The Molecular Imaging Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) supports the research and clinical efforts of HCI and the University of Utah.

The program began with the purchase of a GE Advance Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner and later with the building of a cyclotron facility. The cyclotron is a machine used to manufacture very short-lived radioactive tracers that can be used as imaging agents for Positron Emission Tomography (PET). PET has become one of the most accurate imaging techniques to detect, characterize, and stage various types of cancers as well as assess patients with dementia.

In 2007, funding was secured and additional space created for researchers to conduct work with radioactive tracers. A dedicated PET imaging research facility now houses the GE Advance PET and a new Discovery ST PET/CT scanners. The Molecular Imaging Program focuses on state-of-the-art PET imaging and MR spectroscopy.

In 2004 Kathryn Morton, MD, joined the Molecular Imaging Program as a professor of radiology (nuclear medicine). In the summer of 2005, John Hoffman, MD, joined as director of the Molecular Imaging Program. Under his direction, the program has experienced rapid expansion and growth.