Zhenghong Lee, PhD

Professor
Department of Radiology
School of Medicine
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Case School of Engineering
Co-Leader
Cancer Imaging Program
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Research Information

Research Interests

  • Cancer imaging
  • Stem cell imaging
  • Translational research
  • PET/CT imaging
  • SPECT/CT imaging
  • Optical imaging
  • Scintigraphy

My expertise is in molecular imaging with specialty in PET imaging with small molecule radio-tracers. I am also well-versed in quantitative analysis and can contribute to the processing of dynamically acquired PET image data for correlation with histological evaluation. Over the years, I have gained considerable experience in animal imaging using micro-scanners for small animal such as mice and rats, and clinical scanners for mid- and large size animals such as rabbits, woodchucks, canines, and pigs. Cancer imaging is the main research focus of my lab as we have been investigating the mechanisms of tracer uptake in tumors as well as evaluating the potentials for clinical utility of these tracers. My lab has also been developing novel reporter systems to study biology events associated with stem cell-based repair and regeneration in vivo.

Awards and Honors

Teacher of the Year for Teaching Residents, Radiological Physics
2013
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Teacher of the Year for Teaching Residents, Radiological Physics
2011
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Teacher of the Year for Teaching Residents, Radiological Physics
2009
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Image of the Year
2000
Society of Nuclear Medicine
Image of the Month
1999
SNIDD (before merged into Academy of Molecular Imaging)

Publications

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Metabolism of Radiolabeled Methionine in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Molecular Imaging and Biology 2014; 16(1): 44-52. PMID: 23921714

Imaging Early Stage Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells. J Orthop Res. 2013 Jun;31(6):871-9. PMID:23440976

Alpha-fetoprotein -Thymidine Kinase-Luciferase Knockin Mice: A Novel Model for Dual Modality Longitudinal Imaging of Tumorigenesis in Liver. Journal of Hepatology,55(1):96-102, 2011. PMID:21354236

[(Methyl)1-11C]-Acetate Metabolism in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 13:140-151, 2011. PMID: 20401538

Imaging Lipid Synthesis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with [Methyl-11C]Choline Correlated with Metabolites Study in vivo. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 52(1):98-106, 2011. PMID: 21149484

Emerging Therapeutic Approaches For Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs). Current Opinion in Hematology, 17:505-513, 2010. PMID: 20729733

Imaging of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplant by Bioluminescence and PET. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 48:2011-2020, 2007. PMID: 18006616

Quantitative Evaluation of FDG PET Imaging on the Woodchuck Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Histological Correlation. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 9(3):135-43, 2007. PMID: 17308952.

Multimodal and Three-Dimensional Imaging of Prostate Cancer. Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics, Vol. 29, No. 6, p.477-486, 2005. PMID: 15893911.

Pulmonary distribution and kinetics of inhaled [11C]-triamcinolone acetonide. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol. 41, No. 10, p.1603-1611, 2000. PMID: 11037987.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy
Case Western Reserve University
1997
Master of Science
University of Akron
1993
Bachelor of Science
Zhejiang University, China
1986