Funded by an $11 million grant from NYSTAR (New York State Office of Science, Technology & Academic Research), the Integrated Imaging Center at Columbia University will develop new technologies to improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. The Center is expected to create major economic opportunities for New York's biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical instrumentation industries.

NYSTAR funds will allow this world-renown center to expand and grow its research in the study of brain function and treatment of disease. The STAR Center's world-class team, which includes Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel, will seek to utilize various brain imaging techniques to create a better understanding of brain function. It will study brain disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It will also develop improved resolution MRI methods and apply other imaging techniques such as two photon microscope and fMRI to study brain function and develop medical applications.

PET scan of lower serotonin function in a patient with major depression (right), compared to a healthy volunteer (left).

The research that will be conducted at this STAR Center will cement Columbia University's renown as a world leader in neuroscience research and will likely lead to the development of new technologies to diagnose and treat neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, an area of such importance that the pharmaceutical industry devotes more than 20 percent of its research and development expenditures. The potential for improvements in health, savings in health care costs, and economic growth for New York's growing biomedical industry is significant.

The Role of PET
To evaluate new treatments, investigators will look at the early biochemical changes in Alzheimer's disease and in genetically engineered mice with abnormalities that are comparable to Alzheimer's disease. Investigators plan to determine the optimal combination of pre- and post-synaptic measures of dopamine turnover to develop new treatment approaches for Parkinson's disease. Major psychiatric disorders such as mood and psychotic diseases will be characterized biochemically to assist in diagnosis.

New treatments will be evaluated in genetically engineered mouse models and in healthy volunteers and patients.

For more information about the Integrated Imaging Center, go to:
http://www.nystar.hs.columbia.edu/

To learn more about NYSTAR, please visit:
http://www.nystar.state.ny.us/