The animals serve as models for study of a wide range of normal and abnormal physiological processes. Cancer studies on small laboratory animal models such as mice and rats will be the research focus, drawing on the nuclear medicine, biophysics and biomedical engineering expertise of Ackerman and Welch. Welch, likewise, is highly regarded for his work in positron emission tomography, a noninvasive, painless imaging technique that uses radioactive tracers to show chemical activities in the body and brain. Both hold joint appointments, Ackerman in internal medicine and radiology, Welch in chemistry. For instance, one project, already begun in collaboration with Jeffrey D. Milbrandt, Ph.D., professor of pathology, and Jeffrey I. Gordon, Ph.D., professor and chair of the molecular biology and pharmacology department, will use PET and MRI imaging to monitor the development of metastatic cancer in transgenic mice predisposed to develop prostate cancer.
Images taken repetitively can show the progression of the disease and the progress of the therapy.
Welch said there are numerous currently funded projects at the University where small animal imaging uses both PET and MRI technologies. For instance, Carolyn J. Anderson, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular biology and pharmacology and radiology, is working to develop radiolabeled analogs of the peptide somatostatin for both diagnosis and therapy. Using PET, she will quantify the uptake of the radiolabeled tracer in the tumor, and with MRI she will quantify the shrinkage in the tumor with therapy. While cancer research is the primary focus of the new resource, staff members will be developing novel imaging strategies that also are expected to advance small animal model research in general. These are things that make Washington University so strong.