Molecular Imaging in Cancer
	James Basilion Associate Professor Department of Biomedical Engineering Case Western Reserve University, USA

James Basilion is Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Molecular imaging, defined as the in vivo characterization of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level, is an attempt to image the molecular make-up of the macrofeatures currently visualized using “classical” diagnostic imaging techniques. Classically, detection of malignant tumor cells in a background of normal or hyperplastic benign tissue is often based on differences in physical properties between tissues, which are frequently minimal, resulting in low contrast resolution.

My laboratory concentrates on research related to the development and application of Molecular Imaging technologies. Specifically we are interested in designing novel imaging tools to image individual and multiple molecular markers of disease. We believe that imaging tissues based on the underlying molecular rather than macromolecular differences will result in a substantial increase in the sensitivity and specificity of medical imaging. Some areas of active research include defining “molecular signatures” of disease, developing paradigms to image multiple markers of disease simultaneously, developing methods to image intracellular disease markers in breast cancer, and developing molecular imaging technologies that allow for intraoperative assessment of disease progression.

Speaking in the special symposium on Nanotechnology for Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment - CancerNano 2006.

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