GE pledges $33M to create Wis. imaging research center

The University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine and Public Health, GE Healthcare and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) have reached new research collaboration and technology invention agreements that will result in the creation of a new imaging research facility.

With an anticipated $32.9 million investment from GE as part of a 10-year research agreement, the center will be located in the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR) in Madison, which is connected to the UW Health Sciences Learning Center and UW Hospital and Clinics. GE’s investment will provide cash funding, diagnostic imaging equipment and research personnel.

A new patent and technology agreement between GE Healthcare and WARF governs the intellectual property and licensing practices of the research agreement.

The center will aid in the development of products from GE and other Wisconsin-based start-up companies. Other anticipated research programs will focus on ultra-low dose CT applications, hybrid imaging modalities like PET/MR, quantification of liver disease in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the development of non-invasive cardiovascular imaging techniques.

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