(Vienna, 19th March 2013) With effect from the beginning of March 2013, Thomas Beyer has taken up the role of Professor of Physics of Medical Imaging at the Centre for Biomedical Technology and Medical Physics (ZBMTP) at the MedUni Vienna.
His scientific work will focus on hybrid imaging (PET/CT and/or PET/MR) – an area that is being allocated a professor's post for the first time at the MedUni Vienna. Hybrid imaging means the combination of two complementary imaging methods from the fields of nuclear medicine and radiology. As part of the procedures used to diagnose patients and monitor their treatment, anatomical and molecular information is brought together. This hybrid information leads to better diagnostic tools and can be used for new therapeutic approaches, especially in oncology.
“Hybrid imaging harbours tremendous potential for research,” says Beyer, who particularly highlights the interdisciplinary nature of his specialist field: “It is an area in which physicists, doctors and radiology technicians work closely together.”
PET/MRI – a combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) – in particular offers a variety of highly promising approaches for modern therapy planning and monitoring, and is in future set to form the focus of methods research in Professor Beyer’s group at the ZBMTP.
Personal profile
Thomas Beyer, born in 1970, studied physics in Leipzig and completed his PhD at the University of Surrey in England, gaining his post-doctoral lecturing qualification in 2006 on the subject of “Combined PET/CT: optimising the methods of investigation protocols for clinical oncology”. Beyer has co-developed the world’s first PET/CT system in the USA. He has extensive experience both in research and project management in both the academic and the industrial sectors. Beyer has also worked as PET/CT Coordinator at leading international centres of education, such as the University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Copenhagen. He was also Professor of Experimental Nuclear Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen.