Lisa Cole
2014 Best Biological Publication Imaging Award
The 2014 Best Biological Imaging Publication was awarded to Lisa Cole, a graduate student with Professor R. K. Roeder in the Bioengineering Graduate Program, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and a collaborator with Professor T. Vargo-Gogola in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend. Cole and coworkers published a paper titled, “Contrast-Enhanced X-ray Detection of Breast Microcalcifications in a Murine Model Using Targeted Gold Nanoparticles”.
Mammography is a clinical X-ray imaging tool for the early detection of breast cancer and the paper focused on microcalcifications of hydroxyapatite mineral within breast tissue and the most common abnormality detected by mammography. The detection of microcalcifications is limited by the sensitivity and specificity of mammography. The study investigated targeted delivery of bisphosphonate-functionalized gold nanoparticles for contrast-enhanced detection of microcalcifications using computed tomography. A combination of X-ray CT and TEM imaging data demonstrated for the first time that a targeted X-ray contrast agent could be used to improve the sensitivity and specificity of X-ray imaging for the early detection of breast microcalcifications. The study was published in ACS Nano, 2014, 8, 7486-7496, DOI: 10.1021/nn5027802.
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