MLSC grants $10 million for cancer imaging research program

The new $20 million Molecular Cancer Imaging Facility provides researchers with a wide array of technologies, including a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, a combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner, an advanced ultrasound imaging system, and multiple optical imagers for studies that use light-emitting proteins to track disease, with which to conduct preclinical studies. The facility includes the centre for Biomedical Imaging in Oncology, which houses the Lurie Family Imaging centre, the centre for Novel Experimental Therapeutics (CNExT), and Profile, an extensive cancer genomics research project, done in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which seeks to accelerate the development of personalized cancer treatments. The facility will allow physicians to better diagnose and characterize cancer, choose targeted therapies, monitor treatment efficacy, and improve the outcomes of adult and paediatric patients with cancer. The expansion project will create more than 100 construction jobs, and 15 jobs to operate the facility.