Laudatio Professor Silvio Aime
Silvio Aime is specialist in contrast agents for Magnetic
Resonance Imaging. MRI plays an important role in modern
healthcare and almost every hospital now has one or more
MRI scanners. Many engineers, including in the Eindhoven
area at TU/e and Philips Healthcare, work hard to make MRI
technology faster and more versatile. A highly relevant
research area is the development of contrast agents that help
to make MRI scans more specific and sensitive to a certain
disease process. Contrast agent development requires
expertise in synthetic chemistry to make them and in physics
to optimize their efficacy. Biology, however, is similarly
important, since the contrast agents may interact with blood
constituents after injection, or may need to leave the
bloodstream to highlight diseased tissues. Finally, how the
body handles the contrast agent and how fast and by which
mechanism it leaves the body, are equally relevant factors.
Today TU/e honours Professor Silvio Aime from Torino for his outstanding contributions to MRI
contrast agent development. During the past two decades, he has become the worldwide leader
of this field. Recent hallmarks include contrast materials for molecular imaging, which are aimed
to visualize biological markers that occur in very low concentrations. Powerful contrast agents
are therefore needed. The lipoCEST contrast concept introduced by Aime’s team is based on
nano-particles with MRI contrast agent inside. Comparably innovative is the development of
smart contrast agents that only start to change the MRI contrast following their activation by a
biological process of interest. Professor Aime has also introduced very ingenious ways to
monitor the intracellular trafficking of contrast agents packed in nano-particles following their
uptake by cells. These new tests, which consist of elegant combinations of experimentation and
mathematical modelling, may have major implications for imaging as well as for drug research.
Silvio Aime also is an inspirational teacher. He organizes many courses, in which young scientists
are taught the ins-and-outs of contrast agent design and use.
Eindhoven University of Technology is proud to add Professor Silvio Aime’s name to its list of
honorary doctorates to acknowledge his outstanding contributions to the field of contrast
agents for MRI and molecular imaging.