University opens $30M new research imaging center focused on liver disease
Virginia Commonwealth University on Tuesday celebrated the opening of a $30 million new research imaging center.
The Stravitz‑Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health at VCU seeks to develop new treatments that could help the millions of individuals impacted by these ailments. VCU estimated there are only about 20 such centers in the country with a dedicated PET/CT scanner for research.
The university is utilizing a Siemens Biograph Vision Quadra, which can image the entire body in one minute. Research at the institute will focus on metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, along with cancer and inflammation.
VCU noted these conditions represent growing public health concerns and a major priority for pharmaceutical and biotechnology investment.
“Our new center is a transformative step for liver and metabolic disease research,” Arun Sanyal, MD, the Stravitz‑Sanyal institute’s director and a hepatologist at VCU Health, said in a June 30 announcement from the school. “By combining cutting‑edge imaging, radiochemistry and clinical trial capability in one place, the center will allow us to move discoveries from the bench to people far more quickly and with far greater precision.”
VCU will staff the center with experts in radiology and radiochemistry. It hopes to support investigator-initiated studies, industry-sponsored clinical trials, precision-medicine projects and cross-disciplinary innovation. Those involved will use the high-tech equipment to develop novel imaging biomarkers, study disease mechanisms, and conduct first-in-human imaging studies.
Lars Johansson, one of the imaging center’s industry partners, attended the opening on Tuesday. He is chief science officer of Antaros Medical, a Swedish clinical imaging firm with expertise in drug development and disease biology. Johansson plans to collaborate with the institute to develop novel treatments for liver disease.
“The center offers a unique world class infrastructure and expertise [in an] environment that will enable precise, translational research and accelerate the development of better therapies for patients,” Johansson said in the announcement.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.