Michelle Bradbury Laboratory
- Professor of Radiology
- MI3 Director
Michelle Bradbury, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Radiology and Endowed Professor of Imaging Research at Weill Cornell Medicine specializing in Neuroradiology. She is Director of the Molecular Imaging Innovations Institute (MI3) and the Perioperative Imaging and Engineered Technologies Program for Cancer Treatment. She is also Head of Cross-Campus Research Collaborations and Innovations within the Cornell Institute for Engineering Innovations in Medicine. Dr. Bradbury earned a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. She then received an M.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Maryland, followed by a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering (Radiological Sciences) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1997, she received her M.D. degree at George Washington University School of Medicine. Her laboratory is focused on co-developing and translating molecularly targeted, ultrasmall particle and cellular-engineered platforms to the clinic for image-guided surgical and theranostic applications. These efforts build on longstanding diagnostic and therapeutic research programs at the nano-bio interface in various tumor and other disease models.
- Administrative Specialist in Radiology
Ms. Wood is a Program and Administrative Coordinator who assists the MI3 Director with the advancement of laboratory and programmatic initiatives. She specifically assists with the planning and coordination of new programmatic initiatives for MI3, monitors implementation of program policies and practices, monitors program benchmarks, supports programmatic growth and development, coordinates program communications.
Vanessa Bellat Laboratory
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry
By developing smart nanomedicines, Dr. Vanessa Bellat aims to achieve more specific and effective cancer treatment drug delivery. One of her main objectives is improving the safety and efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatments by designing on-demand nanocarriers that display organ-specific targeting and/or retention properties.
Sarah M. Cheal Laboratory
- Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry in Radiology
Dr. Sarah Cheal is originally from Santa Rosa, California. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Ph.D. in biological chemistry from the University of California, Davis, in the Claude F. Meares group. She spent two years working with Gary Griffiths at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Imaging Probe Development Center core facility and did her postdoc at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the laboratory of Steven M. Larson. She enjoys visiting the national parks and exploring NYC/Long Island with her husband (Tony) and two children (Dominick and Lucia).
Sayani Saha is a research technician I in the laboratory of Dr. Sarah M. Cheal, Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry in Radiology, MI3, Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine. Sayani graduated with a Master of Biotechnology from Northwestern University with a passion for cancer research and theragnostic. Sayani worked at Blue Rock Therapeutics on macrophage repolarization in the tumor microenvironment of glioblastoma which drove her into the world of oncology. She has experience with working in cell culture and pursuing her interest of becoming an expert in radiotherapy and cancer immunology.
Gene Kim Laboratory
- Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Radiology
Dr. Gene Kim is a professor of biomedical engineering in radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in cancer imaging at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the development of quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging methods for early detection of cancer and assessment of treatment response, particularly in breast cancer and head and neck cancer. Dr. Kim’s laboratory has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
James Kelly Laboratory
- Assistant Professor of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences in Radiology
Dr. James Kelly received a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Cambridge in 2011. His thesis work, supervised by Dr. Finian Leeper, focused on the development of conformationally restrained analogues of porphobilinogen as inhibitors of porphobilinogen deaminase. Upon completion of his doctoral work, Dr. Kelly spent one year as an Alfonso Casanava Research Fellow at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, supervised by Dr. Miguel Ángel Pozo, before transitioning to a two-year industrial research fellowship carried out at Instituto Tecnológico PET, Madrid. Dr. Kelly’s work in Spain focused on radiofluorination of small molecules for brain imaging and automation, and validation of radiosynthesis procedures on automated synthesis units. Dr. Kelly moved to the Molecular Imaging Innovations Institute (MI3) at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) in 2014 as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. John Babich. He was promoted to instructor in 2017, and assistant professor of radiopharmaceutical sciences in radiology in 2020. He is currently chief of radiopharmaceutical sciences at WCM.
- Postdoctoral Associate in Radiology
Anja Wacker is a postdoctoral associate, who joined Dr. Kelly’s lab in the Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Radiology on March 14, 2022. She has a strong background in chemistry and biochemistry due to her M.Sc. and B.Sc. studies at the Technical University of Munich, and holds a Ph.D. in pharmacy from the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg. Anja’s research interests focus on the design, synthesis and preclinical evaluation of innovative tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging as well as the development of peptide-based compounds for targeted radiotherapy. She is inspired by the idea that advances in molecular imaging techniques can deepen our way of understanding biological functions, metabolic pathways and the evolution of pathological conditions, ultimately leading to improved personalized patient care.
Benedict Law Laboratory
- Associate Professor in Radiology
Dr. Benedict Law is an associate professor of pharmacology in radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM). He was trained as a hospital pharmacist in the United Kingdom prior to obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Manchester. After he completed his postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital, he was recruited as a faculty member at North Dakota State University. In 2013, he joined the Molecular Imaging Innovations Institute (MI3) at WCM.