The Cancer Molecular Imaging Program Area is composed of 18 members, spanning 7 Departments within UCLA. In the past competing cycle, investigators from this Program authored 265 publications, of which 232 (88%) were inter-programmatic and 89 (34%) intra-programmatic. 71 (27%) were placed in high-impact ournals. Nine members of this Program Area used 6 out of the 8 Shared Resources that are currently funded by the JCCC. During the current funding year, peer-reviewed funding totaled $4.4 million in total costs, including $3.8 million from the National Cancer Institute. As with other Program Areas, JCCC fosters a number of interactive activities and many of the Shared Resources that support investigators in the CMI Program Area. During the current grant cycle, funds from the JCCC in the form of CCSG Developmental Funds, institutional support and philanthropic gifts to the CMI Program Area total $317,584. These funds supported Seed Grants, recruitment/retention &Program Area Leadership support. Four of the Program Area Members were the recipients of JCCC support. Molecular imaging is a powerful set of approaches to reveal functional changes in living subjects that has enabled compelling insights into human health and disease. The newly proposed JCCC Cancer Molecular Imaging Program Area brings together investigators with a common focus on employing molecular imaging tools to investigate cancer in living individuals, from laboratory rodent models to patients. The efforts of CMI investigators are organized around four main themes. 1) Development of instrumentation and analytical tools. Moving molecular imaging forward requires constant development and improvement in instrumentation to provide higher resolution, sensitivity, and quantitative measurement of biological molecules and processes in vivo. 2) Development of novel molecular imaging approaches. CMI Program Area members have been leaders in the field of molecular imaging, with significant contributions in novel tracers, imaging gene expression using reporter genes, developing animal models to exploit the advantages of non-invasive, repeated and quantitative imaging, and in development of multimodality imaging instrumentation and analytic procedures. These tools are employed in the study of cancer initiation and progression, metastatic spread, and response to treatment, in preclinical models. 3) Imaging immune responses and response to immunotherapy. An important focus of the CMI Program Area is to develop the tools to monitor immune responses and follow the effects of cancer immunotherapy in living individuals. 4) Translation of imaging technologies to clinical contexts for cancer patients. Ultimately, the goal of the CMI Program Area is to improve the understanding, detection, and treatment of cancer. CMI Program Area members pursue translational goals that include both determining the best use of currently available molecular tracers in the clinic (e.g., FDG-PET, FLT-PET) as well as translating new molecular tracers through clinical evaluation.
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