Exciting Developments In Positron Emission Tomography For Oncology, Neurology, and Even Psychiatry

Sponsored by the Ewald W. Busse, MD, ScD Lectureship Endowment Fund Robert Innis, MD, PhD, specializes in the development and in vivo evaluation of novel positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands. These radioligands are first tested in animal models, then in healthy human participants, and ultimately in patient populations, with the goal of developing novel radioligands to facilitate clinical trials of novel therapeutics. To date, he and his team have developed radioligands for more than 15 targets. Dr. Innis' multidisciplinary team brings expertise in pharmacology, clinical neuroscience, animal experimentation, digital image analysis, and human radiopharmaceutical evaluation. Their current research focuses on neuroinflammation, particularly the COX system and TSPO, and investigating PDE4B and cAMP signaling with their newly developed radioligand to determine whether it is downregulated in depression. They're also developing radioligands to localize and quantify transfected genes activated by exogenously administered drugs in two systems. In addition, they're leading the development of the OpenNeuroPET Archive to facilitate data sharing and integration. A key objective is to support clinical trials of novel therapeutics using their radioligands, with several trials currently underway. Dr. Innis earned his medical degree and PhD in pharmacology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He served as a professor in psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale University from 1984 to 2001, when he transitioned to NIMH.