Research Information
Research Interests
Molecular imaging, defined as the in vivo characterization of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level, is an attempt to image the molecular make-up of the macrofeatures currently visualized using "classical" diagnostic imaging techniques. Traditionally, detection of malignant tumor cells in a background of normal or hyperplastic benign tissue is often based on differences in physical properties between tissues, which are frequently minimal, resulting in low contrast resolution. By exploiting the developing genomic knowledge of cancer, we can identify bio-markers that are diagnostic of cancer and use these to perform molecular imaging. Our lab has significant effort in developing these bio-markers for molecular imaging of breast and prostate cancer during surgery.
Research Projects
My laboratory concentrates on research related to the development and application of Molecular Imaging technologies. Specifically, we are interested in designing novel imaging tools to image individual and multiple molecular markers of disease. We believe that imaging tissues based on underlying molecular rather than macromolecular differences will result in a substantial increase in the sensitivity and specificity of medical imaging. Some areas of active research include: the development of bio-marker targeted radiosensitizers to MR image and sensitize diseased tissue to radiation therapy; the development of bio-marker targeted fluorescence imaging agents to aid in visualization of cancer during surgery resulting in more complete resection of tumors; the development of bio-marker targeted fluorescence combination agents suitable to guide surgery and deliver therapy; the development of paradigms to image multiple markers of disease simultaneously; the development of bio-maker targeted radio ligand therapy (RLT) to combat metastatic disease in prostate and breast cancer; and the development of theranostic agents for therapeutic intervention into cancer and stimulation of the immune system to attack cancer.
Awards and Honors
Professional Memberships
Publications
- Biocompatible Nanoparticles of Coordination Polymer KGd (H2O) 2 [Fe (CN) 6]• H2O with Extremely High T1-Weighted Relaxivity: Towards Stable Cellular MR Probes Containing Two Coordinated Water Molecules on the Gd (III) Center; Vindya S Perera, Liu D Yang, Jihua Hao, Guojun Chen, Bernadette O Erokwu, Chris A Flask, Peter Y Zavalij, James P Basilion, Songping D Huang – 2014
- Molecular imaging of tumor-associated cathepsins: implication for rapid detection of human nonmelanoma skin cancer; Ethan Walker, Margaret Mann, Galia Blum, Matthew Bogyo, James P Basilion – 2014
- Peptide‐Targeted Gold Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy of Brain Cancer; Joseph D Meyers, Yu Cheng, Ann‐Marie Broome, Richard S Agnes, Mark D Schluchter, Seunghee Margevicius, Xinning Wang, Malcolm E Kenney, Clemens Burda, James P Basilion - 2014