Author: abm452

Presented by Kah-Whye Peng, PhD, Chief Operations Officer of Imanis Life Sciences, on Tuesday, May 15th at 2:00PM in Silverman Hall 3510. Reporter gene imaging is used extensively in research but the resolution and sensitivity of cell detection could be improved. Dr. Peng will discuss recent efforts by Imanis to develop the next generation of reporter genes for noninvasive imaging, focusing on how they are using the NIS reporter gene technology to accelerate development of virus, gene and cellular therapies for clinical testing.

The Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging (CAMI) is offering pilot project funding for up to 10 projects/year during each of the next three years to researchers with nascent imaging projects that will benefit from CAMI expertise in imaging method development and refinement. Selected projects will be funded for a period of one year and up to $5,000 of direct costs for imaging studies performed in CAMI. For details, refer to this flyer.

on today’s publication of their manuscript “Sulfated glycopeptide nanostructures for multipotent protein activation” in Nature Nanotechnology. The study reports on a new nanomaterial for bone regeneration, and was highlighted in Northwestern News. Portions of the micro CT work and data analysis were performed in CAMI.

The Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging is pleased to introduce a new “set it and forget it” rate of $80/hour for MRI of samples that require long scans, but relatively little setup time. Users no longer need to schedule these samples late in the day to take advantage of after-hours rates. This will improve scheduling flexibility and allow users to request MRI of in vitro samples more frequently and at more convenient times, while keeping imaging costs low. Contact Alex Waters (EAlexWaters (at) northwestern.edu) or cami (at) northwestern.edu for more information or to schedule a study.

Alex Waters and Chad Haney presented data on placenta imaging with MRI at the 25th annual International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The work is part of an ongoing collaboration with Kelly Mayo (Molecular Biosciences), Michael Fritsch (Pathology), and Tom Meade (Chemistry). The work was well received, and has important implications for understanding ways to detect placental perfusion deficits that can lead to fetal growth restriction or stillbirth. The research is funded by an I3 (Innovative Initiatives Incubator) award from NU’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.

CAMI has recently added a new service, bone mineral density imaging using microCT. Using a new hydroxyapatite phantom from QRM, we can now calibrate microCT images to quantitatively measure bone mineral density. This technique is especially useful in preclinical studies of bone regenerative medicine, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and skeletal phenotyping.

CAMI is pleased to announce the installation of new MRI-compatible animal monitoring systems from SA Instruments, generously funded by NU’s Office for Research. The new animal warming system with integrated feedback control should result in significant increases the stability of animal temperatures during scanning, and the fiber-optic temperature monitoring system will be more accurate and create fewer image artifacts. Finally, the new cardiac gating module will open up a wide array of possibilities for cardiac imaging.

CAMI has received the quadrature rat body MRI coil generously funded by Northwestern’s Office for Research. We are excited to report that we are seeing significant improvements in rat anatomic imaging.

CAMI has been recognized as the top performing core facility in 2015 by the Office for Research. The Outstanding Core Facility Awards are given to core facilities scoring in the top 10% using a score based on grant submissions, publications, education and outreach, and user base. CAMI had the highest overall score, and was awarded a commemorative plaque and $2000 for core operations at a luncheon attended by Jay Walsh, Vice President for Research; Phil Hockberger, Executive Director of Research Facilities (OR); and Jeffrey Weiss, Director of Core Planning (FSM). We are honored by this award and look forward to continuing to support the outstanding research of our user base.

CAMI has received funding from Northwestern’s Office for Research to purchase a quadrature rat body MRI coil. This will significantly improve our MR imaging capabilities in the rat abdomen and chest, and will benefit several major users. The coil has been ordered from Bruker, and will arrive in early October.