The Institute Of Cancer Research

(University of London)

Sutton, Surrey, UK

The Section of Magnetic Resonance

The Cancer Research UK and EPSRC Centre for Cancer Imaging

Team Leader - Novel Biomarkers and Probes

Project Leader (Staff Scientist)

Magnetic Resonance in Translational Cancer Research

The Institute of Cancer Research (a College of the University of London) is a world-class cancer research organization with nationally leading HEFCE RAE ratings. In partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, we form the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe, dedicated to research that extends from epidemiology, genetics and molecular biology, through drug discovery and development, to cancer diagnosis and patient treatment. This makes us uniquely placed to work towards our vision that people may live their lives free from the fear of cancer as a life threatening disease.

The Cancer Research UK and EPSRC Centre for Cancer Imaging focuses on translating preclinical applications of magnetic resonance and other imaging techniques to clinical tools for detection, diagnosis and assessment of cancer and combines expertise from scientists and clinicians based at both the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Both posts are concerned with developing our programme in 3 areas: identifying MR biomarkers of cancer response to novel therapeutics, developing applications of hyperpolarization in cancer, and developing novel imaging probes and approaches to recognize and report on cellular processes important in cancer. There are excellent opportunities to collaborate with other Sections in the Institute, including the CR-UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics.

Team Leader

As a Team Leader you will take responsibility for developing aspects of our Cancer Research UK funded programme, and will be expected to develop and lead new research in the areas outlined above. The candidate will have a strong record and post doctoral experience in biochemistry and in MR techniques, with their application to cellular and preclinical models. Team leaders are expected to win substantial competitive grants, publish extensively, supervise PhD students and contribute to all areas of the Section’s academic function.

The post will be at Career Development Faculty level (i.e. tenure track) with a starting salary from £42,230 p.a. to £46,964 p.a. Job no. A326

Project Leader (Staff Scientist)

As a Staff Scientist you will bring skills relevant to the research programme, taking responsibility for projects within our programme, and equipment in the Group. A PhD in an appropriate discipline (biological, physical, chemical, physiological science), significant post doctoral experience, an ability to co-ordinate, plan and execute research and routine studies to a high standard and advanced knowledge of NMR are therefore essential.

Appointment will be to the Staff Scientist scale, depending on skills and experience, (from £37,477 p.a. to £44,336 p.a.). Job no. A325

To discuss the posts further you may contact Professor Martin Leach on +44 (0)20 8661 3338 (martin.leach@icr.ac.uk).

Both posts benefit from generous annual leave entitlements and a final salary pension scheme.

For a full job description, person specification and details of how to apply please see our website at http://www.icr.ac.uk/jobs/current_vacancies/index.shtml or phone our recruitment line on +44 (0)20 7153 5475.

Closing date: 30^th October 2009

Annual workshop of the NCI-sponsored U24 Small-Animal Imaging Resource (SAIR) Program centers
Translating Small-Animal Imaging Technolog to the Clinic:
Markers, Methods, and Machines: 2009

March 7 – 9, 2009

Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center
Danforth Campus, Washington University

Washington University will again be hosting the annual workshop of the NCI-sponsored U24 Small-Animal Imaging Resource (SAIR) Program centers. The workshop, which covers a wide range of imaging modalities (optical, nuclear, MR, ultrasound, etc.), will be held March 7 – 9, 2009 at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center on the Danforth Campus. Senior representatives of all 13 funded SAIR centers and NCI Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) administrators and scientists will be in attendance and will be presenting talk/posters.

The SAIR workshop begins with dinner on Saturday evening, March 7, continues throughout the day and evening on Sunday, and concludes at noon on Monday, after the morning scientific session. It is intended as a “Gordon Research Conference”-style meeting with lots of time for questions and lively discussion.

PLENARY LECTURE
Mark Henkelman, Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto)
‘Imaging and analysis for mouse phenotyping’

EXOTICA
Moderator: Yuan-Chuan Tai, Washington University

Xiankai Sun, U. of Texas Southwestern Med Center
‘Dual Modality (MRI/PET) Probes for Imaging of Cancer’

Bastiaan Driehuys, Duke University
‘Hyperpolarized Gas MRI, from Mouse to Human’

PRE-CLINICAL IMAGING
Moderator: Joe Culver, Washington University

Zhenghong Lee, Case Western Reserve University
‘Pre-translational Studies for Human Diseases: a Few Case Studies’

Lihong Wang, Washington University in St. Louis
‘Photoacoustic Tomography: High-Resolution Imaging of Optical Contrast in vivo at New Depths’

IMAGING BIOLOGY
Moderator: Carolyn Anderson, Washington University

Charles Manning, Vanderbilt University
‘Biological Basis of FLT-PET’

Julie Sutcliffe, University of California, Davis
‘Imaging Integrins’

Sridhar Nimmigadda, Johns Hopkins University
‘CXCR4 expression in breast cancer models’

Plenary Lecture
Carolyn Mountford, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard
‘Proton MR Spectroscopy: Bench to Bedside’

Barbara Croft, National Cancer Institute
‘The SAIR Program: Future Prospectus’

MOVING TO THE CLINIC
Moderator: Richard Laforest, Washington University

Pat Zanzonico, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
‘Multi-modality Imaging Studies in Translational Oncology Research’

Joseph Kalen, National Cancer Institute
‘Imaging Innate Immunity within the Tumor Micro-environment’

Arion Chatziioannou/David Stout, UCLA
‘Preclinical Imaging and New Technologies at the Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging’

CANCER IMAGING CAM

Anne Menkens, National Cancer Institute
‘Cancer Imaging Camp 2009’

THERAPEUTIC RESPONSE
Moderator: Joel Garbow, Washington University

Craig Galban, University of Michigan
‘The Parametric Response Map’

Seung-Cheol Lee, University of Pennsylvania
‘Current Developments of Imaging Biomarkers for Cancer Treatment Response Analysis’

Jim Bankson, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
‘High-throughput preclinical search for an improved clinical response’

Matthias Nahrendorf/Alex Guimaraes, MGH/Harvard
‘Hybrid FMT-CT/FMT-MRI: the high throughput/low cost optical alternative to PET-CT in preclinical imaging?’
‘Monitoring tailored chemotherapeutic strategies using small animal imaging’

AdMeTech

www.admetech.org

AdMeTech Foundation develops strategic partnerships with academia, advocacy, industry, and government to facilitate development and implementation of accurate, affordable, accessible diagnostic tools for improved early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Specific objectives include:

• Development and implementation of effective strategy for technological innovation and related research
• Education of medical community and general public.

Imaging is the Solution:
Advanced diagnostic technologies will make a direct and profound impact on quality of care, quality of life, and health care costs, including:

• Saving men's lives
• Identifying men requiring preventive measures
• Improving early detection, and staging, of cancer which is critical for cure
• Eliminating unnecessary treatment ‐with all the related complications and costs ‐ by recognizing non‐aggressive prostate cancer
• Enhancing patient monitoring before, during, and after treatment
• Avoiding unnecessary biopsies
• Allowing for least invasive and most effective treatment:
• To be performed in outpatient clinics
• With minimal complications, discomfort and expense
• Reducing health care costs by at least $5 billion per year.

  U.S. Congress Supports AdMeTech’s Initiatives
  AdMeTech has been successfully working with members of the U.S. Congress to develop legislative initiatives calling upon the federal government to put forth the resources necessary to advance prostate diagnostics, including:

• U.S. Senate S. 1734 The PRIME (Prostate Research Imaging & Men's Education) Act;
• U.S. House of Representatives H.R. 3563 The PRIME (Prostate Research Imaging & Men's Education) Act; and
• U.S. House Resolution 353 states that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress and the Executive Branch should recognize the successful use of advanced imaging technologies in the fight against breast cancer and provide additional support for the research and development of technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment comparable to state-of-the-art mammograms.

Research Projects Planned for 2008-2010

Overall Objectives:

1) To establish an International Prostate MRI Working Group that will accomplish the following goals:

1. Expedite testing of MRI/MRS, currently considered the most promising clinical imaging technology for prostate cancer, for diagnosis and assessment of treatment and
2. Develop near- and long-term research strategy for facilitated advancement of MRI/MRS. This will include development of technical specifications, standards and quality control for clinical testing.

2) To continue expansion of a multi-disciplinary ongoing consortium/Brain Trust on Molecular Imaging of Prostate Cancer for strategic planning to stimulate novel ideas and to expedite fundamental discovery, feasibility studies and technologic innovation.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Small Animal Imaging Resource (SAIR) Program: The Future of Small-Animal Imaing in Cancer: 2007 was held at Washington University in St. Louis on March 10-12. The NCI SAIR Centers include:

1. Univeristy of California, Davis
2. University of California, Los Angeles
3. Case Western Reserve University
4. Duke University
5. Johns Hopkins University
6. Massachusetts General Hospital
7. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
8. Univeristy of Michigan
9. Stanform University
10. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
11. University of Pennsylvania
12. University of Texas Southwestern Medicine Center
13. Vanderbilt University
14. Washington University in St. Louis

This event was sponsored by the Washington University Small Animal Imaging Recource (WUSAIR) Program and the Alvin J. Siteman Comprehensive Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.