Functional Molecular Imaging and Therapy combines state-of-the-art molecular imaging modalities (e.g., PET/CT, PET/MR, SPECT/CT) with targeted therapeutic interventions to visualize and treat disease at the molecular level. The integration of diagnostic imaging and therapy within a molecular framework enables precise mapping of disease biology, real-time monitoring of treatment response, and the development of personalized therapeutic strategies. This translational research, from bench to bedside, is transforming the way we diagnose and manage cancer and other diseases, enabling precision medicine.
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People
Ian Alberts
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Francois Benard
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. François Bénard is a Professor of Radiology at the University of British Columbia, a Distinguished Scientist at BC Cancer and holds the BC Leadership Chair in Functional Cancer Imaging. He is currently the Senior Executive Director of the BC Cancer Research Institute, as well as Associate Dean, Research at UBC, Vancouver, Canada.
As a clinician scientist, his research interests are in PET, nuclear medicine, cancer imaging and targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy. His research focuses on the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and therapy, and their translation and application to improve the care of cancer patients through a thriving research program in imaging and radionuclide therapy.
His expertise covers pre-clinical and clinical research related to the evaluation of novel radiopharmaceuticals, from the design phase, radiopharmacological characterization, preclinical testing and clinical studies ranging from phase 0-1 studies to multicenter clinical trials. In his career, he advanced new radiopharmaceuticals from bench to the clinic, and developed extensive experience with the regulatory process to obtain market authorization for new radiopharmaceuticals.
Pedro Esquinas
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. Esquinas studied Physics at the University of Granada and completed a PhD in Medical Physics at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Anna Celler. His doctoral research focused on quantitative imaging and dosimetry for radionuclide therapies, with an emphasis on Rhenium-188.
Following his PhD, Dr. Esquinas continued as a post-doctoral researcher in Dr. Celler’s laboratory, where his work spanned dual-isotope SPECT imaging and the application of deep neural networks to enhance cone-beam CT image quality. He later worked as a Scientist at IBM Watson Health Imaging, developing deep-learning algorithms for automated detection and segmentation of lesions in CT and MRI. More recently, he worked at QUIBIM, a medical imaging company, contributing to the development and integration of AI-driven imaging solutions.
Dr. Esquinas is currently a Clinical Nuclear Physicist in the Molecular Imaging and Therapy department at BC Cancer and a researcher in Molecular Imaging and Artificial Intelligence at the Qurit Lab. His research interests lie at the intersection of artificial intelligence and theranostics, with a focus on image reconstruction, quantitative imaging and personalized radionuclide therapy.
Claire Gowdy
Primary Location: BC Children’s Hospital
Dr. Gowdy is actively involved with national and international bodies working to harmonize the staging and response criteria for childhood cancers, in particular, Hodgkin lymphoma using functional imaging techniques such as PET/CT.
Joseph Lau
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. Joseph Lau is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and a Scientist in the Department of Integrative Oncology at the BC Cancer Research Institute (BCCRI). Dr. Lau completed his PhD at UBC in Interdisciplinary Oncology, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. Before joining UBC, Dr. Lau was the Associate Director, Discovery at Alpha-9 Theranostics, a radiopharmaceutical company based in Vancouver BC. His research group focuses on radiopharmaceutical development for cancer diagnostics and therapy.
Kuo-Shyan Lin
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. Kuo-Shyan Lin studied nuclear engineering and health physics at the National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He then undertook his doctoral and postdoctoral training in radiochemistry at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. After continuing his work as a Research Associate at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, and then as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lin joined BC Cancer, part of the Provincial Health Services Authority, in 2009. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Radiology at UBC, and a Distinguished Scientist in the Department of Basic and Translational Research at BC Cancer Research Institute. He also heads the Radiochemistry Program at BC Cancer to develop novel radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and therapy.
David Liu
Primary Location: Vancouver General Hospital
Dr. David Liu is a Royal College Board-Certified Interventional Radiologist at the False Creek Health Centre. He is also an Interventional Radiologist at UBC and serves as a Radiology Consultant for the Canadian Armed Forces. He received his Medical Doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1998 and completed his Radiology Residency from the University of British Columbia in 2003. He has his Fellowship in Interventional Radiology from the Northwestern University. He has published work in several areas relating to venous health including: non-invasive imaging, inferior vena cava filter management, and the advanced management of blood clots. His most recent award includes the Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) in recognition of his research contributions.
Rolf Petter Tonseth
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
After obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Victoria, Dr. Petter Tonseth completed medical school at UBC in 1988. The following decade involved working as a general practitioner in various locations including many coastal BC communities, the Canadian arctic, and Australia. He returned to BC to take up a full-time position in the Functional Imaging Department at the BC Cancer Agency in 2011, reporting oncologic PET/CT, and more recently began working regularly at the Nuclear and Molecular Medicine Department in St.John’s Newfoundland. Dr. Tonseth holds academic appointments at both UBC and Memorial University and is the Director of the UBC International Outreach Program and Education Lead for Undergraduate Ultrasound at UBC.
Karen Lyons
Primary Location: BC Children’s Hospital
Patrick Martineau
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Arman Rahmim
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. Rahmim is Professor of Radiology, Physics and Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), as well as Distinguished Scientist and Provincial Medical Imaging Physicist at BC Cancer. He received his MSc in condensed matter physics and PhD in medical imaging physics at UBC. He was then recruited by Johns Hopkins University (JHU), leading the high-resolution brain PET imaging physics program. In 2018, he was recruited back to Vancouver, where his laboratory (Qurit Lab) pursues research in molecular imaging & therapy. He is Scientific Lead of the BC Cancer Medical Imaging Core (CanMIC) Lab, aiming to translate state-of-the-art imaging solutions to clinical trials and research. Additionally, he is Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Ascinta Technologies, working to develop easy-to-use, adaptable, and AI-enabled solutions for theranostics and radiopharmaceutical therapies.
Carlos Uribe Munoz
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. Uribe is Leader of Clinical Nuclear Medicine Physics at BC Cancer and Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC Radiology. He has overseen the opening of 2 new PET/CT centres in BC. He co-leads the Qurit Research Program, and his research focuses on quantitative imaging and dosimetry for radiopharmaceutical therapies and is actively looking into how artificial intelligence can aid in the path to personalized theranostics. He is also Technology Lead of the BC Cancer Medical Imaging Core (CanMIC) Lab, aiming to translate state-of-the-art imaging solutions to clinical trials and research. He has made significant contributions to implementation of radiopharmaceutical therapies in Canada, internal radiation dosimetry, motion correction in PET, optimization of injected activities for PET imaging, and selection of new radiopharmaceuticals for clinical translation.
Fereshteh Yousefirizi
Primary Location: BC Cancer Research Centre
Dr. Fereshteh Yousefirizi is a biomedical engineering scientist at the BC Cancer Research Institute and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia Department of Radiology. Her research focuses on AI-powered quantitative imaging for medical imaging including oncological PET/CT, with an emphasis on tumor segmentation and tracking, predictive radiomics, and translational theranostics.
She works at the interface of nuclear medicine, deep learning, and clinical deployment, developing automated and reproducible imaging tools to support personalized cancer care. Her work actively bridges methodological innovation with real-world clinical workflows, aiming to advance the clinical adoption of AI in nuclear medicine imaging and theranostic applications.