“Molecular Theranostics: An Imager’s Perspective”
Biomedical research in the genomic era increasingly requires intensive collaboration of researchers with expertise in multiple disciplines. In this presentation, Dr. Li will illustrate how an interdisciplinary team tackles the problem of targeted drug delivery and controlling the effects of therapeutic agents.
Dr. King C. Li will present the Oct. 5 Beckman Institute Director’s Seminar at noon in Room 1005.
In order to do real-time in vivo diagnosis and treatment monitoring, an integrated imaging and therapy platform is being developed and refined. This, together with using image guided energy deposition for manipulating both the therapeutic targets and the therapeutic agents, allows unprecedented control of the therapies.
“We have demonstrated that using an interdisciplinary approach we can explore many opportunities in biomedical research that are difficult to tackle otherwise,” Li said. “The challenge is to effectively integrate scientists with multiple different backgrounds to work on common goals and create synergy.”
Speaker Biography
Dr. King C. Li is the inaugural dean and chief academic officer of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. He completed his medical training and radiology residency at the University of Toronto and an MRI Fellowship at the University of Michigan. He is a clinician, researcher, educator, and inventor in molecular imaging and radiology. His experience includes leadership, research, clinical, educational and entrepreneurial roles at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and Stanford University, as well as Wake Forest and Houston Methodist Hospital. He has written or co-written more than 140 journal articles and also holds 16 patents, with an additional six pending. Prior to coming to the U of I, he served as the senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at Wake Forest and the deputy director of that university’s comprehensive cancer center. He also was the inaugural Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar at Wake Forest, established for the recruitment of faculty whose research shows promise for generating significant intellectual property and commercialization.