Training/Dissemination-Resource for Molecular Imaging Agents in Precision Medicine

TRAINING AND DISSEMINATION SUMMARY We consider the NCBIB to be primarily about dissemination of our technology. The most important kind of dissemination is training that we can provide not only to individuals in the molecular imaging community, but also to those involved in the allied health sciences and other areas of STEM. We have significantly enhanced both the training and dissemination aspects of the NCBIB in this renewal application. In terms of training, we intend to reach out more actively to students in the community. A second innovation in education and training is to link our NCBIB to two other imaging-centric NCBIBs, one at Washington University and the other at Harvard/MGH, whereby we will not only share reagents but also speakers at our webinars and symposia. We will co-sponsor more educational activities than in the past, having recently established formal ties to programs at the annual meeting of the World Molecular Imaging Society. Dissemination has been enhanced through closer ties to large pharma and equipment manufacturers, as well as through founding our own start-up companies, one dedicated to molecular imaging and theranostic agents and the other to developing artificial intelligence solutions to issues in molecular imaging and therapy. That latter company, an outgrowth from the Informatics Core in the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Johns Hopkins, will help to produce software that can be downloaded from our website by interested parties. We have come to recognize that by partnering with industry we can perform or be involved in the kinds of studies necessary to advance a product to FDA approval, and its attendant widespread dissemination. Education in entrepreneurship is another new aspect to this core. The aforementioned activities will occur in concert with the usual means of dissemination, including publication in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, invited lectures and other media. Because we generate clinical agents, we will also provide materials, protocols and IND cross-references when requested, and through material transfer agreements, if necessary. We have also learned the importance of one-on-one training, with the leaders of this core contributing many hours in this fashion, not only for disseminating our domain expertise but also as a recruitment tool to the NCBIB.