METHODIST, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, CORNELL
COMBINE BIOMEDICAL IMAGING EXPERTISE
Jointly Founded Institute Will Develop New Technologies, Speed Diagnostic
Advances
HOUSTON, June 11, 2007 – The Methodist Hospital, the University
of Houston, and Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University
are combining their expertise in biomedical imaging to advance discoveries
in this growing field of biomedical science and its clinical applications.
The three institutions have jointly founded the Institute for Biomedical
Imaging Science (IBIS). This Institute will create interdisciplinary
programs in the sciences of biomedical imaging and will foster joint
training programs to produce the next generation of basic and applied
scientists. Biomedical imaging includes magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI), CAT scans and other high technologies ranging from molecular
imaging to nanotechnology to computer science.
These techniques are used to observe the activities of organs,
cells and molecules with the aim of better diagnosis and treatment
of many disorders, including those caused by cancer, cardiac malfunction
and neurological conditions.
IBIS will bring together a critical mass of scientists from the
three partner institutions to work toward developing new technologies
and toward improving and extending existing ones. The combined expertise
is expected to speed such advances and to increase the likelihood
of receiving major grants for research and training.
“The possibilities for collaborative research by this consortium
are endless,” said Dr. King Li, the director of the IBIS and
Chair of Radiology at the Methodist Hospital. “We hope to
attract research grants that will lead to discoveries in new technologies
and techniques to better unearth diseases at their earliest stages.”
“We are establishing a unique research environment, with
as many as 50 scientists working together from the three institutions
that already are aligned through academic affiliations,” said
Ioannis Kakadiaris, chair of the IBIS steering committee, professor
of computer science and electrical engineering, and director of
the Computational Biomedicine Lab at the University of Houston.
“We are thus positioning ourselves to be on the forefront
of discoveries in biomedical imaging.”
About The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital is one of the nation’s largest private,
non-profit hospitals with 935 operating beds. The Methodist Hospital
is affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian
Hospital. Dedicated to providing the highest level of patient care,
Methodist is the site of numerous medical breakthroughs, such as
the world’s first multiple-organ transplant in the 1960s,
gene therapy for prostate cancer, and the first islet cell transplants
in Texas. The hospital is consistently named among the country’s
top hospitals in numerous specialties in U.S. News and World Report’s
annual guide to America’s Best Hospitals. Methodist was recently
named No. 9 on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work
For” list for 2007. Methodist’s medical staff includes
hundreds of physicians listed in The Best Doctors in America.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
About Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College – located in New York City –
is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and
the advancement of the art and science of medicine. Weill Cornell,
which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching
of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based
preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians
and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge
research in such areas as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy,
geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine,
AIDS, obesity, cancer and psychiatry – and continue to delve
ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to
unlock the mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions
that result in serious medical disorders. Weill Cornell Medical
College is the birthplace of many medical advances – from
the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis
of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and
birth in the U.S., and most recently, the world’s first clinical
trial for gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Weill Cornell’s
Physician Organization includes 650 clinical faculty, who provide
the highest quality of care to their patients.
For more information about The Methodist Hospital, visit www.methodisthealth.com.
For more information about Weill Cornell Medical College, visit
www.med.cornell.edu.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom
at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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