The overall goal of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) Cancer Molecular and Functional Imaging (CMFI) Program is to use molecular and functional imaging to identify novel, imaging- based targets and advance translational applications in biomarker and drug development and treatment. To achieve this overall goal, the CMFI Program has the following four aims that focus on cancer biology and discovery, imaging agent development, biomarkers and clinical evaluation of therapies, target delineation, and drug delivery: (1) To use multimodality molecular and functional imaging to understand cancer and the tumor microenvironment; (2) To integrate chemistry and molecular biology with imaging to develop novel imaging probes, with an emphasis on clinical translation; (3) To develop noninvasive biomarkers to allow early identification of cancer, predict risk, assist in the selection of treatment and detect response; and (4) To use imaging to determine drug delivery. Over the past five years, this aim has significantly expanded to include developing theranostic agents, a key component of the Program's future directions. The identification of specific targets in cancer drives advances in novel, image-guided platforms, such as liposomes and nanoplexes, to delivery siRNA or cDNA to silence or upregulate specific targets and pathways. As a result, the four aims are interrelated within the CMFIP and among other Programs, such as Cancer Biology (CB), Breast and Ovarian Cancer (BOC), and Prostate Cancer (PC). Currently, the CMFI Program has 27 members and expertise that reflects the four Program elements. CMFI Program members have primary appointments in the departments of Radiology and Radiological Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and hold appointments in four graduate programs. Nineteen faculty members have peer-reviewed funding. A majority of the faculty is housed in the SKCCC Cancer Research Buildings I and II (CRBI/II) complex, and the Program is home to approximately 10 graduate students and 15 Postdoctoral fellows. The Program is supported by $19.8 million total costs of sponsored funding, of which $18.6 million is peer-reviewed. The Program has major interactions with the BOC, PC, Brain Cancer (BC), and Hematologic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplantation (HMBMT) Programs, and is expanding into research of pancreatic cancer and lung cancer. The were 617 publications in the CMFI Program. Of these, 202 (33%) were Intra-Programmatic, 148 (24%) were Inter-Programmatic and 149 (24%) publications were multi-institutional collaborations.
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