MRI: Acquisition of a Molecular Imaging Instrument for Dynamic Material and Biological Systems

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

0922539 Boppart "This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)." The acquisition and use of this molecular imaging instrument will enable new research directions and educational opportunities and programs that will significantly contribute to the intellectual base of knowledge in these disparate but unified areas, and do so on national and international levels. The five research areas include (1) monitoring dynamic chemical reactions within advanced self-healing materials, (2) tracking nanoparticle biodistribution and visualizing their incorporation into the physiological processes of living organisms over time, (3) following the homing pathways of stem cells and their functional significance, (4) investigating metabolomics to understand the biological and physiological basis of nutrition, and (5) monitoring the dynamic three-dimensional distributions of materials, chemicals, and microbes in environmental samples. The acquisition of this molecular imaging instrument will not only enable the rapid expansion of existing research programs, but also provide the opportunity for new directions of investigation.