Collaborative Projects

The Center for Gamma-Ray Imaging (CGRI) engages in an extensive program of collaborative research with internal (within the University of Arizona) and external investigators. Our collaborators generally have independent NIH or other peer-reviewed research support. Our role varies between projects. In some cases, the collaborators are biomedical researchers for whom we provide access to imaging technology for a specific study. In other cases, our contribution is to actually transfer hardware, or designs for hardware, to the collaborating institution for incorporation into their own programs. A training component, in which we transfer knowledge of how to operate systems and software, is included in every collaborative project. There is also a reciprocal transfer of know-how and/or tangibles back to the Center.

The guiding principle for collaborative research in a P41 grant is “push-pull.” The research should provide technology and new capabilities to the collaborators, but the collaborators should also provide feedback to the Center and assist in improving the core technology. For our Center, the feedback includes modifications of data-acquisition hardware to meet the needs of the collaborators, new software specific to the collaborators, actual hardware or software supplied by the collaborator to us, access to molecular imaging methodology or data, access to new radiopharmaceuticals, access to new cell lines and animal models, and/or new tasks and data for image-quality studies.

We make contributions to the collaborators by performing collaborative animal studies on our systems in Tucson, providing hardware and/or software to collaborators, providing assistance in setting up imaging facilities based on our approaches, and/or assisting in the evaluation of image quality.

Collaborative research is coordinated within CGRI by a scientific staff member working closely with the Program Manager. Each collaborative project has a designated liaison within the Center who is responsible for communicating with the outside group and ensuring that the work progresses. The Program Manager is responsible for administrative issues, including the handling of official communication between CGRI and external institutions, collecting information on publications, and organizing contributions for the annual report.

An important facet of managing collaborations and service projects that make use of the imaging hardware resident in the Center for Gamma-Ray Imaging is ensuring that appropriate protocols are in place. A formal process for planning, reviewing, scheduling, and executing imaging experiments has been implemented that is guided by a standing committee known as MAGIC (Multi-modality Animal Gamma-ray Imaging Committee). The committee, headed by Dr. James Woolfenden, reviews the scientific feasibility of each proposed experimental protocol, evaluates what Center resources are necessary for successful imaging, and schedules time on instruments.

Active CGRI Collaborators

The current list of collaborative projects:

Algorithms and computational methods for evaluating and optimizing imaging systems

  • PI names(s): Kyle J. Myers
  • Affiliation: Food and Drug Administration, CDRH

Mesenchymal stem cells transfected with the sodium iodide symporter

  • PI names(s): Riosin Dwyer, Frank Barry
  • Affiliation: National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)

Use of molecular imaging data in external-beam therapy planning

  • PI names(s): Howard Halpern
  • Affiliation: University of Chicago

Characterization of the tumor microenvironment in a mouse model of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

  • PI names(s): Daniel Von Hoff, Haiyong Han
  • Affiliation: Translational Genomics Research Institute

Quantitative, adaptive, multi-pinhole imaging for clinical SPECT

  • PI names(s): Michael King, Arda Konik
  • Affiliation: University of Massachusetts

New imaging methods for alpha-particle radioimmunotherapy of leukemia and lymphoma

  • PI names(s): John Pagel, Oliver Press
  • Affiliation: Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center

Multi-isotope imaging in SPECT and PET

  • PI names(s): Steven Larson, John Humm, Joseph Osborne
  • Affiliation: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Optimization of SPECT systems that use photon-processing detectors

  • PI names(s): Eric Frey, Abhinav Jha
  • Affiliation: John Hopkins University

Application of evolutionary principles to maintain cancer control

  • PI names(s): Robert Gatenby, Robert Gillies
  • Affiliation: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center

Imaging of mTor modulation Alzheimer’s Disease

  • PI names(s): Salvatore Oddo
  • Affiliation: Banner Health Sun Health Research Institute

New Detector for Cardiac SPECT

  • PI names(s): Vivek Nagarkar
  • Affiliation: Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc

Tc-99m-Labeled Cytokine Ligands and SPECT Inflammation Imaging of Ischemic Hearts

  • PI names(s): Zhonglin Liu
  • Affiliation: University of Arizona

Dosmetry in Imaging with Ionizing Radiation

  • PI names(s): Christoph Hoeschen
  • Affiliation: Helmholtz Institute, Munich

Image Quality in CT

  • PI names(s): Jiahua Fan
  • Affiliation: GE Healthcare