A new type of full-body PET scanner, 40 times more sensitive than current machines, is arriving in UK hospitals—but it lacks the molecular tracers needed to spot disease. Researchers at the University of Glasgow are building a preclinical imaging platform to develop those tracers, testing them first in animal models before moving to human use. The problem is a bottleneck. Glasgow has a 20-year track record in developing radiotracers—molecules that latch onto specific disease markers—but its existing preclinical PET equipment is overstretched and mostly limited to cancer research. This leaves fields like inflammation, immunity, neuroscience, and cardiovascular disease without access to the technology needed to create tracers for their own targets. If successful, the platform will let researchers across more than 20 UK institutions design and validate tracers for a wide range of conditions, then test them on the new total-body PET scanners. That could mean earlier, more accurate diagnoses for diseases that currently go undetected until symptoms appear, and more precise delivery of new drugs and radiopharmaceuticals. The work also links two national MRC networks—the National PET Imaging Platform and the National Mouse Genetics Network—creating a pipeline from mouse models to clinical scans that did not exist before.
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Clinical imaging is undergoing a revolution with the advent of total-body PET (TBP), a transformative technology capable of imaging molecular processes throughout the entire body. TBP is a quantum leap forward in medical imaging offering 40-times greater sensitivity, with new capabilities such as whole-body-dynamic tracking, low-dose, multi-parametric and multiplex imaging. TBP has broad potential to improve early and accurate diagnosis in cancer, inflammation, infection, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and paediatrics, while also guiding therapeutic developments and precise deployment of new drugs and radiopharmaceuticals. However, fully realising the potential of TBP requires the development of new radiotracers, molecules that target specific disease mechanisms, and linkage with preclinical PET imaging systems to validate novel radiotracers in animal models of human pathologies. These complete the translational pathway to drive forward the application of TBP providing critical insights for diagnosis, stratification, and treatment for patient benefit. While Glasgow has a 20-year history in radiotracer development and preclinical MRI, its current preclinical PET imaging resources are at capacity and only available in the CRUK Scotland (formerly Beatson) Institute. This restricts access for University of Glasgow researchers in other disease areas such as inflammation, immunity, neuroscience and cardiovascular research and hinders translation of new molecular probes for new clinical applications. Introducing preclinical PET capability to our University-wide Whole Body Imaging Facility will meet a critical need for local research groups but also leverage Glasgow’s unique position to establish a preclinical molecular imaging platform accessible through two national MRC networks. The Total-Body PET Scotland Facility, jointly managed by the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, is one of two national facilities funded by MRC in 2023 to deploy this game-changing technology through the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP). Additionally, the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network (NMGN), directed from Glasgow incorporating the MRC Mary Lyons Centre, aims to develop new mouse models that closely mimic human diseases with a clear path to clinical translation. Therefore, we propose an accessible, multimodal, multiscale imaging facility by integrating new preclinical PET/CT imaging equipment within a recently upgraded UoG preclinical MRI facility. This strategic investment will create a platform for developing novel PET radiotracers and enable interdisciplinary access to imaging technologies locally, whilst optimising NMGN and NPIP network productivity by allowing reciprocal access for preclinical disease modellers to PET technology, and PET developers to state-of-the-art disease models. Our specific objectives are to establish a preclinical molecular imaging facility integrated with high-field MRI and spatial biology techniques for comprehensive, multiscale, dynamic disease phenotyping. We will expand radiotracer development for new disease targets in immunity/inflammation, metabolism, and theranostics and advance imaging data analytics for whole-body studies, supporting precision medicine. By enabling new tracers and technologies, UoG researchers can explore disease mechanisms beyond cancer for the first time, expanding applications across diverse fields of biomedical research. The integration of PET/CT and MRI will offer a unique preclinical imaging platform for broad biological understanding, while local expertise in spatial biology techniques will enhance the interpretation of PET/MR imaging, ensuring precise translation to clinical use. This programme also builds collaborative networks across the UK (through NPIP and NMGN), giving researchers from over 20 institutions access to cutting-edge multimodal imaging. We aim that this will foster a new generation of scientists skilled in total-body PET, empowering research that leads to earlier diagnoses, improved patient outcomes, and more effective therapeutic interventions.
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