Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful tool to measure abnormalities and response to therapies of specific molecules in brain of living patients. However, there are two major barriers to use PET to obtain clinically useful information: (1) limited availability of the imaging agents and (2) suboptimal spatial resolution and sensitivity of conventional PET scanners. Professor Richard Carson will provide an overview of recent breakthroughs his team has been producing. The presentation will include
development of novel PET ligands to image glutamate receptors and GABA transporter, patient studies of a synaptic terminal  marker, synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A, and development of ultra-high resolution/sensitivity scanner NeuroEXPLORER.

Speaker: 
Richard Carson, PhD
Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and of Biomedical Engineering
Director of Graduate Studies, Biomedical Engineering
Yale University