Jamey Weichert, PhD serves as co-director for the newly launched Initiative for Theranostics and Particle Therapy (ITPT) at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. In addition to providing personalized treatment for patients with cancer, ITPT will establish world-class programs for theranostics and particle therapy research and education.
While ITPT is new, it builds upon well-established collaborations amongst UW researchers in such specialties as medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, nuclear medicine and medical physics. Together, the investigators will assess:
- Use of article beam radiation for difficult-to-treat cancers.
- Combination of diagnostic and treatment activities to form a single step known as theranostics.
- Personalization of radiation treatment plans.
Dr. Weichert noted that the initiative will also establish premier graduate and fellowship training programs for researchers and practitioners in theranostics, particle therapy, dosimetry and nuclear and radiochemistry.
“We’re creating a destination theranostics and particle therapy clinical center at UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center with this work” Dr. Weichert states.
Dr. Weichert is co-principal investigator with colleague Zachary Morris, MD, PhD from the Department of Human Oncology on the first ever awarded TRT P01 grant ($13M). Dr. Morris will also serve as co-director for ITPT.
Read the recent School of Medicine and Public Health article and visit the ITPT webpage for more details. The announcement was also shared by local TV station, WKOW.