CANPROBE

Combining Molecular Imaging with Cutting-Edge Research

The Canadian Molecular Imaging Probe Consortium (CanProbe) is a unique, not-for-profit joint venture to advance the use of medical isotopes for diagnosing and treating cancer and other serious diseases.

The centre is a joint venture between the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC) and UHN. It combines the strengths of both organizations to create a new centre of excellence in Toronto to develop and manufacture molecular imaging probes. These probes are part of an advanced imaging technology that uses medical isotopes to assess the health of patients at a cellular level. Using molecular probes, physicians can diagnose diseases earlier and more accurately, monitor the effectiveness of treatments and deliver targeted therapies, often without the need for biopsies or surgeries.

Dr. David Jaffray, Head of Medical Physics, Director of Techna Institute at The Princess Margaret and EVP of Technology and Innovation at UHN, says, “CanProbe brings new molecular imaging agents into the test bed of clinical trials not just at The Princess Margaret, but also at cancer centres across Ontario.

“It's really a team science kind of approach and once you get the expertise together and it starts to function and fire, then we get braver, we try something more complicated, moving to another level in cancer care and research.”