The PET working committee (PETWC) is a consulting arm to your local Research Ethics Board (REB), which reviews the technical details of the protocols submitted to the REB that deal with PET imaging. We do not review general ethics considerations (specific subject population, confidentiality, etc.) of the protocol. We make sure that the project is generally feasible at the PET unit (i.e. required tracers are available or can be implemented), all PET acquisition and data analysis procedures are well defined and risks associated with radiation exposure are taken into account.
Please refer to the Booking & Pricing section for the general process to follow for new studies at the BIC, of which approval by the PETWC is one step. See also the Booking & Pricing tab under the PET Unit. We strongly encourage all researchers, especially those who are new to PET imaging, to contact the PET unit team prior to starting to plan their PET study. Our team will help you design your imaging study in the most efficient way.
Review process
The review of your application by the PETWC is independent of the submission of your protocol to the REB. However, both approvals are required for research in humans. For all new studies, please complete the "Application for initial review" form below, and prepare informed consent forms in both English and French, combine them in a single pdf and submit it to the giulia.delguerciogreen [at] mcgill.ca (PETWC Administrator) for review. The initial review generally takes about 3 weeks from the day of submission. If you get an approval letter from the PETWC, you need to submit this to the REB. Alternatively, you might receive a conditional approval and will then be required to revise and resubmit your protocol. Usually, the revised protocol is only reviewed by the Chair or the Acting Chair of the committee and will be approved within a week, provided you properly addressed all the points raised by the PETWC members.
Contact
All inquiries should be forwarded to the Chair of the PET Working Committee, Dr. Jean-Paul Soucy at jean-paul.soucy [at] mcgill.ca. Protocols should be submitted to the interim Committee Administrator, Ms. Giulia Del Guercio Green, at pet [at] bic.mni.mcgill.ca or marianna.papamihelakis [at] mcgill.ca.
Members
| Jean Paul Soucy, MD | Committee Chair; Adjunct Professor, PET Unit Director |
| Giulia Del Guercio Green | Committee Administrator |
| Alexey Kostikov, PhD | Committee Co-Chair; Associate Professor, McConnell Brain Imaging Center |
| Pablo Martin Rusjan, PhD | Assistant Professor, Douglas Research Centre |
| Alexander Thiel, MD | Professor, Lady Davis Institute |
| Christian Janicki, PhD | Radiation Safety Officer, MUHC |
| Gassan Massarweh, PhD | Director, Cyclotron and Radiochemistry Facility, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre |
| Bratislav Misic, PhD | Assistant Professor, McConnell Brain Imaging Center |
| Boris Christian Bernhardt, PhD | Associate Professor, McConnell Brain Imaging Center |
| Robert Hopewell | Research Technician, McConnell Brain Imaging Center |
| Chris Hung-Hsin Hsiao | Research Technician, McConnell Brain Imaging Center |
