AIMRC Seminar: Endoscopic Imaging and Spectroscopy Systems in Gastrointestinal Cancer Therapy

Photo Submitted

The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center (AIMRC) will host Dr. Tim Muldoon, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the U of A, at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, in Gearhart Hall 108. During his talk, Muldoon will discuss the development of endoscopic techniques to assess patient-specific response to neoadjuvant therapy in gastrointestinal cancer, utilizing a hybrid imaging and spectroscopy probe to evaluate intratumoral hemodynamic changes. 

Abstract: Cancer of the gastrointestinal epithelium accounts for over 150,000 new cancer cases in the United States each year. Locally advanced (State II and III) distal colorectal tumors receive neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) prior to surgical resection. Pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant therapy (pCR) is seen in only a minority of cases (<25%) but has been associated with significantly improved clinical outcomes, including disease-free survival. Predicting which patients will respond to neoadjuvant therapy remains challenging. We are developing endoscopic methodologies to quantify patient-specific response to neoadjuvant therapy in order to identify early responders and guide clinical decision-making. We have built a hybrid imaging and spectroscopy probe to rapidly assess in vivo intratumoral hemodynamic changes in response to therapy. This approach is currently being validated in preclinical murine models and will eventually be deployed in a clinical pilot study following patients with known colorectal tumors receiving neoadjuvant therapy. Our goal is to develop and translate to the clinic novel optical tools which can provide therapeutic guidance tailored to the patient-specific tumor phenotype.

Biography: Muldoon is a founding member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the U of A, joining the faculty as an assistant professor in 2012. He received his Ph.D. in bioengineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 2009, and was advised by Dr. Rebecca Richards-Kortum. He received an M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 2010. He then served as a postdoctoral research scientist with Dr. Elizabeth Hillman at Columbia University in New York before joining the U of A. He has authored over 20 publications and over 40 conference papers to date. He has served as principal investigator on three National Institutes of Health research grants and the NSF CAREER award for his work on developing multimodal microendoscopy and spectroscopy technologies. He currently serves as co-director of the Imaging Core facility within the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center.

This event is supported by NIGMS of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P20GM139768. The content is solely the authors' responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Pizza and beverages will be served. Please contact Kimberley Fuller, fullerk@uark.edu, for more information. For those unable to attend in person, this seminar will also be available via Zoom.