Radiochemistry and Imaging Science

Our research is highly interdisciplinary. Projects lie at the interface of chemistry, biochemistry and translational molecular medicine with the aim of advancing new diagnostic and therapeutic agents targeting various pathologies.

Chemical goals revolve around developing new radiolabelling reactions and advancing radiotracers as diagnostic molecular imaging and/or radiotherapeutic agents. Specific topics include radionuclide isolation techniques, ligand and pharmaceutical synthesis, metal ion coordination chemistry, computational studies of metal-ion bonding and reaction mechanisms using density functional theory, radiochemistry with various nuclides (¹⁸F, ⁶⁴Cu, ^67/68Ga, ^86/90Y, ⁸⁹Zr, ¹¹¹In, ¹⁷⁷Lu etc), and complete tracer development from cellular assays in vitro to imaging in vivo using rodent models of human disease. Molecular imaging goals focus on advancing multi-modal positron-emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) probes with an emphasis on using imaging science to measure dynamic changes in critical oncogenic signalling pathways in various cancers.

Current projects cover the following areas:

• Radiochemistry with Halogens and Metal-ions
• Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry for Radiopharmaceutical Design
• Biochemical Evaluation of Radiotracers in vitro
• Molecular Imaging and Therapy in vivo
• Clinical Translation of Radiopharmaceuticals