B.C. LEADERSHIP CHAIR IN FUNCTIONAL CANCER IMAGING

· The B.C. Leadership Chair in Functional Cancer Imaging will use novel radiopharmaceuticals, along with PET and CT scans, to track the diagnosis and treatment of cancers, with focus on breast and prostate cancer and lymphoma. This should allow doctors to provide individualized therapy best suited to the patient.

· Functional imaging is a method of looking at physiological activities within tissues or organs.

· PET, or positron emission tomography, is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that produces a 3D image of functional processes in the body using radiotracers, or isotopes.

· Computed tomography, or CT as it is usually called, creates a 3-D image of the inside of an object using a large series of two-dimensional X-rays.

· The chair has the potential to advance research into functional imaging by developing new radiotracers and potential treatments, making B.C. a world leader in the field of innovative radiotracer development.

Dr. François Bénard

• François Bénard is an MD who trained as a specialist in nuclear medicine and biotracers and is rated among the top five in his field in Canada.

• He has appointments at both the University of British Columbia faculty of medicine and the BC Cancer Agency and works closely with colleagues in radiology and also the TRIUMF research facility on the development and use of novel radiopharmaceuticals and tracers.

• He is a lead member of the recently established Centre of Excellence for Functional Cancer Imaging, which is a partnership between the BC Cancer Agency, the Children’s and Vancouver hospitals, UBC and TRIUMF and which is supported by the governments of Canada and B.C.

• Bénard has been recognized internationally for his contributions to the field of functional imaging in developing and evaluating new radiopharmaceuticals for breast cancer imaging, and whole-body PET imaging to improve understanding of the biology of cancer as well as predicting response to treatment.

• He entered medical school at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec when he was 18, having also considered becoming an electrical engineer, organic chemist and biologist.

• He chose nuclear medicine after doing a summer rotation in this field as it combines all his interests – physics, biology, chemistry and patient contact. He did further study at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Before coming to B.C., Bénard was chief of the molecular imaging centre at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke in Quebec. It was the first clinical PET centre in the country, and under his leadership expanded from three research scientists and a few assistants to having 100 people working in the imaging centre.

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Contact:

Gordon Williams

Communications Director

Ministry of Small Business, Technology

and Economic Development

250 952-0152 / cell 250 413-7316

Randy Schmidt

Associate Director

UBC Public Affairs

604 822-1266 / cell 604 828-0787

Nicole Adams

Communications Director

BC Cancer Agency

604 675-8105/ pager 604 641-5167

Judy Hamill

Manager, Public Affairs

BC Cancer Foundation

604 707-5934




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