NSF and NIH invest significantly in the universitys imaging capabilities

“I don’t know if everyone understands the significance regarding the major investments NSF and NIH are making in expanding Illinois' scientific capabilities,” remarked Andrew Alleyne, associate dean for research within the College of Engineering. Alleyne was reacting to news that the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health recently announced the awarding of two major instrumentation grants for projects proposed by faculty within the college.

“We were recently awarded an NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant for a project entitled, “Acquisition of a Molecular Imaging Instrument for Dynamic Material and Biological Systems,” said Stephen Boppart, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, bioengineering, and medicine. “This instrument, for the first time, brings state-of-the-art nuclear imaging capabilities to campus, using the techniques of positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography, as well as more standard x-ray computed tomography, all in a single flexible unit. This is a ‘micro’ version, primarily used for small samples, small biological specimens, or small animal models. Larger versions are routinely used on humans for medical applications.

Stephen Boppart

“This was truly a campus-wide effort involving over 50 faculty and staff across multiple departments, units, and colleges,” added Boppart, who was the principal investigator for the grant. “As far as I know, this was the first time NSF has awarded a grant for the acquisition of this type of instrument. The reviewers of our proposal clearly identified that we brought together leading researchers across many different non-biological and biological research areas, as opposed to medical research areas.

Boppart noted that, in the past, NSF and others have viewed PET/SPECT/CT as modalities for purely medical applications, which NSF does not support.

“We broke out of that view and presented many novel ways for using nuclear imaging to track 3-D dynamics of molecular species in materials, biological specimens, and even environmental samples.” Five key focus areas were outlined in the group’s proposal:
•    Non-destructive evaluation and functional characterization of materials
•    Nanoparticle biodistribution and physiological integration
•    Stem cell tracking and functional integration
•    Nutritional metabolomics
•    Microbial and molecular dynamics in environmental media

As a shared-user resource for a wide range of investigations across campus, the microPET/SPECT/CT scanner will join many other new and developing imaging systems at the Beckman Institute.

William O'Brien

William O’Brien, principal investigator for a National Institutes of Health S10 Shared Instrumentation Grant, entitled, “High-Resolution In Vivo Ultrasound Imaging using the VisualSonics Vevo 2100 System,” learned that his team’s proposal was also successful. O’Brien is a professor in the departments of electrical and computer engineering, bioengineering, and medical information sciences, and the program director of the Radiation Oncology Training Program. He is also a full-time Beckman Institute faculty member in the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory.

This high-frequency, high-resolution ultrasound imaging system will make a significant impact not only within the College of Engineering, but across campus. The college has a long history of developing some of the original technology and biological and medical uses for ultrasound, and this shared instrument will extend advanced capabilities to users across many disciplines. The fourteen investigators on this proposal came from departments throughout the college, as well as from veterinary medicine, kinesiology and community health, and molecular and cellular biology, to name a few.

“A special thanks goes to Professor O’Brien for leading this effort, and for making it clear how this high-frequency ultrasound system will further our research capabilities among users,” Boppart said. “Both of these proposals and efforts are part of our much larger Strategic Initiative on Imaging, with the help of Dr. Marina Marjanovic, program administrator, and Darold Spillman, program assistant. This initiative is leveraging our many strengths in imaging across campus, with the majority of the science and technology of imaging coming mainly from the Departments of Bioengineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering.”

“As a result of this recent NSF award, we are ‘three-for-three’ on our Major Research Instrumentation selections for campus representation in the Fall ‘08 round,” Alleyne said. “That's a really good batting average and demonstrates that our campus’ strategic infrastructure investment goals are recognized as being well aligned with the goals of the national research agencies.” Alleyne noted that Andreas Polycarpou’s recent proposal netted a nano-indenter for the Materials Research Laboratory, and Ken Christensen earned funding to develop a matched index of refraction water tunnel. Both are professors in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering.

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Contact: Andrew Alleyne, associate dean for research, College of Engineering, 217/244-4649.
Stephen Boppart, Beckman Institute, 217/244-7479.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, writer/editor.