The goal of the Quarles lab is to develop innovative translational imaging technologies that can accelerate brain cancer and drug discovery research and transform patient care. Neuroimaging is critical for the effective management of patients with brain tumors and directly informs surgery, radiotherapy, and neurooncology. Thus, a core focus of the program is to discover and translate PET/MRI bioimaging methods that directly impact these specialties. We plan to broadly pursue three specific aims. In Aim 1, we will develop bioimaging methods for surgical applications. We will establish PET/MRI methods that report on tumor cellular, physiologic and metabolic phenotypes, improve surgical resecti...

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The goal of the Quarles lab is to develop innovative translational imaging technologies that can accelerate brain cancer and drug discovery research and transform patient care. Neuroimaging is critical for the effective management of patients with brain tumors and directly informs surgery, radiotherapy, and neurooncology. Thus, a core focus of the program is to discover and translate PET/MRI bioimaging methods that directly impact these specialties. We plan to broadly pursue three specific aims. In Aim 1, we will develop bioimaging methods for surgical applications. We will establish PET/MRI methods that report on tumor cellular, physiologic and metabolic phenotypes, improve surgical resections through more accurate visualization of tumor extent, and facilitate image-guided diagnosis and genetic and molecular tissue characterization. In Aim 2, we will develop bioimaging methods for radiotherapy guidance. To inform bioimaging-based adaptive trials we will establish the biological mechanisms that drive radiotherapy induced changes in PET/MRI metrics and characterize serial imaging changes in patients undergoing radiotherapy. We will initiate a clinical trial that leverages bioimaging PET/MRI for improved tumor targeting while minimizing dose to healthy tissue via hypofractionated dose escalation. In Aim 3, we will develop bioimaging methods for neuro-oncologic applications. We will integrate serial biospecimen and PET/MRI data to build tools for early prediction of tumor recurrence and therapy response. Preclinical studies will be used to develop optimal therapy-specific bioimaging markers that enable early response assessment to emerging treatment strategies and interrogation of drug-tissue interactions. To facilitate window of opportunity trials, we will also establish bioimaging techniques to inform surgical localization of samples collected for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluation.

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