2016 ARRS/Philips Healthcare Scholar Elizabeth S. McDonald was the first author of a JCI Insight cover article illustrating how human PARP inhibitor drug-target engagement can be visualized in vivo—suggesting future applications in precision diagnostics and as a drug discovery tool.

“The ARRS Scholarship allowed me to focus on research involving early-phase clinical trials evaluating functional imaging, which is an imaging technique that displays the anatomy and function of the breast, as a precision tool combined with a newly developed tracer for PET/CT scans.”

“The ARRS Scholarship allowed me to focus on research involving early-phase clinical trials evaluating functional imaging, which is an imaging technique that displays the anatomy and function of the breast, as a precision tool combined with a newly developed tracer for PET/CT scans. By looking at these images, we hope to measure or predict a biologic outcome like tumor progression by seeing which women have cancer cells that are actively growing. Early results from an ongoing clinical trial indicate that we are able to measure cancer cell growth with a functional imaging study shortly after a patient is diagnosed with cancer. This may be a key in helping select the best treatment for patients. We can have the right patient receive the right treatment for the best response.”

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