Awarded in 2006
Home Department: Bioengineering, Medicine
Faculty Advisor: Sanjiv Sam Gambhir (Bioengineering, Radiology)

Research Title: Multimodality Imaging of Cell Therapy for Congestive Heart Failure

Research Description: Stem cell therapy has emerged over the past decade as a promising treatment for congestive heart failure. Current clinical studies on cell therapy lack an objective method to noninvasively assess the survival and migration of stem cells following implantation. The goal of Ian’s project was to develop a novel multimodality reporter gene for labeling stem cells and monitoring their behaviors in living subjects using a combination of positron emission tomography (PET), optical bioluminescence imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Efforts are underway to develop and validate such a reporter gene in terms of its ability to lead to highly specific and sensitive imaging signals which are reflective of stem cell viability. The development and characterization of such reporter genes should provide a valuable tool for investigators in the future to accurately assess the efficacy of stem cell therapy in humans.

WHERE IS HE NOW?

Ian is an assistant professor of medicine and radiology at Stanford University.