Robert Mattrey, M.D.
Professor
Director of the TRUST Program
Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern
D1.204, 214-648-5091
Email
Dr. Mattrey is a Professor of Radiology and the Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC) at UT Southwestern, whose clinical interests include extracting physiological data from clinical images, particularly when using ultrasound. He joined the faculty at UT Southwestern in July 2015.
He was recruited to develop a translational ultrasound research program funded by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Established Investigator Award, which provides $6 million over five years. He recruited four basic scientists and is developing collaborations with other UT Southwestern basic and clinical scientists. The main focus of Dr. Mattrey’s research is contrast media in general and molecular imaging in particular, with an emphasis on ultrasound solutions. Once tumors are detected, the use of specific ultrasound instrumentation can then take advantage of the presence of the contrast agent to treat tumors directly or by enhancing drug and/or gene delivery. Over the past 20 years, he has translated several agents from concept through preclinical validation to the clinic, including multicenter trials, with two of these receiving approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
At the University of California-San Diego, Dr. Mattrey developed a clinician-scientist training program in radiology that he directed for 12 years, and was awarded a T32 training grant to fund this effort with a successful competitive renewal in 2013. He is developing a similar program at UT Southwestern. He has also served as a primary advisor to graduate students and postdoctoral trainees in bioengineering, nanotechnology, and material science and was funded as the corresponding PI on an NIH-R25 to cross-train pre- and postdoctoral trainees in biological and physical sciences that was also renewed before leaving UCSD. He currently spends one day per week on the clinical ultrasound service and is mentoring residents and junior faculty. His continued clinical exposure has strengthened his position as a translational clinician-scientist by continually refining his research objectives and has allowed him to directly interact with residents and serve as a role model for research-oriented residents.
Jacques Lux, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Assistant Director of the TRUST Program
Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern
D1.204, 214-648-5093
Email
Lab Website
Dr. Jacques Lux obtained his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Strasbourg under the guidance of Nobel laureate Prof. Jean-Pierre Sauvage. His doctoral projects aimed at designing and developing synthetic molecular machines reminiscent of biological systems. Dr. Lux conducted postdoctoral research at the faculty of pharmacy in Strasbourg, where he developed activatable optical probes for the detection of viral RNA. He then came to the U.S. to train in supramolecular chemistry in Prof. Julius Rebek Jr.’s Laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Dr. Lux did additional postdoctoral research at the University of California-San Diego, applying his skills in organic and coordination chemistry to the field of material science, before becoming a Research Scientist to develop and translate theranostics for imaging and drug delivery.
While at UCSD, he designed and synthesized a novel MR contrast agent that incorporated gadolinium that was chelated and linked to hydrogel nanoparticles (nanogels). The advantage of this strategy is not only the development of high relaxivity T1 agents but also minimizing demetallation. The versatility of this platform was demonstrated by incorporating 64Cu instead of gadolinium which allowed for in vivo PET/CT imaging of cancer. Dr. Lux also participated in the development of novel activatable optical nanoprobes for the detection of inflammation.
His current research interests lie in the development of novel nanomedicine platforms to diagnose and treat disease in vivo noninvasively with the long-term objective of developing clinically translatable theranostic agents. Dr. Lux received in November the 2017 Docstars Award by The Cary Council in recognition and support of promising early-stage research.
Dr. Lux focuses on two main research topics:
- Bioresponsive nanomaterials for in vivo detection of disease and therapy
- Targeted and activatable ultrasound contrast agents
Caroline de Gracia Lux, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern
D1.204, 214-648-5094
Email
Caroline de Gracia Lux received her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Strasbourg under the mentorship of Marie Pierre Krafft, Ph.D., synthesizing and evaluating new classes of fluorinated surfactants to promote self-assembly and compartmentalized systems for material science applications.
She then completed postdoctoral training at the University of California-San Diego focusing on biocompatible materials for theranostic applications. She was instrumental in the success of various projects on polymeric materials that degrade and release their contents in response to either abnormal biological conditions or by remote optical activation. She concurrently completed a Micro-MBA program at UCSD (Rady School of Management) that focused on communication, leadership in high-performance teams, finance, strategy, and marketing.
Her current research interest is combining creative synthetic chemistry and formulation to develop ultrasound contrast agents with sophisticated architecture aimed to address a range of challenges in cancer imaging and treatment. Ongoing projects focus on the stabilization of low boiling point perfluorocarbon emulsion using a low interfacial tension approach, the development of new activatable ultrasound contrast agents, and immunotherapy of B-cell malignancies using ultrasound-based gene delivery.
David Fetzer, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Medical Director of Ultrasound
Director of the CACTUS Laboratory
Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern
E6-230-BF, 214-648-7738
Email
Lab website
David Fetzer's complimentary background in imaging science and interest in translational research constitutes the basis for his work in multimodality testing and quantitative imaging, particularly in metabolic, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, thyroid, and lymph node imaging.
Dr. Fetzer is also Director of the Collaborative for Advanced Clinical Techniques in Ultrasound (CACTUS), a clinical laboratory drawing upon expertise from radiologists, medical physicists, industry partners, and various medical specialists focused on cutting-edge clinical care and establishing an environment for clinical and translational research in ultrasound.
Abhinav Vij, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor
Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern
E6-230-BD, 214-648-8184
Email
Abhinav Vij, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of its Abdominal Imaging Division.
Dr. Vij earned his medical degree from one of India’s top-ranked medical universities - Maulana Azad Medical College and then turned his attention to medical research. From a Master of Public Health degree, he acquired epidemiological and statistical skills pivotal for research and subsequently as a research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital, contributed to clinical trials on Ultrasound Elastography, Ultrasound Contrast Agents, Computed Tomographic Colonography, post-mortem Computed Tomography and authored multiple manuscripts on these topics. Subsequently, he completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at Main Line Health and a fellowship in abdominal imaging at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Vij is an active member of several national and international professional organizations, including the American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America, the American Roentgen Ray Society, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound, and the World Molecular Imaging Society. He also serves as a reviewer on several highly regarded publications, including the American Journal of Roentgenology, Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Journal of Magnetic Resonance in Imaging, European Radiology, Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography, and Radiography.
His goal is to contribute to healthcare through a productive career rich in clinical work, medical research, and teaching. He is interested in discovering new imaging biomarkers for more prompt and accurate diagnoses of abdominal diseases. As a member of the TRUST Lab, he is exploring translational applications of ultrasound for doing the same.