Suzanne Lapi, Ph.D.Lapi is internationally recognized as one of the top experts in nuclear science. She earned her doctorate at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, specializing in chemistry. Previously, Lapi was an associate professor of radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine. She is currently an editorial board member of Scientific Reports and Frontiers in Oncology as well as an editor for the American Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. She is highly involved in myriad national committees and organizations such as the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, the American Chemical Society, the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“As director of the UAB Cyclotron facility, I am excited to work with a great team to bring online new imaging agents that can help UAB researchers and physicians conduct cutting edge research, diagnose disease and determine effective treatments for our patients,” Lapi said. “By making imaging for oncology, neurology, cardiology and basic science available to the UAB community, our goal is to provide tools to gain insight into the biology of diseases and move towards personalized, precision medicine.”
Jonathan McConathy, M.D.McConathy earned his medical and doctorate degrees from the Emory University School of Medicine. He is also highly involved in a multitude of national committees and organizations, serving as president of the Center for Molecular Imaging Innovation and Translation and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Additionally, he is on the review editorial board for Frontiers in Cancer Imaging and Diagnosis and is the series editor for “Focus on Molecular Imaging” for Journal of Nuclear Medicine. “I am excited to work with a great team of clinicians and researchers to realize full potential of the state-of-the art cyclotron and imagining facilities at UAB. We are poised to make position emission tomography (PET) and molecular imaging much more widely available at the UAB community for basic, transitional and clinical research as well as for patient care,” McConathy said. “Over the next 5 years, I expect UAB to become a leader in molecular imaging technologies that improve detection and guide therapy for a range of illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, cancer and cardiovascular disease.”
Before coming to UAB, McConathy was also an associate professor of radiology at Washington University School of Medicine. He served as the co-director of the Radiology Research Residency. He remains actively involved in the development and application of PET tracers for oncology and neuroimaging as well as the use of simultaneous PET/MRI for both clinical indications and research.