Jamey Weichert Leads Initiative for Theranostics and Particle Therapy

Jamey Weichert, PhD serves as codirector for the newly launched Initiative for Theranostics and Particle Therapy (ITPT) at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. In addition to providing personalized treatment for patients with cancer, ITPT will establish world-class programs for theranostics and particle therapy research and education.

While ITPT is new, it builds upon well-established collaborations amongst UW researchers in such specialties as medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, nuclear medicine and medical physics.

“The initiative provides a central mechanism for those involved in these fields to engage with one another and put ideas together for collective advancement,” ITPT Co-Director Zachary Morris, MD, PhD from the Department of Human Oncology said. “This area is inherently multidisciplinary. If we stay in our silos, we only get so far, but when we work together, we can see the confluence of opportunities.”

Together, the investigators will assess:

• Use of article beam radiation for difficult-to-treat cancers.

• Combination of diagnostic and treatment activities to form a single step known as theranostics.

• Personalization of radiation treatment plans.

Dr. Weichert noted that the initiative will also establish premier graduate and fellowship training programs for researchers and practitioners in theranostics, particle therapy, dosimetry and nuclear and radiochemistry.

“We’re creating a destination theranostics and particle therapy clinical center at UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center with this work” Dr. Weichert states.

For researchers and clinicians at UW who work in these areas and wish to become involved, the initiative will establish membership criteria, and the unit will be governed by an executive board of six UW–Madison faculty members who engage in research, clinical care and education related to theranostics and particle therapy.

This work is possible thanks to major federal funding provided to UW–Madison, including the first National Institutes of Healthsupported program project grant for theranostics, according to Anjon Audhya, PhD, senior associate dean for basic research, biotechnology, and graduate studies at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

“Over the last several years, our outstanding investigators have competed successfully for nationally recognized awards related to theranostics,” Dr. Audhya noted.

The funding includes a recent $8 million grant to construct a new national theranostic cyclotron resource center that will drive fundamental and translational medical science. It also includes $20 million in grants from the National Cancer Institute and a $1.5 million seed investment from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, according to Dr. Audhya.

“This support is critical because ultimately, our goal is to be the preeminent site for preclinical and clinical theranostics research globally,” he said.