Kelvin Billingsley
Kelvin Billingsley awarded grant to develop MRI techniques to detect liver cancer earlier
Billingsley, Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, awarded $461,844 grant from National Cancer Institute to aid in early detection
Kelvin Billingsley, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry within the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago, has been awarded a $461,844 grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health to support his research over the next three years in developing novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques that can be used to identify tumorigenesis, or early stages, of liver cancer.
“Dr. Billingsley’s scientific work and the grant he has received are exemplary examples of the interdisciplinary and collaborative innovation we seek to foster within the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “His cutting-edge research will have far-reaching impacts on the medical fields and people’s ability to live longer, healthier lives.”
This interdisciplinary research combines Billingsley’s two areas of expertise – biomedical imaging and chemical biology – to develop clinically relevant diagnostic techniques.
“My lab has explored new MRI probes for nearly 10 years,” said Billingsley. “Because liver cancers present a unique set of challenges for diagnosis and treatment, our group has recently sought to develop state-of-the-art MRI probes tailored to address these issues.”
Cancer in the liver is considered difficult to detect early, because signs and symptoms typically do not present until later stages and small tumors are hard to detect with physical exams due to the liver’s position behind the right rib cage. This is why imaging, such as MRIs, ultrasounds, and CT scans are the most common methods of detecting liver cancer.
Like treating any other cancer, early detection is key. By investigating novel techniques to improve imaging methods, Billingsley’s work may help accelerate diagnosis, better inform treatment plans, and in turn, improve patient health outcomes.
Billingsley and his team, composed of undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry and biochemistry, are developing molecular probes for hyperpolarized 13C MRI, a noninvasive approach to an in vivo imaging method that directly assesses glycolysis.
Glycolysis is a metabolic pathway that has been found to promote tumor growth, metastasis, and chemoresistance through its ability to impair T-cell activation and other antitumor responses in the body.
“Cancer cells generally have higher levels of glycolysis than healthy tissues,” Billingsley confirmed. “Although this has been known for over 100 years, it has remained difficult to evaluate glycolysis metabolism in living subjects.”
The MRI techniques Billingsley and his students are developing will be able to more accurately examine glycolysis and inform radiological assessments of tumors, in turn facilitating cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring and improving our understanding of metabolic diseases overall.
What’s more, Billingsley shares, “If successful, these imaging techniques would provide new opportunities for assessing liver tissues prior to cancer formation, which would allow for early intervention in at-risk patients.”
Which means that Billingsley’s work has the potential to not only help detect cancer earlier, but to inform treatment to prevent cancerous tumors from developing at all.
Billingsley and the team will execute multi-staged studies that initially involve the synthesis and biological evaluation of MRI probes, which will then be tested for their effectiveness in liver cancer models with their collaborators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“These students will have the opportunity to work on clinically relevant research and see how their work in the chemistry lab can have a direct impact on the medical field,” said Billingsley.
Learn more about Billingsley and his work here.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 37 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”
Billingsley, Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, awarded $461,844 grant from National Cancer Institute to aid in early detection
Kelvin Billingsley, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry within the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago, has been awarded a $461,844 grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health to support his research over the next three years in developing novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques that can be used to identify tumorigenesis, or early stages, of liver cancer.
“Dr. Billingsley’s scientific work and the grant he has received are exemplary examples of the interdisciplinary and collaborative innovation we seek to foster within the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “His cutting-edge research will have far-reaching impacts on the medical fields and people’s ability to live longer, healthier lives.”
This interdisciplinary research combines Billingsley’s two areas of expertise – biomedical imaging and chemical biology – to develop clinically relevant diagnostic techniques.
“My lab has explored new MRI probes for nearly 10 years,” said Billingsley. “Because liver cancers present a unique set of challenges for diagnosis and treatment, our group has recently sought to develop state-of-the-art MRI probes tailored to address these issues.”
Cancer in the liver is considered difficult to detect early, because signs and symptoms typically do not present until later stages and small tumors are hard to detect with physical exams due to the liver’s position behind the right rib cage. This is why imaging, such as MRIs, ultrasounds, and CT scans are the most common methods of detecting liver cancer.
Like treating any other cancer, early detection is key. By investigating novel techniques to improve imaging methods, Billingsley’s work may help accelerate diagnosis, better inform treatment plans, and in turn, improve patient health outcomes.
Billingsley and his team, composed of undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry and biochemistry, are developing molecular probes for hyperpolarized 13C MRI, a noninvasive approach to an in vivo imaging method that directly assesses glycolysis.
Glycolysis is a metabolic pathway that has been found to promote tumor growth, metastasis, and chemoresistance through its ability to impair T-cell activation and other antitumor responses in the body.
“Cancer cells generally have higher levels of glycolysis than healthy tissues,” Billingsley confirmed. “Although this has been known for over 100 years, it has remained difficult to evaluate glycolysis metabolism in living subjects.”
The MRI techniques Billingsley and his students are developing will be able to more accurately examine glycolysis and inform radiological assessments of tumors, in turn facilitating cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring and improving our understanding of metabolic diseases overall.
What’s more, Billingsley shares, “If successful, these imaging techniques would provide new opportunities for assessing liver tissues prior to cancer formation, which would allow for early intervention in at-risk patients.”
Which means that Billingsley’s work has the potential to not only help detect cancer earlier, but to inform treatment to prevent cancerous tumors from developing at all.
Billingsley and the team will execute multi-staged studies that initially involve the synthesis and biological evaluation of MRI probes, which will then be tested for their effectiveness in liver cancer models with their collaborators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“These students will have the opportunity to work on clinically relevant research and see how their work in the chemistry lab can have a direct impact on the medical field,” said Billingsley.
Learn more about Billingsley and his work here.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 37 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”