Coordinator : Sébastien Jan,  Deputy Head of BioMaps research unit at Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot / CEA

Project manager: Précieuse Bouki

Local administrative coordination: 

• CEA/ Département “Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot”
• Université Paris Saclay

About the hub

Integrated in the Paris-Saclay Campus, the Paris-Sud hub brings together more than 200 researchers and technicians in three biomedical imaging research units (CEA / Institut Frédéric Joliot / BioMaps, CEA / Institut Frédéric Joliot / NeuroSpin and UMR 8165 in Saclay) located in Saclay area and in Gustave Roussy (GR, Villejuif). The main activities of the node focus on applications of biomedical imaging and physics with a strong expertise in MRI, nuclear imaging (PET instrumentation and molecules radiolabeling) and in ultrasound, combined with skills in image processing, modeling and pharmacology of imaging agents. The main specificity of the Paris Sud node is the strong involvement of the physics community, due to its location in the heart of a unique Physics / Technology ecosystem (Orsay Campus / Saclay Research Center).

From the development and validation of new imaging agents, high-field MRI and multimodal imaging, to clinical research protocols in the fields of neurology and oncology in particular, the node offers an exceptional imaging environment including all advanced nuclear imaging techniques (PET-MR, high-resolution brain PET) and MRI with unique systems in the world (17T MRI for small animals, 11.7T clinical MRI for the whole body to come). MEG and EEG supplement these imaging modalities for research in cognitive neuroscience and ultrasound for oncology research.

The research effort of the Paris Sud node is oriented along the following main axes:

• Development of ultra-High field in vivo MRI for cognitive function mapping at multiple scales (microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic);

• Development of radiopharmaceuticals for PET;

• Physics for medical applications in neurology, psychiatry, and oncology including advanced signal acquisition technology, image reconstruction, multimodality image processing and statistical analysis. This program gathers most laboratories specialized in imaging associated with Paris Saclay University;

• Set up of a multidisciplinary environment gathering omics, physics, mathematics and engineering suitable for the development of tomorrow’s medicine with enhanced sensitivity, specificity and access to the patient;

• Cohort studies through the CATI program (MR and PET Neuroimaging part of a large cohort of subjects recruited on criteria of a cognitive complaint), and involvement in the Human Brain Project;

• Per operative anatomo-pathological analysis using the bi-photonic microscopy.

Preclinical and clinical Platforms / contact:

• In vivo molecular imaging : Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot SHFJ  / Orsay– Vincent Lebon, vincent.lebon[at]cea.fr
• Preclinical ultrasound imaging  : Gustave Roussy / Villejuif – Nathalie Lassau, nathalie.lassau[at]gustaveroussy.fr
• Preclinical optical imaging: Gustave Roussy / Villejuif – Corinne Laplace-Builhé, corinne.laplace[at]gustaveroussy.fr
• Biophotonic imaging: IJCLab /Orsay – Darine Abi Haidar

Node research laboratories : 

•  BioMaps, IMNC