AdMeTech Foundation, a nonprofit organization, announced today that the
U.S. Congress has approved $1.6 million for funding of its
groundbreaking research program aimed at developing novel imaging
technologies for early prostate cancer detection, which in turn is
critical for saving lives and designing customized patient care,
including the most effective and the least invasive approach. With
support from Reps. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Diane
Watson (D-CA), and Senator John Kerry (D-MA), U.S. Congress approved
this legislation on Saturday and cleared it for President Obama’s
signature.
“AdMeTech Foundation helped consolidate the focus of my research on
prostate cancer and provided support at nearly every step of the way,
from developing several key ideas to providing funding for their
implementation.”
Dr. Leonard Marks, Professor of Urology at University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA), said, "I am delighted to see growing congressional
support for AdMeTech Foundation, which has been providing international
leadership in the advancement of prostate imaging for over a decade. If
we could see prostate cancer – its location, extent and aggressiveness –
we would redefine patient care."
Dr. Martin Pomper, Professor of Radiology at Johns Hopkins, who has been
funded by the AdMeTech's program for his pioneering research in
molecular imaging of prostate cancer, expressed his excitement:
"AdMeTech Foundation helped consolidate the focus of my research on
prostate cancer and provided support at nearly every step of the way,
from developing several key ideas to providing funding for their
implementation." He added, "Support from the AdMeTech Foundation has
enabled us not only to bring one imaging agent to the clinic, but has
also allowed us to keep open our laboratory pipeline of new agents for
molecular imaging, which may help identify earlier stages of prostate
cancer." Dr. Pomper's work has recently been published in peer-reviewed
medical literature and resulted in the development of one of the most
promising experimental imaging tools available today for early detection
of prostate cancer. Further funding will make it possible for him to
investigate the ability of these novel imaging agents, which visualize
specific molecular markers of prostate cancer, to differentiate
aggressive from harmless disease strains, to eliminate unnecessary
procedures and to guide treatment.