Stony Brook Cancer Center has created a one-of-a-kind metabolomics and imaging translational research program that is expected to transform the future of cancer knowledge and care.
Two incredibly generous gifts from Kavita and Lalit Bahl, totaling 13.75 million, has enabled us to establish The Kavita and Lalit Bahl Center for Metabolomics and Imaging at Stony Brook Cancer Center. We are honored that the Bahls have entrusted us with their generous donation to propel cancer treatment and research to the next level and beyond.
Their initial gift of $3.5 million provided for the purchase of a cyclotron. This particle accelerator is used to create novel tracer molecules for PET scanning, which allows advanced diagnostics through molecular imaging within the human body.
In 2016, the Bahls followed up on their original gift with an additional $10.25 million pledge, which supports conducting revolutionary research and recruiting top experts in all related fields at the Cancer Center. One of these new hires is researcher, Bo Chen, PhD, who is the Manager of MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization). Other positions to be filled shortly are an oncologic imaging researcher and a magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy researcher.
The Bahls’ gifts will enable Stony Brook to perform cutting-edge personalized cancer research and diagnostic imaging breakthroughs, powering the evolution of individualized cancer care into the cancer treatment of tomorrow. The gifts bring to life the Bahl family’s vision for defeating cancer. Without such generous private philanthropy, vital research tools such as the cyclotron might not be available to our faculty.
Stony Brook Medicine already has a strong foundation in place, with widely respected researchers in the fields of metabolomics, cancer biology, medical imaging and computational oncology. Drawing on our strengths as part of Stony Brook University, our multidisciplinary teams are uniquely positioned to conduct pioneering, transformative cancer research.
The totality of the Bahls’ two gifts, both generous and visionary, will have a decades-long impact on cancer research, medical treatments and patient care. Together we will conquer one of the last critical frontiers is cancer metabolism and lipids research to transform cancer care.