ISMRM21 - The Emerging Role of MRI in Gene & Cell Therapy Development

The Emerging Role of MRI in Gene & Cell Therapy Development

Member-Initiated Symposium

Wednesday, 19 May 2021

Concurrent 8

14:00 - 16:00

Moderators: Jeff Bulte & Nivin Nyström

Session Number: MIS-18

Parent Session: The Emerging Role of MRI in Gene & Cell Therapy Development

Session Number:MIS-18

Organizers
Jeff Bulte, Veronica Clavijo Jordan, Nivin Nyström, Moriel Vandsburger

Overview
This Symposium was proposed by the Molecular & Cellular Imaging study group. Gene and cell therapies are revolutionizing the field of medicine. Prompted by recent successes, the FDA released a report in 2019 predicting that 10-20 gene and cell therapies will be approved each year by 2025. However, basic research and clinical trials have identified numerous systemic and molecular barriers that limit the efficacy of these technologies. Established and upcoming MR methods have much to offer to better understand and overcome these barriers. In our proposed symposium, we would like to introduce the emerging role of MR in the development of gene and cell therapies. It will first feature four talks from a diverse group of senior and junior academic scientists, describing basic principles, challenges, and opportunities of different MR approaches in the context of their own state-of-the-art research. Finally, the head of MR imaging from Pfizer will provide a forward-looking talk that discusses MR, highlighting its strengths and limitations relative to other imaging modalities. Notably, this symposium will include a wide range of technologies and disease models at both preclinical and clinical stages of research. Based on previous years’ programs, we expect that this session will complement content from educational sessions focused on molecular imaging and contrast mechanisms. Ultimately, we hope to educate our attendees on current frameworks of gene and cell therapy research centred around MR imaging and inspire their own studies for this promising field.

Target Audience
Clinicians, basic scientists, engineers, and translational researchers interested in gene and cell therapy development.

Educational Objectives
As a result of attending this course, participants should be able to:
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to: - Explain the fundamental principles of gene and cell therapies at preclinical and clinical stages of developmen; - Identify current MRI approaches that offer new insights into gene and cell therapy developmen; and - Consider how the attendee’s own research methods can be applied towards better understanding the underlying mechanisms of gene and cell therapies.

			Cell Therapy, Senior Talk: 19F MRI of Dendritic Cell-Based Therapeutics for Rheumatoid Arthritis Catharien Hilkens Newcastle University
			Cell Therapy, Junior Talk: MR Imaging of Tumour-Associated Macrophage Changes with Immunotherapy Fanny Chapelin University of Kentucky
			Gene Therapy, Senior Talk: MR-Guided Gene Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease Krzysztof Bankiewicz Ohio State University
			Gene Therapy, Junior Talk: CEST-MRI of Gene Editing Bonnie Lam University of California, Berkeley
			The Industry Perspective James Goodman Pfizer