41701_SJHMC_1-857853298.e$S_41701_SJHMC 11/30/12 9:55 AM Page 24
by Catherine Menor
Research Update Barrow-ASU Pre-Clinical Imaging Center proves to be an important resource for Arizona The Barrow-ASU Center for Preclinical Imaging opened at St. Joseph’s Hospital in 2009 with little fanfare. Today, Valley scientists are singing its praises—and winning grants and awards because of the facility, which features a powerful 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit and PhD-trained staff who are experts in research imaging. “Our center is designed to be a core center for the Valley, a resource that researchers throughout metropolitan Phoenix can use,” says Greg Turner, PhD, program manager of the center. Scientists from Barrow Neurological Institute, the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Arizona State University (ASU), Midwestern University and other organizations use the center for research into a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, cancer and spinal cord injury. Dr. Turner hopes that list will grow. One of those scientists is Kevin Bennett, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering at ASU. The National Institutes of Health recently awarded Dr. Bennett $400,000 to conduct research into more effective ways of detecting the onset of kidney disease through the use of MRI technology. Key to that award, says Dr. Bennett, was the Center for Preclinical Imaging. Dr. Bennett says that the center factored heavily into his decision to join ASU in the first place and that its technology and staff have helped him win multiple grants for research in areas ranging from diabetes to cancer. Another fan of the center is Ryan McLemore, PhD, an orthopedic scientist at ASU. In October, Dr. McLemore and four of his colleagues at ASU received the Jeannette Wilkins Award
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Barrow Magazine Research Update
for their research into antibiotic-loaded bone cement used in treating infections after joint replacement surgery. The team of researchers used the 7T MRI to study how antibiotics disburse after implantation and how the technique could be improved. “We could not have done this research without the Center for Preclinical Imaging,” says Dr. McLemore. The center is a partnership between ASU and Barrow, and part of Barrow’s Keller Center for Imaging Innovation. The center’s 7T Bruker BioSpec® preclinical MRI is the only preclinical MRI technology in the Phoenix area. The 7T MRI has a much higher strength than the typical 3T MRI used in patient scanning. “With the higher field magnets, you get higher signal and less noise—sharper images in less time than MRIs with lower fields. The 7T allows us to look at structures that are just one-hundredths of an inch in size,” says Dr. Turner. Researchers use the super scanner to study the mechanisms behind diseases and to investigate treatments before they go into patient clinical trials (hence the name “Pre-Clinical”). The 7T MRI speeds up research and produces more reliable findings. The center’s staff helps researchers design their studies and analyze their data. The Barrow-ASU Center for Preclinical Imaging is good for Arizona, says Dr. Turner. “Combining the resources of different biomedical research institutions makes everyone stronger. Applications to NIH are stronger when you have access to a resource like the 7T,” he says. Dr. McLemore, for one, is in complete agreement. “The center has really opened up a lot of opportunities here that didn’t exist before,” he says.
Above: Greg Turner, PhD, with the 7T MRI in the Barrow-ASU Center for Pre-Clinical Imaging.