From Exploration to Impact

The future of healthcare is not shaped by technology alone. It is shaped by partnerships that bring scientific ambition, engineering expertise, and clinical insight together around a shared purpose.

For more than a decade, United Imaging, UC Davis Health, and UC Davis Weill Veterinary Medicine have worked across research, clinical care, and advanced imaging to explore what is possible: from humans to non-humans, and from scientific discovery to real-world impact.

A Breakthrough That Changed Clinical Practice

The partnership began with an ambitious goal: to redefine whole-body PET imaging.

"We had brilliant collaboration to develop the EXPLORER PET/CT scanner with Ramsey Badawi and Simon Cherry," said Elizabeth Morris, Chair of the Department of Radiology at UC Davis Health. "It certainly changed clinical practice."

In 2018, uEXPLORER, the world's first total-body PET/CT system, debuted at RSNA. In 2019, UC Davis performed the first clinical total-body PET/CT scans in the United States. Since then, the collaboration has continued to generate new research, clinical applications, and scientific insight. "It became almost the standard now to perform a total whole-body PET scan," Morris said.

But the story did not end with one breakthrough. Read more about UC Davis research using uEXPLORER to study immune response.

Over the years, United Imaging technology has expanded across multiple UC Davis Health locations and imaging modalities, reflecting a growing partnership built on innovation, clinical excellence, and a shared commitment to advancing patient care.

"We have more than 10 systems with four modalities at seven different institutes," Morris said at UIH night during RSNA 2025.

The partnership entered a new chapter with the opening of the UC Davis Folsom Medical Care Clinic, where the health system selected United Imaging across the imaging department. "When we decided to go with all United Imaging there, it was a big leap of faith," Morris said.

One of her biggest considerations was how the technologists would respond.

"It was really wonderful to see how quickly and positively they adapted to the equipment," Morris said, pointing to the user-friendly interfaces and the long-term value of upgrades for life.

The Folsom expansion reflects how the partnership has evolved: from developing a groundbreaking system to supporting the everyday realities of clinical care, workflow, and patient access.

A Shared Purpose

For Morris, the value of the partnership goes beyond equipment. "Academic and industry partnerships are the key to the future," she said. "We cannot innovate in many ways in radiology without that partnership."

United Imaging contributes engineering and technology expertise. UC Davis contributes clinical knowledge, research leadership, and access to diverse patient populations.

Together, those capabilities create the conditions for meaningful innovation. "They bring the engineering expertise, the technology expertise," Morris said. "We bring the clinical expertise and patient populations."

At the center of it all is a shared commitment to care. "We have a shared purpose and a shared vision together," Morris said. "That is to make patient care the best it possibly can be." From scientific discovery to clinical impact, from humans to animals, the relationship between United Imaging and UC Davis continues to grow.

One partnership. One shared vision. And the future, still being shaped together.