PET Scanner Arrives at Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Center
Michigan's first total body PET/CT scanner arrived May 9 at the Michigan State University Radiopharmacy in the Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Building. The total body scanner can scan patients with cancer much faster and more complete, from head to toe in a single scan in as little as 60 seconds (compared with 40 minutes on conventional imaging).
BAMF Health will begin using this equipment to treat patients for prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors in July. Using molecular imaging and molecular targeted radiation therapy, the company provides patients with what it calls intelligence-based precision medicine.
Making a Difference for Kids Like Alex
Foundation, researcher join forces to treat childhood cancer
A month before Alex Mandarino’s third birthday in 2011, his parents Tony and Katie noticed something was just…off. Normally an energetic, strong, independent kid, Alex became clingy. More needy than normal.
“Our pediatrician was extremely thorough, and a series of tests at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital revealed much more than we ever wanted to or thought we would know,” said Tony Mandarino, a 2001 Michigan State University Broad College of Business alumnus.
Alex was later diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a difficult to treat form of pediatric cancer, which affects 800 kids in the U.S. each year.* As Katie quickly went from being full-time educator to full-time nurse, the Mandarinos desperately sought relief for Alex from the horrible pain he was enduring, much of which came in the form of treatment.
What is an isotope?
Spartan researchers help show how small changes in an atom's nucleus can make a big impact on research in medicine, astrophysics and more In 1922, British scientists Frederick Soddy and Francis William Aston were awarded Nobel Prize medals in chemistry for their groundbreaking work in discovering isotopes.
Now, a century later, Michigan State University is helping launch the next chapter in isotope history. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility and the most powerful isotope-making accelerator on the planet, opens on MSU’s campus this spring.
Facility for Rare Isotope Beams opens its doors to discovery
Michigan State University’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, opened its doors to discovery with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 2 May. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., cut the ribbon to officially mark the start of FRIB’s scientific mission.
“Returning home to Michigan to unveil the FRIB—which began construction when I was Governor—is a testament to the hard work that it took to get to this point and the pivotal role this facility will play in making America the global leader in rare isotope nuclear science research,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Along with boosting the nation’s innovative capacity and global competitiveness, this facility will help us discover new things about our universe and ourselves, find new ways to diagnose and treat cancer, and strengthen our national security.”