University invests in groundbreaking research centre

Researchers at the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School are working to drive innovation in healthcare and treatment.

The University of Hull is investing in a ground-breaking research centre to help doctors detect the early signs of three life-changing illnesses.

The Molecular Imaging Research Centre will be used to provide the diagnostic tools to help doctors identify the early signs of cancer, heart disease and dementia.

The £7.2 million centre, being built at Hull’s Castle Hill Hospital, is the result of a partnership between the University, the Daisy Appeal, and Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals

It builds on the University’s high-calibre research which has resulted in new imaging technologies and inventions which have already instigated six patent applications,

The University of Hull is one of very few universities nationwide to have its own dedicated PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Research Centre.

This state-of-the-art facility uses medical imaging technology for research and the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer and dementia.

Steve Archibald, Professor in Molecular Imaging at the University of Hull, said: “The new centre will enable us to translate new technologies and treatments into a clinical setting enabling doctors to provide earlier detection and better treatment for their patients.”

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a molecular imaging technique that allows a disease to be located and then understood at a biomolecular level to improve treatment.

The PET-CT scanner takes pictures from all around the body and uses a computer to put them together.

The patient is injected with a small amount of radioactive isotope – produced in a machine called a cyclotron which uses powerful electromagnetic fields to cause a nuclear reaction – to pinpoint the location of cancerous cells or other types of disease.

Professor Archibald added: “We have developed collaborations across the UK and around the world and have pioneered new imaging technologies that are now ready to take into clinical trials. We have six patent applications filed on our inventions.

“Now we are building on this success by taking our research expertise direct to a clinical setting at the hospital.” 

Work on the new centre is scheduled for completion by March 2019.