran Shrikanthan, MD)
- Multiple collaborative research efforts within and outside of the department to develope a unique high resolution animal imaging SPECT/CT system that can achieve 1mm resolution when imaging Tc99m tracer activity in mice. (Frank Difilippo, PhD)
- Engineering a peptide based molecular platform coupled to a high throughput screening system that will enable efficient search for lead polypeptide compounds against tumor targets. Screening for compounds binding to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor type 2 (VEGFR2) which is a major factor in tumor angiogenesis. (Steve Shih Lin Huang, MD, PhD)
