Nuclear Medicine Research

The clinical nuclear medicine research is done in the existing space of the Nuclear Medicine Division and we have not needed any dedicated space exclusively for clinical research. The facility and equipment is excellent. A year ago we authored or co-authored over ten publications/papers/abstracts on positron emission tomography (PET). We have maintained a record of sustained productivity in scholarly activities and research every year. Our past publications have included almost every system or areas of the body including cardiovascular nuclear medicine, radionuclide therapy, GIT nuclear medicine, CNS, pulmonary system, genito-urinary system, skeletal system, oncological applications and dual photon or dual energy x-ray absorptiometry for diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Our most recent clinical papers and publications are related to positron emission tomography and gastric emptying studies. Dr. Singh and Dr. Greenspan are co-investigators on a large 10 million dollar NIH/NCI Grant (P50-CA-103130 Wynn Volkert, P.I.) titled “Center for Single Photon-emitting Cancer Imaging Agents” and co-investigator on another grant titled "Preparation of Low Valent Tc(I) Imaging agents" for $367,500 (Jeff Smith PI). Dr. K. Katti, PhD, professor of radiology in our department, has received a 3.1 million dollar grant for nano-colloid research. As these pharmaceuticals become suitable for potential clinical applications, our clinical faculty will get the opportunity to play a major role in participation as we did with Sm-153 EDTMP (Quadramet) and Tc-99m HMPAO (Ceretec) in the past.

Fundamental and translational nuclear medicine research is conducted at the Research Service at the MU-affiliated Truman Memorial VA Hospital. This research is primarily focused on developing and assessing novel radiopharmaceuticals for molecular imaging and targeted radiotherapeutic agents for treatment of human cancers. The space utilized for Nuclear Medicine Radiopharmaceutical Sciences research includes the Biomolecular Imaging Center (BIC), which houses offices for faculty and trainees and laboratories for synthesis and characterization of radiolabeled compounds for imaging and/or therapeutic studies in animal models. The BIC is located in 6,500 sq. ft. of contiguous space and equipped with state-of-the-art micro-imaging instrumentation. The imaging instrumentation in the BIC includes a Philips Mosaic Small Animal PET system, a Siemens/CTI Micro-SPECT/CT instrument, a Siemans/CTI Micro-CT instrument, an In Vivo Fluorescence/Bioluminescence instrument (Xenogen Corp. IVIS 200 series), and a 7T Micro-MRI instrument (Varian). All instruments are digitally linked to provide capabilities for fusion of anatomical and functional images. Three-dimension volume rendering and data visualization is accomplished using the Amira graphics software platform from TGS, Inc. The capabilities of the BIC provide nuclear medicine researchers outstanding capabilities for performing non-invasive imaging studies on normal and diseased animal models and for development and assessment of novel radiolabeled bioconjugates for molecular imaging and therapeutic applications. In addition to the BIC, approximately 2,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and office space in the Research Service houses research programs of three radiology/nuclear medicine faculties (Drs. W. Volkert, J. Lever and C.J. Smith).