David H. Ballard, MD, Receives SNMMI Mars Shot Research Fund Award

Reston, VA (March 18, 2026)--The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is pleased to announce that David H. Ballard, MD, assistant professor of radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been selected as the recipient of a $100,000 Drs. Jane & Abass Alavi Mars Shot Research Award from the 2026 Mars Shot Fund. The Alavi Mars Shot Award is focused on advancing imaging research in infection and inflammation, and Ballard s grant was awarded based on his proposal, "Novel PET/MR imaging of metabolic activity, proinflammatory macrophage-mediated inflammation, and association with fibrosis in Crohn's disease."

Affecting more than 750,000 Americans, Crohn's disease is chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes long-term inflammation and ulcers along the digestive tract. Symptomatic strictures, or narrow areas of the small or large bowel, are common in up to half of patients with Crohn's disease and can be caused by either inflammation or fibrosis. Current therapies for Crohn's disease, however, only treat inflammation and lack anti-fibrotic properties.

"Therapeutic success for Crohn's disease depends on identifying whether inflammation is present and responsive to medical therapy, yet current imaging methods lack the biological specificity needed to guide such decisions," said Ballard. "As a result, patients often experience ineffective treatment escalation or delayed decision-making to proceed to an endoscopic or surgical stricture therapy."

David H. Ballard, MD

Ballard's study aims to establish a foundation for biologically informed, noninvasive decision-making in Crohn's disease. He and his colleagues, Drs. Yongjian Liu and Parakkal Deepak, will evaluate sequential PET/MR imaging with ¹⁸F-FDG and ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-ECL1i to characterize intestinal inflammation in Crohn's disease. Ballard will first compare the two radiotracers uptake with histologic measures of active inflammation to determine whether ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-ECL1i improves specificity for CCR2+ macrophage-rich lesions. Next, he will integrate PET and MRI parameters to classify strictures as inflammatory-predominant, fibrotic-predominant, or mixed, based on a validated histologic scoring system.

"We hypothesize that ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-ECL1i PET will provide a more specific indicator of CCR2+ macrophage-driven inflammation than ¹⁸F-FDG. The integration of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-ECL1i, ¹⁸F-FDG, and MRI metrics will improve the accuracy of defining the stricture phenotype," noted Ballard.

Ballard's research focuses on translational imaging in Crohn's disease with an emphasis on biologically grounded PET and MRI biomarkers. His prior work has concentrated on treatment assessment in perianal Crohn's disease, where he led multicenter efforts to define MRI-based criteria for radiologic response and healing. Ballard holds a master s degree in exercise physiology from McNeese University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and received his medical degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

Established in 2023, the SNMMI Mars Shot Research Fund is a forward-looking glimpse into the future of nuclear medicine. It provides resources that translate visionary nuclear medicine imaging, radiopharmaceutical therapy, and data science research or projects into tools or treatments that will help improve the lives of patients.

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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and theranostics precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. For more information, visit snmmi.org.