The transplantation or transfusion of therapeutic stem cells has been pursued as a very active research area over the last decade and a remarkable progress has been obtained in animal disease models. To further develop cell-based therapies into the clinic, noninvasive cellular imaging techniques are warranted. These imaging techniques are needed to provide detailed information on the biokinetics of administered cells, cell-tissue interactions including preferred pathways of migration, and cell survival. Several image modalities now fulfill the requirement of being able to noninvasively and repetitively image targeted cells and cellular processes in living organisms. Among these are single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography or PET, which both use radioactive labels, and bioluminescence imaging and MR imaging. When these four modalities are compared, only MR imaging offers near-cellular resolution, with the ability of detecting only a few cells following their labeling with an MR contrast agent. In the last 2-3 years, there has been an enormous growth in the number of publications on MRI cell tracking of stem cells, predominantly in the central nervous system (CNS). It appears appropriate and timely to organize a workshop related to this young research field. We are therefore organizing a workshop entitled """"""""In vivo MR tracking of stem cell transplants in the CNS"""""""". The workshop will be held in Madison, Wl, on June 26, 2005 during the 36th Annual Meeting of The American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN) that runs from June 25- 29. This meeting was chosen because of the excellent scientific program and large number of expected attendees. Moreover, several other concurrent ASN workshops are being organized that focus on basic neural stem cell biology, with many internationally renowned speakers, and the proposed MR imaging workshop would thus reach the desired target audience.
The specific aim of this proposal is to obtain financial support for travel and lodging costs for 5 speakers, 4 of whom are coming from overseas. It is anticipated that the workshop format will allow an optimal interaction and exchange of information between neuroscientists active in the stem cell field. It will provide them with new research opportunities that are in line with current NIH roadmaps (stem cells, molecular imaging, nanotechnology). The outcome of the workshop will be published in Experimental Neurology and available for the scientific community at large.
