About Us
What is PIGN?
The Program in Image Guided Neurointerventions (PIGN) provides a platform that harnesses the synergies between therapeutic agents, neurointerventions, and rapidly evolving imaging capabilities. Too often, potent therapeutics have failed in clinical trials for unknown reasons. To combat this, PIGN uses advanced imaging to monitor and understand every aspect of the life cycle of therapeutics, including whole body biodistribution, brain accumulation, retention, and clearance.
Feedback from imaging, both during interventions and longitudinally, is essential to guide the administration of therapeutics to the brain. These steps allow PIGN to fully implement the concept of precision medicine in the field of neurointerventions and now, more broadly, interventions.
Precision drug delivery through imaging is particularly compelling from a translational perspective. It allows PIGN to validate biodistribution in clinical settings and fine-tune the delivery process to meet the needs of individual patients. This approach removes the variability of drug targeting that often complicates the interpretation of clinical outcomes.
Drug targeting is incredibly challenging in disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), as the brain is shielded from the external world by the skull and from the rest of the body by the blood-brain barrier. PIGN is currently using several disease models, including stroke, brain tumors, radiation-induced brain injury, and ALS, along with various imaging methods such as MRI, PET, bioluminescence, and intravital microscopy. Notably, we found that other organs and tissues also have some barriers that must be addressed.
PIGN is open to discussing and accommodating the needs of other scientists if their goals align with PIGN’s mission of enhancing the precision of neurointerventions and interventions in other organs through advanced imaging. Additionally, PIGN welcomes partnerships with the industry, as its tools may be helpful in product development.
Why PIGN?
The mission of the Program in Image Guided Neurointerventions is to promote the exploitation of advanced imaging for various neurointerventions, fully implementing a paradigm of precision medicine essential for improving outcomes of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. PIGN was established in response to the frustratingly slow progress in therapeutics for CNS diseases, which lag far behind treatments for other disorders.
For example, we are witnessing unprecedented progress in cancer treatment, with the largest ever single year drop in overall cancer mortality of 2.2% from 2016 to 2017. In contrast, survival rates for patients with brain cancer have shown no notable improvement in population statistics over the past three decades.
The same situation applies to other CNS diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and others. This disparity is partly due to the barriers preventing drug accumulation at target sites in the brain. Breaching these barriers safely and effectively has proven challenging, and we believe that real progress in this area requires advanced imaging and image guidance.
Astonishingly, methodologies developed to promote therapies of the CNS might be highly applicable elsewhere in the body, significantly extending their impact on overall outcomes and healthcare.
PIGN's mission is well-aligned with the goals of the Society for Image Guided Neurointerventions (SIGN), which the co-founders of PIGN previously launched. More information about SIGN: www.neurosignsociety.org