Isotopic imaging to improve targeted alpha cancer treatments
Official title: Novel Isotopic Spectroscopy Imaging Tools for Advancing Targeted Alpha Cancer Therapies
Funded at Qscint Imaging Solutions, LLC · NIH-11177757 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project builds new imaging tools to help researchers see exactly where alpha-particle cancer drugs and their decay products go in tumors, with the goal of improving treatments for people with cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Qscint Imaging Solutions, LLC NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tucson, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $811,877 |
| NIH project number | 5R44EB035459-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11177757 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with cancers being treated by or enrolled in trials of targeted alpha-particle radiotherapies, or patients willing to donate tumor tissue or biospecimens to related research, would be most relevant to this work.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without cancers treated by alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals or those not participating in related sample-collection efforts are unlikely to see direct benefit from this grant.
What this research studies
From my perspective as a patient, the team is creating a new kind of radiation microscope that can show where tiny amounts of alpha-emitting drugs go in tissue at nearly a cellular level. The tool will also distinguish which specific radioactive isotopes are present so researchers can track decay products that might move differently or cause side effects. Developers plan to combine detailed spatial imaging with isotope-specific signals to map how carrier molecules deliver therapy and where progeny isotopes end up. That information would help scientists design safer, more targeted radiopharmaceuticals.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could make targeted alpha therapies safer and more effective by revealing where therapeutic and daughter isotopes travel and concentrate in the body.
How similar studies have gone: Alpha therapies like radium-223 have shown clinical benefit for some cancers, but isotope-specific, near-cellular imaging of targeted alpha agents is a newer, largely preclinical technology.
Where this research is happening
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Qscint Imaging Solutions, LLC
Tucson, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Moore, Jared William — Qscint Imaging Solutions, LLC
- Study coordinator: Moore, Jared William
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.