Irène Buvat
Biography
Irène Buvat is a luminary in quantitative medical imaging, with her seminal contributions producing major innovations in mathematical, methodological, and clinical applications of Nuclear Medicine imaging technologies, including Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). These innovations have sped medical imaging and allowed for a better characterization and management of diseases, especially cancer. Buvat has also developed freeware packages incorporating her methodologies, making them useable by other researchers and physicians, thereby greatly expanding the contributions of her research. This combination of groundbreaking research and incorporating her methodologies in freely available tools has significantly facilitated the research of others, making her contributions to the profession truly remarkable.
An IEEE Member, Buvat is a CNRS Research Director heading a lab at Institut Curie, Paris, France.
Plenary Talk
Decoding the Cancer Ecosystem Through Multiscale Imaging for Precision Medicine
Cancer involves interactions that extend from molecular networks and cellular systems to the physiology of the entire organism. Whole-body PET/CT offers a unique window into these complex processes by simultaneously capturing tumor biology and systemic host responses.
In this lecture, we will present a multiscale imaging framework that combines dual-tracer PET, image-guided biopsies, pathology, spatial transcriptomics, and machine learning. By linking whole-body PET phenotypes to the cellular architecture of the tumor microenvironment, we will demonstrate how imaging can reveal key determinants of response and resistance to chemo-immunotherapy. We will also show that prognostic signals arise not only from tumors but also from healthy tissues and organ networks throughout the body, underscoring the importance of the broader cancer ecosystem. Examples will highlight the potential of PET/CT to bridge traditionally separate scientific disciplines and to support a systems-level approach to precision medicine.