Michael E. Phelps, 1998
Citation:
For his invention of Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and
his seminal contributions to its use in research and patient care in
neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancer; and for the
breadth of his accomplishments that combine physics, mathematics,
chemistry, biology, and medical applications.
Biography
Michael Phelps is the scientist most often identified as the
inventor of PET, a technique that permits the imaging of biological
processes in the organ systems of living individuals. Phelps has
advanced biomedical imaging by producing four generations of PET
scanners, including the prototypes on which all of today's commercial
PET scanning systems are based.
Following its inception in 1973, PET has been used in a wide
variety of medical applications. For example, PET images of glucose
metabolism provide pictures of the metabolic function of the living,
developing or aging brain and heart muscle, as well as the altered
metabolic states that occur in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease
and cancer. PET technology has been applied to the early diagnosis and
therapeutic responses in lung, colorectal, breast, ovarian, lymphoma,
melanoma, and prostate cancers. PET imaging probes of
neurotransmitters are used to observe the normal communication between
neuronal systems in the brain as well as the alteration of neuronal
functions in disease such as Parkinson's and drug abuse. Recently,
Phelps and his co-workers developed an approach to imaging gene
expression that promises to be an important contribution to the
rapidly expanding field of molecular medicine.
Phelps' initial work dealt with the application of basic nuclear
physics, chemistry, and mathematics to biomedical imaging. He combined
a number of original insights in developing PET: First, he recognized
that positron decay provides the opportunity for a unique coincidence
detection system, with opposing detectors. This detection system
allows spatial resolution previously not obtainable. Second, using the
principle of coincidence detection, he configured a circumferential
array of detectors and associated electronics and a mathematical
algorithm for forming three-dimensional tomographic images of
biological probes of the living human body. Finally, he recognized
that the positron-emitting forms of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and
fluorine provide the tools to "label" biochemical molecules for their
use as probes, to non-invasive image biological processes in living
individuals. By 1973, Phelps was able to convert these insights into
the first PET scanner.
Phelps subsequently developed an array of biological assay
techniques for PET-based measurements of hemodynamic, biochemical, and
biological processes in the brain, heart, and tumors. The success of
these measurements drove further refinements both in the development
of PET scanners and in the development of biological assay methods.
Phelps also conceptualized the miniaturization, automation, and
integration of cyclotron technology and biochemical synthesizers
necessary for the synthesis of positron-labeled probes into a single,
PC-controlled device for producing positron-labeled compounds for
research and clinical care.
Phelps established and directed the first clinical PET service
exclusively for patient care. This clinic was the first to be used for
PET-based diagnoses in such areas as Alzheimer's disease,
multi-infarct dementia, Huntington's disease, depression, Parkinson's
disease, adult and childhood epilepsies, cardiovascular disease, and
numerous types of cancers. Phelps established a large training program
to produce scientists and physicians with expertise in PET scanning.
His trainees now populate PET research and clinical centers throughout
the world.
Michael E. Phelps was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1939. He earned
his B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Western Washington State
University in 1965, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Washington
University, St. Louis, in 1970. He began his faculty career at
Washington University School of Medicine, 1970-1975. From 1975-1976,
Phelps was a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia. In 1976, he moved to the University of California School
of Medicine, where he has held the following positions: Professor of
Radiological Sciences, 1976-1992; Professor of Biomathematics,
1980-present; Chief, Division of Biophysics, 1981-1984; Jennifer Jones
Simon Professor, 1983-1996; Norton Simon Professor, 1996-present;
Chief, Division of Nuclear Medicine, 1984-1992; Associate Director,
UCLA/DOE Laboratory of Structural Biology & Molecular Medicine, and
Chief, Division of Nuclear Medicine, 1984-present; Director, Crump
Institute for Biological Imaging, 1989-present; and Chairman,
Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, 1992-present; and
Chief, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Molecular & Medical
Pharmacology, 1992-present.
Phelps has received numerous awards, including George von Hevesy
Foundation Prize, 1978, 1982; Certificate of Excellence, Society of
Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 1979; Oldendorf Award, Society for
Computerized Tomography and Neurological Imaging, 1981; S. Weir
Mitchell Award, American Adacemy of Neurology, 1981; Paul Aebersold
Award, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 1983; Ernest O. Lawrence Award,
U.S. Department of Energy, 1984; Special Award for Individual
Distinction, American Nuclear Society, 1984; Sarah L. Poiley Memorial
Award, New York Academy of Sciences, 1984; Richard and Hinda Rosenthal
Foundation Award, American College of Physicians, 1987; Landauer
Memorial Award, American Association for Physicists in Medicine, 1988;
Ted Block Memorial Award, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 1989; Robert J.
and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award, 1992; and the Distinguished
Scientists Award, Institute for Clinical PET, 1995. He is a member of
the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.