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The UNC BRIC will revolutionize the study and treatment of complex diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. The novelty of the approach lies in the development and application of innovative, state-of-the-art imaging instrumentation and methodologies. These will enable multi-modal investigation of the etiology, progression, and treatment of specific diseases.
Investigation into the progression of disease and the effects of treatment have been hampered by the invasive nature of scientific inquiry. Illnesses that develop among the elderly are least accessible to traditional methods because of the inability to track component processes over a long period of time. Genetically engineered mice serve as excellent models of human disease states, but current approaches generally result in the destruction of animals for analysis. This precludes long term inquiry into the course of disease progression and treatment response.
Recent advances in imaging techniques have begun to allow non-invasive investigation of disease progression in small animals without the use of drugs or surgery or the need to sacrifice the model animal’s life. Imaging allows long-term studies to be performed throughout the animal’s lifetime, providing better insight into the correlation between intervention and response and enabling inquiry into how best to treat human afflictions.
A unique aspect of the UNC BRIC program is the ongoing development of a Small Animal Imaging (SAI) facility. Current technology in the SAI facility includes: ultrasound, luminescence microscopy, MRI and the development of microCT. These rapidly developing imaging technologies, for the first time, allow the resolution necessary for analysis of small animal models for common genetic diseases in humans. This multi-modal imaging of animals with various disease models allows evaluation of novel therapies for human illness and visualization of gene activity directly in the living animal. As noted above, the value of this approach lies in the ability to monitor both the progression of animal models of human diseases as well as the response to treatment, without the need to euthanize the animal after experimental intervention.
Precisely imaging small animals requires on-going development of new technology, which is spearheaded by UNC’s Nanoscale Sciences Research Group. Advances in imaging techniques will allow more cost effective longitudinal investigation of various interventions and lead to more effective treatments and understanding of efficacy over many years. This approach will enhance treatment of illnesses, especially in the aging population.
UNC’s SAI facility will ultimately be a resource serving researchers in a central facility handling the acquisition, processing and analysis, and storage and retrieval of images. The Center will provide image acquisition on a cellular level through core microscopy equipment.