Back in January, TrialSite’s founder Daniel O’Connor spoke with Gary A. Ulaner, MD, PhD, FACNM, director of the Hoag Molecular Imaging and Therapy Program, about the emergence of Hoag Memorial Hospital as a major force in cancer research generally, and its move to become a leader in molecular imaging research, impacting not only Orange County, California, (“The OC”) but also the rest of the nation and beyond.

Recall, Dr. Ulaner came out west at the invitation of Dr. Burton Eisenberg to implement a powerful Hoag vision, propelling the venerable Orange County-based nonprofit regional health care delivery network into a force for cancer research with multiple specialties, including molecular imaging & therapy. Dr. Ulaner came from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he led as the PET/CT expert on Breast Cancer and Myeloma Disease.

With Ulaner at the OC came not only valuable standard of care expertise but also multiple innovative clinical trials, including a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study using molecular imaging to detect cancer at the cellular level. Now Hoag’s Molecular Imaging & Therapy Program pioneers the most sensitive imaging and therapy approaches in a quest to advance research and more precise applications of molecular imaging and therapy.