Faculty Spotlight - 2004

Portable scanners moving closer to reality
While NMR and MRI techniques enable physicians to diagnose numerous conditions and diseases, the techniques rely on devices that have major drawbacks. QB3’s Alex Pines and others are developing the next generation in imaging techniques, designed for portability, low cost, and safety.  More >

Targeting cell ‘social’ behavior
Drug treatments often indiscriminately kill both diseased and healthy cells. Distinguishing and isolating one from the other is a daunting task. How then can one eliminate diseased cells more effectively? QB3 faculty affiliate Carolyn Bertozzi has a novel reply to this difficult question: she says scientists should “engineer cell surfaces to make them better targets.”  More >

Advances in imaging
In their UCSF lab, QB3 faculty affiliate Sarah Nelson and her colleagues invent new ways to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to produce more detailed images of the brain and other organs, images that are leading to better treatment for cancer and other diseases.  More >