Lab News

Identifying and navigating bottlenecks in the translation of novel radiopharmaceuticals: a perspective

Another year, another great tradition! It was a pleasure to come together and celebrate a successful scientific year 2024 at our Christmas dinner. Looking forward to more achievements and gatherings in the year ahead!

Welcoming back Hélène! Returning to our lab as a PhD researcher, Hélène rejoins our lab after completing a successful internship, now embarking on a new journey as a PhD student.

C-X-C Motif Chemokine Receptor 4-Directed Scintigraphy Using [99mTc]Tc-Pentixatec in Primary Aldosteronism: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Validation of the C-X-C chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) as a target for PET imaging of T cell activation

Preclinical SPECT and PET: Joint EANM and ESMI procedure guideline for implementing an efficient quality control programme

Lessons learned in application driven imaging agent design for image-guided surgery

Congratulations to Sebastian! He has successfully defended his PhD today, being the first student from the TRS group. Well done, Dr. Martin! 

We took our team-building event literally and turned it into a LEGO building event! Truly unforgettable moments! :)

Antibody-peptide conjugates deliver covalent inhibitors blocking oncogenic cathepsins

We are delighted to welcome our new PhD student, Giulia. With our two new lab members, Giulia and Gianluca, joining us from Italy, we have added two great chemists to our research group.

Our research group is growing. We have the pleasure to welcome our new italian collegue Gianluca. 

Validation of a size exclusion method for concomitant purification and formulation of peptide radiopharmaceuticals

The same procedure as every year :) Happy to come together and celebrate a successful scientific year 2023 during our Christmas dinner.

Cheers!

Dr. Radmila Faizova, received the SNSF Spark grant for her innovative project ‘FAcT: Fluoride-Actinium-based Theranostics.’ SNSF Spark aims to support the rapid testing or development of novel and unconventional scientific ideas in any disciplines (high-risk research). This initiative pioneers the development of a new alpha therapy imaging method, encouraging innovative approaches within the scientific community.

We had reason to celebrate! The recently approved SNF grant for our “PAC-MAN” project will allow us to hire new PhD students and move forward in our research. Within PAC-MAN, we are trying to map macrophages as one of the key players in the tumor microenvironment.

Highly delighted and tired after climbing more than 1000 meters up with lovely mountain panorama. After this stimulating group hike, we're all reset to focus again on the challenges we face in research.

Happy to share the most recent synthesis paper from our collegue Lennard with you.

Integration of Dota as a Bridging Unit During Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis

Finally the long awaited paper on CXCR4-targeted SPECT tracers has been published. Enjoy reading exciting results;)

[99mTc]Tc‑PentixaTec: development, extensive pre‑clinical evaluation, and first human experience

With our recently published article "Influence of corticosteroid treatment on CXCR4 expression in DLBCL", we are contributing to ensure the efficacy of CXCR4-targeted endoradiotherapy in cancer patients.

We are proud to have participated in #EMIM2023 and congratulate our lab member Lennard for representing the whole group so well by winning a poster award!

The prize was awarded to the following poster: "Novel radiohybrid PET-Tracers for the imaging of neuroendocrine tumors"; Session: PET/SPECT, Radionuclide, X-Ray, CT II – Probes/Reporter Genes

We are proud to present the latest addition to our fleet of high-end laboratory instruments. With the new Scintomics synthesizer module, we are now able to automate the production of radiolabeled drugs for research and development purposes.

First sporty hike together to Cabane de Panossière. An amaizing view to the glacier was awaiting us at the hut and a very delicious tarte aux myrtilles, which made all the effort up the mountains absolutely worth it! ;)

We were very pleased to present our field of radiopharmaceutical sciences to all our collegues as part of the Agora Progress Report series. Many thanks to all attendees for the great interest, the good discussions and the positive feedback!

We congratulate our PhD student Sebastian for his travel award and his talk at the iSRS2022 symposium in Nantes. 

Fête Noël at Café Pointu. 

A new summarizing review in regard of CXCR4 immune cell orchestration, its potential for therapy and imaging is published now:

In Vivo Targeting of CXCR4—New Horizons

We welcome Alexandra in our research group. With her as an experienced radiopharmacist our team is complete for '21 and we will be ready to take off for the following year(s) to present you first exclusive insights of our results. 

Check out our most recent publication concerning hybrid tracers in radioguided surgery:

The role of fluorescent and hybrid tracers in radioguided surgery in urogenital malignancies

Having a great week in Göttingen at the #EMIM2021 - first in person conference this year for our group. Now heading back to the lab with new impressions and creative ideas.

Our research group is growing. We have the pleasure to welcome Lennard as PhD student in our team. We wish him a successful scientific start in Lausanne.

We welcome Radmila as Postdocrotal Fellow at Agora. With her previous experience in the field of radiochemistry, she will be a great addition in our research team. 

Novel Peptide-Based PET Probe for Non-invasive Imaging of C-X-C Chemokine Receptor Type 4 (CXCR4) in Tumors.

We’re starting into 2021 with very good news:  Our collaborative Grant proposal « PREDICT » (co-investigators: Prof. Vincent Zoete, Prof. Niklaus Schaefer) has been accepted by the San Salvatore Foundation and will receive funding for 2021-2023 !

Proud to announce: Our collaborative Oncosuisse Grant proposal « RADIATION » (co-investigators: Dr. Steven Dunn, Dr. Melita Irving, Prof. Vincen Zoete) has been accepted and will receive funding for 2021-2023 !

We recommend the recently published review of Professor Magret Schottelius addressing the role of CXCR4 in cancer:

At the bench: Pre-clinical evidence for multiple functions of CXCR4 in cancer

We gratulate Prof Magret Schottelius for the new promising publication:

A new class of PentixaFor- and PentixaTher-based theranostic agents with enhanced CXCR4-targeting efficiency

A clinical study performed with [99mTc]Tc-PSMA I&S is accessible now:

[99cmTc]Tc-PSMA-I&S-SPECT/CT: experience in prostate cancer imaging in an outpatient center

A new publication is available now:

From Theranostics to Immunotheranostics: the Concept

Finally! The first important step is accomplished. We now have a fully equipped laboratory, and this milestone is celebrated with a classical Swiss Apéro. The lab is now officially ready for synthesis and first preclinical experiments.

Thanks to all those who have supported us!

A new publication highlights an underestimated preclinical issue:

“Luke! Luke! Don’t! It’s a trap!”—spotlight on bias in animal experiments in nuclear oncology

We welcome Severin as new member in our research team. With his previous experience as a radiochemist, he will be a great asset to establish our research group. Finally, we wish him a pleasant scientific start in Lausanne.

First equipment arrives, our lab grows now from day to day - and we will be soon ready to cook (synthesize) :)

We welcome Sebastian as new PhD candidate in the TRS research group and wish him a pleasant scientific start in the new lab!

The TRS (Translational Radiopharmaceutical Sciences) research group is established and ready to get started under the expertise of Prof. Dr. Margret Schottelius.