Faculty members in BST are not only interested in cutting-edge research within individual modalities but also actively pursuing multimodality approaches to difficult detection, diagnosis, and treatment problems in medicine. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical coherence tomography (OCT), IR spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and ultrasonic imaging (US) are being merged with novel contrast media to exploit recent opportunities provided by molecular biology of cancer and other pathologies to deepen our understanding of life span and disease process and design more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Examples of group projects:
- “Integrative Neuroimaging of the Aging Brain” is a project led by Zhi-Pei Liang. New data acquisition and image reconstruction algorithms are being developed to integrate fMRI, MRS, and DTI to more precisely map the functional organization of the brain. Progress is possible through collaboration with neuroscientists and psychologists at the Beckman Institute.
- “Multimodality Molecular Imaging of Breast Cancer” is a project led by Michael Insana. Group members are combining five different imaging modalities to view important biomolecular signaling events in breast cancer progression. The emphasis is on various intrinsic contrast mechanisms and resolution scales available with different modalities related to the structure, function and biochemistry of disease progression and treatment response.
- “Targeted Contrast and Therapeutic Agents for Molecular Biomedical Imaging” is a project led by Stephen Boppart. Group members are developing injectable micro- and nanoparticles that circulate and target molecular sites specific to cancer. These agents enhance the visibility of tumor cells for imaging and can be designed to deliver drugs.