ERC funds Jerusalem hospital PET scanner

The European Research Council (ERC) will fund a PET (positron-emission tornography) scanner at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, to investigate brain cancer. The project will receive €1.65m.

The scanner will be used in non-radioactive imaging pre-clinical trials to test the efficiency of a non-radioactive ‘hyperpolar substance’. The substance, described as a ‘breakthrough’ and unique in the world, was discovered by scientists in an earlier experiment and can be used in MRI scans. It is hoped the substance will be of use to patients with brain cancer and diseases, as well as neurological disorders.

The ERC will fund the study, headed by Dr Rahel Katz-Brill, which requires the purchase of the PET scanner, which is often used to diagnose cancer and the diffusion of cancerous cells. If successful, clinical studies could follow and the substance could come to also be used on children and pregnant women.