Molecular Imaging Center Antwerp (MICA)
Copromotor involved: Prof. dr. Tim Van den Wyngaert.
The Molecular Imaging Center Antwerp was founded in 2010 as a joint venture between the University of Antwerp and the Antwerp University Hospital, and consists of a radiotracer development team, a preclinical imaging laboratory and a clinical department. From its inception, the team has attracted substantial amounts of national and international funding, established multiple collaborations with public and private partners, and has grown exponentially to a total of more than 30 co-workers. Specifically for oncology, MICA has expertise and capabilities for setting up preclinical models to evaluate novel radiotracer approaches for oncology treatment monitoring, and standardization and qualification of imaging biomarkers for use in oncology drug development, as witnessed by the many collaborations on these topics with national, international and corporate partners. These partnerships have focused strongly on developing imaging biomarkers of the hallmarks of cancer: metabolism (e.g. [18F]FDG), proliferation (e.g. [18F]FLT), apoptosis (e.g. [18F]CP18), and hypoxia (e.g. [18F]FMISO, [18F]HX4).