R&E Grant Provides First Step in Years of Funded Research
Janet F. Eary, M.D., admits it has been a long time since she thought about the study in which she used Tc-99m Neoglycoalbumin (NGA) for functional hepatic imaging following radiation therapy. So long, in fact, she didn't immediately remember that the study was funded by a 1987 RSNA Research Seed Grant.
 Janet F. Eary, M.D. University of Washington, Seattle |
That's what more than 20 years of research will do. But if the details of her first study were initially hazy, Dr. Eary was clear on the fact that the RSNA grant was a stepping stone to the millions of dollars in funding she has since received.
"I've had National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding ever since then, but for a different topic entirely," said Dr. Eary, a professor of nuclear medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. "The seed grant enabled me to become familiar with the process of writing a grant proposal—focusing it, designing a project and interacting with a funding body in a review.
"My seed grant wasn't my subsequent research focus, but it was a terrific way to get started," Dr. Eary continued. "I ended up doing a lot more research for many years in other areas, but a lot of them had to do with functional imaging."
Dr. Eary also serves as the co-principal investigator of the University of Washington, NIH-sponsored PET in Cancer Program and the principal investigator for the University of Washington Cancer Consortium Imaging Program. She is not alone among R&E grant recipients who have received considerable subsequent grant funding—a recent survey found that, on average, each dollar awarded by the R&E Foundation generated more than $30 in subsequent funding.
Molecular Imaging Agents are Current Focus
Dr. Eary currently serves as principal or co-principal investigator on more than a dozen funded projects. Her studies, results of which have been published in more than 150 articles and book chapters, include developing protocols for imaging and treatment in hematologic malignancies using radiolabeled antibodies at high doses. She has also done translational work in evaluating new biologically specific imaging tracers, as well as biomarker validation studies, primarily relating to cancer.
 Today, the research of 1987 RSNA Research Seed Grant recipient Janet F. Eary, M.D., focuses on the characterization of molecular imaging agents, how to use them and their validation in clinical studies. Much of her work involves studying sarcomas. Here a sarcoma is depicted in PET/CT fusion (right) and in an analysis PET image of the tumor surface (top). |
"The studies all have to do with characterization of molecular imaging agents, how to use them and their validation in clinical studies," said Dr. Eary. "This is basic translational research looking at different levels and the use of biologically specific imaging agents for learning about disease and its treatment."
Much of her work involves studying sarcomas, said Dr. Eary, not only to learn about less-common sarcomas but also to test techniques that can be applied to other cancers.
"We found early on in FDG-PET scanning that tumor biological activity is a predictor for outcome," she said. "There are variable levels of tumor proliferation and drug resistance that exist within them."
Dr. Eary said her work has led to several interesting developments, pointing in particular to image analysis work that has been recently validated in the patient imaging dataset.
"Some of the other interesting work has been in imaging tumors with combinations of biologically specific imaging agents such as one targeting cellular proliferation, hypoxia and multiple drug resistance," she said.
Curiosity is Part of Job
In addition to the many studies in which she is involved, Dr. Eary serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Nuclear Medicine Communications and Oncology Reports and was editor of Nuclear Medicine Therapy, published in March 2007.
She also is involved with resident training within that specialty and radiology and devotes time to "thinking and exploring new ideas," she said.
"I have a lot of thoughts and ideas and I follow them along," she said. "Sometimes I get them funded and pursue them some more. I also try to help other people in developing their ideas. Not necessarily doing it myself, but certainly assisting or consulting.
"I'm also very curious when I hear about new imaging modalities and start thinking about their possible applications," she added. "I pick up a lot of information in various places, think about it and synthesize it. I'm a physician, so I always think about how we can bring all this great developmental science, engineering and biology to bear on helping physicians take care of people with illnesses and understand their diseases and how to treat them the best.
"I'm always looking to the future, to the next sorts of areas I'd like to investigate," Dr. Eary concluded. "There will be a number of different things that I do, some of them with laboratory correlation and validation of our imaging findings and using imaging as a guide to probe tumor biology. Then I'm also spending some time looking at newer and emerging imaging modalities and their applications."
RSNA Research & Education Foundation
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