BioEngineering 229/Radiology 222C

Advanced Research Topics in Multimodality Molecular Imaging of Living Subjects

Covers advanced topics and controversies in molecular imaging in the understanding of biology and disease. Lectures will include discussion on instrumentation, probes and bioassays. Topics will address unmet needs for visualization and quantification of molecular pathways in biology as well as for diagnosis and disease management. Areas of unmet clinical needs include those in oncology, neurology, cardiovascular medicine and musculoskeletal diseases. The aim is to identify important problems and controversies in a field and address them by providing background and relevance through review of the relevant primary literature, and then proposing and evaluating innovative imaging strategies that are designed to address the problem. The organization of lectures is similar to the thought process that is necessary for writing an NIH grant proposal in which aims are proposed and supported by background and relevance. The innovation of proposed approaches will be highlighted. An aim of the course is to inform students on how to creatively think about a problem and propose a solution focusing on the key elements of writing a successful grant proposal. Prerequisites: none.