Cancer Imaging Program

Overview of the Cancer Imaging Program 

The Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) is one of four scientific programs in The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC). The program is lead by Arthur F. Gmitro, PhD, Professor of Radiology and Optical Sciences and by co-leader Evan Unger, MD, Professor of Radiology. CIP faculty come from 11 different departments and four colleges at the University of Arizona covering a broad range of cancer imaging research and expertise. 

The overall goal of the CIP is to use the tremendous power of imaging technologies, imaging methods and imaging applications to help accomplish the primary mission of the UACC, which is to prevent and cure cancer. The CIP seeks to accomplish its goal by: 1) advancing fundamental knowledge in image science as it relates to cancer; 2) developing, applying and validating imaging technologies as tools in the study of basic cancer biology, 3) improving the sensitivity and specificity of early cancer detection through advanced imaging methods; and 4) developing and implementing more effective cancer therapies using imaging biomarkers and image-guidance.

The CIP has outstanding research programs developing and exploring all of the major imaging modalities including nuclear and x-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging, ultrasound imaging, as well as the development of advanced imaging contrast agents. Preclinical and clinical cancer imaging research is accomplished in the laboratories of CIP members distributed throughout the UA campus. The research program is well integrated with key research organizations and facilities, such as the Center for Gamma Ray Imaging (CGRI), the Biological Magnetic Resonance (BMR) facility, the UA/UMC MRI Partnership facility, and the Ligand Discovery Laboratory (LDL) in BIO5. The CIP has particularly strong ties to the Department of Radiology and the Radiology Research Division housed in the Radiology Research Laboratory. The CIP is also strongly connected to the Departments of Pathology, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Radiation Oncology, and Physiology in the College of Medicine, as well as to the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program and the College of Optical Sciences.

Through collaborative research and shared goals, the CIP is integrated with the other principal UACC scientific programs, which include the Cancer Biology Program, the Cancer Prevention and Control Program and the Therapeutic Development Program. Members of the CIP actively support the UACC Imaging Core Facility and utilize it and the other core facilities of the UACC to carry out their research in cancer imaging.

Program Leaders

Arthur F. Gmitro, PhD
Evan C. Unger, MD

Membership

Biotechnology Resource Grant

Center for Gamma Ray Imaging (5P41EB002035, P.I. Harrison H. Barrett, PhD) (renewed in 2009)