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What if there was a magic way to peer inside the human body to see its inner workings?
Since the late nineteenth century, X-rays have been used for scientific imaging. Today, increasingly powerful and sophisticated tools like MRI and CAT scans are common, and the need for even better tools has given rise to the field of biomedical imaging sciences—for researchers and medical experts not only to identify a problem, but also, perhaps, to figure out a way to fix it.
UH is taking a major step toward becoming a leading research institution in this vital field—thanks to a $1 million gift from the John S. Dunn Research Foundation.
The gift will help establish a collaborative environment that will address devastating disorders, such as cancer, cardiac malfunction, and neurological conditions. The Dunn Research Foundation was created in 1977 by John S. Dunn, a prominent Houston
businessman and philanthropist, who died in 1982.
With the goal of advancing cross-disciplinary research, UH is creating the John S. Dunn Chair in Biomedical Imaging Sciences.
The holder of the Dunn Chair will be a preeminent scientist who has the research and leadership capabilities to facilitate the
creation of the Institute for Biomedical Imaging Science (IBIS )—a research partnership formed by UH, The Methodist Hospital, and Weill Cornell Medical Center.
IBIS comprises more than sixty faculty members and researchers from the partner institutions. Such expertise is expected to speed advances and to increase the likelihood of receiving major grants for research and training. Also expected to grow through IBIS with the Dunn Chair are three clusters of imaging sciences at UH—neuroimaging and cognitive science,
cardiovascular imaging and informatics, and the cognitive neuroscience of development.
In the area of developmental cognitive neuroscience, UH faculty have established research programs evaluating the neural bases
of reading, math, and language disorders, such as dyslexia, as well as neurological disorders, such as spina bifida, traumatic
brain injury, and Alzheimer's disease.
The Dunn Chair and IBIS offer a unique opportunity to provide the leadership necessary to develop these imaging resources
right here in Houston.
And that's an image we can all be proud of. |
