The Center for Quantitative Cancer Imaging (CQCI) at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) supports the research and clinical research efforts of HCI and the University of Utah.
The center began with the purchase of a GE Advance Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner and later with the building of a cyclotron and radiochemistry facility. The cyclotron is a machine used to manufacture very short-lived radioactive tracers that can be used as imaging agents for positron emission tomography (PET). PET has become one of the most accurate imaging techniques to detect, characterize, and stage various types of cancers as well as assess patients with dementia.
In 2007, funding was secured and additional space created for researchers to conduct work with radioactive tracers. A dedicated PET imaging research facility now houses a GE Discovery ST PET/CT scanner and GE Discovery 710 PET/CT scanner. The CQCI focuses on state-of-the-art clinical and preclinical PET imaging.
In the summer of 2005, John M. Hoffman, MD, joined as director of the CQCI. Under his direction, the center has experienced rapid expansion and growth. Jeffrey Yap, PhD, was recruited in 2013 as the CQCI medical physicist.