ENCITE - the European Network for Cell Imaging and Tracking Expertise - is a four year project that started in June 2008 and consists of 29 international scientific partners from ten countries, with the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR) as coordinating partner.

The European Network for Cell Imaging and Tracking Expertise (ENCITE) comprises five main areas of work, namely novel imaging technologies, novel imaging reporter probes, novel tools for cell labelling, pre-clinical validation, and translation towards clinical application.

The overall generic objective is to establish and validate cell homing for therapeutic delivery to target organs, and the major disease-oriented objective relates to the improvement of existing cell-based therapies in the treatment of cancer. Specifically, project objectives include:

• the development of new imaging methods to improve the spatio-temporal tracking of labelled cells;
• the generation of dual- and multimodality imaging procedures;
• the generation of procedures that will improve the sensitivity and specificity of cellular labelling;
• new methods for quantitative assessment are being developed that will generate reliable biomarkers of the cell fate and therapeutic effects;
• establishing the clinical potential of novel imaging approaches in preclinical studies related to neurological, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases, as well as to cancer and diabetes.