Professor Andy Welch

Biography

I graduated from the University of Southampton with a first class honours degree in Physics in 1987 and went on to obtain a PhD in Medical Physics at the University of London (Royal Marsden Hospital) in 1990. After a brief spell in industry (working as a systems analyst for an oil company) I returned to academia, taking up a postdoctoral position and then a faculty position at the University of Utah (USA). In 1997 I returned to the UK, as a lecturer, senior lecturer then Professor at the University of Aberdeen. I was Director of the John Mallard Scottish PET Centre from 1997-2012 and have been programme coordiator for the MSc programmes in Medical Physics and Medical Imaging since 2016.

Research Overview

My research has focussed on the tomographic radiotracer imaging techniques of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) as well as Computed Tomography (CT) in general.

Current Research

Developing novel image reconstruction and image processing techniques for use in Nuclear Medicne.

Past Research

Developing PET methods to detect changes in brain function. This includes the use of Statistical Parametric Mapping and other statistical tools to detect changes in brain metabolism as measured with FDG-PET.

Measuring changes in cardiac metabolism with PET. This includes developing methods to measure glucose, oxidative and fatty acid metabolism.

Using medical CT scanners to study spontaneous imbibition in rocks. Applications include enhanced oil recovery.

Developing novel tomographic radiotracer imaging techniques to study fluid flow in porous and fractured rocks. Applications may include: enhanced oil recovery, carbon capture and storage and shale gas recovery. Current work uses Monte Carlo simulation techniques to compare PET and SPECT and to develop the optimum hardware and software for the task.

Funding and Grants

A. Awarded as Principal Investigator (15 awards totalling £2.6M)

Funding Body: Principal’s Interdisciplinary Fund
Title: A feasibility study on tomographic radiotracer techniques for imaging reactive transport in rocks
Applicants: A. Welch, D. Healy, Y. Tanino & D. Vega-Maza
Dates of Award: November 2014 – November 2015
Total Costs: £3,000

Funding Body: MRC
Title: Transfer of Fluorinase Technology for Imaging by PET
Applicants: A. Welch, L. Schweiger, H. Deng & D. O'Hagan
Dates of Award: June 2009 - June 2010
Total Costs: £89,484

Funding Body: TMRI Ltd
Title: Development of molecular imaging ligands for imaging Histamine H3 receptors, based on compounds within the Wyeth development programme
Applicants: A. Welch, S. Pimlott, D. Dewar, L. Schweiger, G. Reidel, R. Ross, & D. Wyper.
Dates of Award: February 2008 – July 2009
Total Costs: £735,976

Funding Body: TMRI Ltd
Title: Imaging dopamine levels as a biomarker of a 5-HT2c mediated effect
Applicants: A. Welch, G. Reidel, L. Schweiger & T. Smith
Dates of Award: Feb 2007 -Jan 2008
Total Costs: £164,842

Funding Body: Scottish Enterprise Grampian
Title: Pre-clinical PET Installation grant
Applicants: A. Welch & E. Rattray
Dates of Award: February 2007 – December 2007
Total Costs: £24,000

Funding Body: Wista Ltd
Title: Development of novel PET ligands for mental illness
Applicants: A. Welch & L.Schweiger
Dates of Award: January 2007 – December 2008
Total Costs: £350,236

Funding Body: Scottish Executive Health Department
Title: Development of an FDG production facility
Applicants: A. Welch & P. Sharp
Dates of Award: March 2006-March 2007
Total Costs: £175,000

Funding Body: Scottish Enterprise (Proof of Concept fund)
Title: Development of a novel miniaturized solid state sensor for tracer imaging
Applicants: A. Welch & S. McCallum
Dates of Award: April 2001 – April 2003
Total Costs: £192,771

Funding Body: Chief Scientist’s Office (Scottish Office)
Title: The use of positron emission tomography to aid in the development of
new anti-cancer therapies
Applicants: A. Welch, J. Cassidy, I. Smith, S. Waikar, D. Bissett and P. F. Sharp
Dates of Award: October 2000 – October 2003
Total Costs: £161,000

Funding Body: Aberdeen Royal Hospitals Endowments Trust
Title of Project: The application of C-11 choline and Positron Emission Tomography in
the investigation of prostate cancer
Applicants: A. Welch, D. Soloviev and L. Moffat
Dates of Award: March 1999 – March 2000
Total Costs: £8,000

Funding Body: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Title of Project: Development of attenuation correction schemes for PET that do not
require transmission measurements
Applicants: A. Welch
Dates of Award: December 1999 – December 2002
Total Costs: £51,983

Funding Body: Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
Title of Project: Development of a Radiochemistry Facility for Positron Emission Tomographic (PET) Imaging
Dates of Award: May 1998 – May 2001
Applicants: A. Welch and P. Sharp
Total Costs: £450,218

Funding Body: Aberdeen Royal Hospitals Endowments Trust
Title of Project: Development of a Data Analysis Package for Multi-bed Dynamic PET
Dates of Award: April 1998 – April 1999
Applicants: A. Welch, I.C. Smith, O. Eremin and P. Sharp
Total Costs: £8,000

Funding Body: Benning Trust
Title of Project: High-sensitivity FDG imaging using a clinical gamma camera
Dates of Award: March 1996 – March 1998
Applicants: A. Welch
Total Costs: $20,000

Funding Body: Whitaker Foundation
Title of Project: Development of an accurate and clinically-relevant non-uniform scatter
correction scheme for SPECT
Dates of Award: April 1996 – April 1999
Applicants: A. Welch
Total Costs: $206,758

B. Awarded As Named Investigator (25 awards totalling £12.2M)

Funding Body: SMA Europe
Title: Determining the Temporal, Spatial and Molecular Signature of Hypoxia in Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Applicants: S. Parson, J.M. Collinson, I. Fleming, A. Welch & M. Zanda
Dates of Award: October 2016 – September 2018
Total Costs: £92,899

Funding Body: NHSG Endowments
Title: Investigation of 18f Fluro Deoxy Ribose (FDR) as PET Tracer for Cardiac Pathologies
Applicants: S. Dall’Angelo, D. Dawson, M. Zanda & A. Welch
Dates of Award: August 2014 – July 2015
Total Costs: £11,968

Funding Body: Chief Scientist’s Office (Scottish Office)
Title: Detection of hypoxic regions in Oesophagogastric Carcinomas with 18F-fluoroazomycin-arabinofuranoside (FAZA) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging.
Applicants: R. Petty, I. Flemming, M. Zanda, A. Denison, G. Murray, A. Welch, L.
Schweiger & E. Collie-Duguid
Dates of Award: February 2014 – December 2015
Total Costs: £159,797

Funding Body: NHS Grampian Endowment Research Fund
Title: [N-methyl-11C] Methylene Blue: A Novel Biomarker for Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease ?
Applicants: L. Schweiger, A. Welch, B. Platt & G. Riedel
Dates of Award: April 2013 – April 2014
Total Costs: £11,954

Funding Body: ARUK
Title: Upgrade of preclinical MRI facilities at Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre
Applicants: B. Platt, H. Seton, G. Riedel & A. Welch
Dates of Award: October 2012 – September 2013
Total Costs: £80,000

Funding Body: MRC
Title: Effect of Inorganic Nitrite on Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle: Physiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutic Potential (Programme Grant)
Applicants: M. Frenneaux, D. Dawson, J. Brittenden, A. Welch, M. Zanda, C. Selman & J. Speakman
Dates of Award: October 2011 - September 2016
Total Costs: £1,799,947

Funding Body: SULSA/BBSRC BioSkape Industry Interchange Programme
Title: Development of New Markers to Apply Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging to Therapeutic Drug Targetting
Applicants: M. Zanda, W. Eldridge, A. Murray & A. Welch
Dates of Award: January 2011 - December 2011
Total Costs: £140,401

Funding Body: Scottish Funding Council
Title: Novel and Collaborative Approaches to Knowledge Exchange in Translational Imaging
Applicants: J Wardlaw, T. McCarthy, C. Cunningham, S. Pittard, J. DeWilde, A Murray, J. Owens, R. Lerski, J. vanHemest, B. Condon, A Welch, I. Marshall, J. Clark, F. Gilbert, N. Roberts, C. Gilmour, D. O'Hagan, M. Zanda, M. Bradley, A. Sutherland, D. Steele, K. Muir, C. Santosh
Dates of Award: October 2010 – September 2013
Total Costs: £1, 124,928

Funding Body: EU FP7 (251482)
Title: Novel Mapping the brain with PET radiolabeled cannabinoid (CB1) ligands (PET BRAIN)
Applicants: M. Zanda, A. Welch & R. Ross
Dates of Award: June 2010 – May 2014
Total Costs: €930,577

Funding Body: BBSRC
Title: Fluorinase derived fluorine-18 biotrans products as imaging agents for PET
Applicants: D. O'Hagan, A. Welch & M. Carroll
Dates of Award: June 2010 - June 2011
Total Costs: £119,993

Funding Body: Chief Scientist’s Office (Scottish Office)
Title: Assessing the Potential Clinical Application of FDG-PET/CT to the Management of Breast Cancer, in Particular, Staging the Axillary Lymph Nodes. A multi-centre Study (Aberdeen/Glasgow)
Applicants: S. Heys, F. Gilbert, & A. Welch
Dates of Award: February 2009 – January 2012
Total Costs: £218,267

Funding Body: TMRI Ltd
Title: EEG and PET markers in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease
Applicants: B. Platt, G. Riedel, & A. Welch
Dates of Award: April 2008 – March 2010
Total Costs: £1,054,046

Funding Body: TMRI Ltd
Title: Phenotypic analysis of Disc1 transgenic mice
Applicants: G. Riedel, B. Platt, A. Welch, S. Shen & D. St Clair
Dates of Award: April 2008 – March 2010
Total Costs: £368,739

Funding Body: TMRI Ltd
Title: In vivo 18-FDG PET imaging and atherosclerotic plaque inflammatory biomarkers in mouse models of atherosclerosis - a randomized controlled trial.
Applicants: J. Brittenden, H. Wilson, S. Shaikh, A. Welch, G. Small, P. Brown,
F. Thies, & A. Barker
Dates of Award: April 2008 – September 2009
Total Costs: £258,571

Funding Body: Scottish Funding Council
Title: SINAPSE Scottish Imaging Network: A Platform for Scientific Excellence
SFC Pooling Initiative in collaboration with the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrew & Stirling
Applicants: J Wardlaw, A Murray, A Welch, D Hadley, D Wyper, A Astell, R Lerski, A Coughtrie, D Donaldson, R Sellar, PAG Sandercock, D McGonigle
Dates of Award: May 2007 – April 2012
Total Costs: £5,586,906

Funding Body: Arthritis Research Council
Title: Effect of surgical approach on femoral head viability following hip resurfacing: A quantitative study using positron emission tomography
Applicants: G.P. Ashcroft, A. Welch, A. Murray, A. Lee & J. Hutchison
Dates of Award: April 2007 – March 2010
Total Costs: £205,899

Funding Body: TMRI Ltd
Title: Imaging argerosclerotic plaque inflammation with flurodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and CT angiography
Applicants: J. Brittenden, K. Cassar, M.J. MacLeod, F. Thies, A. Welch & A. Murray
Dates of Award: January 2007 – December 2008
Total Costs: £344,163

Funding Body: Chief Scientist’s Office (Scottish Office)
Title: The Prediction of Response to Chemotherapy in Patients with Oesophageal Cancer Using Positron Emission Tomography
Applicants: K. Park & A. Welch
Dates of Award: July 2004 – July 2005
Total Costs: £17,905

Funding Body: Grampian University Hospitals Endowment Fund
Title of Project: The application of C-11 PK11195 and positron emission tomography for the investigation of multiple sclerosis
Applicants: S. Waikar, A. Welch and R. Coleman
Total Costs: £10,500

Funding Body: British Orthopaedic Association Wishbone Trust
Title of Project: Assessment of biological activity around hip replacements with aseptic and septic loosening using positron emission tomography
Applicants: G.P. Ashcroft, P. Hopwood, A. Welch and D. Hukins
Start Date: October 1999 – October 2000
Total Costs: £25,795

Funding Body: ARH Endowments
Title of Project: Staging of malignant melanoma: comparison of PET with clinical outcome and histopathology of excised locoregional lymph nodes
Applicants: A. Murray, M. Davis, J. Holmes, K. Blessing, A. Welch, M. Nicholson and M. White
Start Date: March 1999 – March 2000
Total Costs: £9,600

Funding Body: ARH Endowments
Title of Project: Language mapping using positron emission tomography in normal volunteers and in patients with brain tumours for preoperative planning
Applicants: A. Murray, A. Venneri, A. Welch, D.G. Currie, G. Kaar, R. Staff
Start Date: March 1999 – March 2000
Total Costs: £7,500

Funding Body: ARH Endowments
Title of Project: The evaluation of Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) combined with Ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration in the evaluation of groin nodes associated with vulval cancer.
Applicants: G. Narayansingh, D. Parkin, T. Sarkar, H. Deans, F. Wallis, A. Welch and I. Miller
Start Date: March 1999 – March 2000
Total Costs: £5,000

Funding Body: Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland
Title of Project: Prediction of hibernating myocardium: a PET comparative study
Date of Award: December 1998 – December 2000
Applicants: S. Walton, A. Al-Mohammad, A. Welch, T. Redpath and P. Sharp
Total Costs: £26,050

Funding Body: British Heart Foundation
Title of Project: Validation of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Surrogate Markers for Hibernating Myocardium
Date of Award: May 1998 – May 2000
Applicants: S. Walton, A. Al-Mohammad, A. Welch, T. Redpath and P. Sharp
Total Costs: £75,000

Funding Body: Cancer Research Campaign
Title of Project: PET in-vivo tumour cell metabolism and breast cancer: Novel assessment of tumour volume, metastatic spread, response to chemotherapy and prediction of prognosis
Date of Award: August 1997 – August 2000
Applicants: O. Eremin, I. Smith, A. Welch, P. Sharp, A. Hutcheon, L. Walker, S. Heys, I. Miller, F. Gilbert, A. Ah-See, and F. Smith
Total Costs: £251,801

Teaching Responsibilities

Programme Coordinator for MSc in Medical Physics

Programme Coordinator for MSc in Medical Imaging

Course Coordinator for BP5008 Radiation In Medicine

Course Coordinator for BP5011 Radiation in Medical Imaging

Course Coordinator for BP5501 Radiotherpay

Course Coordinator for BP5502 Nuclear Medicine and PET

Course Coordinator for BP5506 Diagnostic Radiology and Radiation Protection

Course Coordinator for MP5501 Comparative Imaging