About CAI

New CAI Building to be constructed on St Lucia campus

CAI is a strategic initiative of The University of Queensland. It reflects the growth in biotechnology and biomedical research requiring imaging research capabilities. The inaugural Director of CAI is Professor David Reutens, UQ Foundation Professor of Experimental Neurology.

CAI brings together the skills of a critical mass of researchers and ‘state-of-the-art’ research imaging instruments. Imaging techniques are now key platform research technologies for studying the structure and function, in health and disease, of living organisms from the laboratory mouse to the human. The ability of ultra high-field MRI to characterize the blood flow and structure of living systems, together with developments in MRI biomarkers, allows CAI researchers to better phenotype animal models of disease and to map the cognitive function of the brain. PET measures the distribution and fate of molecular markers using radiolabelled ligands providing CAI researchers with the capacity to perform in vivo studies of metabolism, receptor-ligand binding and gene expression. The ability to study the living organism enables longitudinal studies of normal development, of the natural history of disease and of responses to novel therapies.

Imaging is a platform technology for drug discovery and validation, providing surrogate end points to test new drugs. It speeds translation of scientific discoveries to clinical realization. MRI and PET are now core investigative modalities in virtually all clinical specialties. Imaging facilitates the goal of personalized medicine by better characterizing disease and response to treatment in the individual patient.

The CAI research facility is characterized by:



• Multimodality

The CAI is an integrated research facility harnessing the exquisite spatial resolution of ultra high-field MRI and the sensitivity of PET in detecting molecular targets. 



• Multidisciplinarity

To realize the full potential of imaging as a research tool, the CAI provides a rich collaborative environment for researchers in disciplines ranging from engineering, synthetic and radiochemistry, physics and computer science to biology, medicine and psychology. This potent mix of researchers works on innovations in imaging technology, imaging biomarker development and in biomedical research disciplines.

 CAI's nodes at clinical research sites such as the Bioimaging Research Consortium at Herston at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and the Diamantina Institute on the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) campus maximize the impact of imaging on translational research. These facilities comprise a comprehensive ‘end-to-end’ biomedical imaging capability which allows integrated progression from the laboratory bench, through animal models, and finally into a clinical setting.

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