Monte Buchsbaum MD

Monte S. Buchsbaum, M.D., has joined the faculty of the University of California, San Diego as Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology. He heads the new NeuroPET Center and leads an effort in developing an expanded research effort with positron emission tomography. Located in Sorrento Valley about 2 miles north of the main campus at 11388 Sorrento Valley Road and close to the UCSD MRI and MEG facilities, the Center will be capable of metabolic studies with fluorodeoxyglucose, and initial radioligand studies of the serotonin transporter with DASB, brain amyloid with PIB, and the dopamine receptor with falypride for cortical and thalamic receptors and raclopride for striatal receptors. An expanded on-site radiochemistry facility will developed a repertoire of molecular probes for imaging. Coordination with MRI for anatomical analysis of images will be a central feature. Our team includes

Dr. Carl Hoh, Chief of nuclear medicine at UCSD, Dr. Ramaiah Pichika, radiochemist, Kishore Kotta, radiochemist, and Dr. William Eckelman, senior radiochemist and former head of PET at the NIH.

We warmly encourage relevant scientific collaborations. Populations of particular interest include the following: schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias including HIV-related cognitive impairment, alcoholism and drug abuse/dependence, mood disorders, anxiety, panic and posttraumatic stress disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and traumatic brain injury.

Patients with traumatic brain injury will also form part of a program to expand the clinical and forensic applications of FDG PET and registration with diffusion tensor images. Any investigative CNS applications that are relevant for NeuroPET scientific methods will be welcomed.