Novel radiosynthetic methods for advancing drug discovery

Radiopharmaceuticals have extensive applications for diagnostic positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of brain disorders, cardiac diseases, and cancers, as well as in drug discovery. Despite growing interest, the radiochemical synthesis field still lacks a versatile toolbox to facilitate straightforward radiolabeling of complex biomolecules. Dr. Chao Zheng’s lab looks towards not just the development of innovative and effective radiopharmaceuticals for PET imaging, but also to develop new radiochemical methodologies to facilitate fluoride-18 and carbon-11 radiolabeling.

As an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Dr. Zheng has been awarded a 5-year Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant. This award will expand Dr. Zheng’s capacity to train highly qualified personnel equipped with synthetic organic chemistry skills, and the radiochemistry needed for radiopharmaceutical synthesis. Additionally, lab member Hannah Le, a first-year MSc student, has received a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Masters (CGS-M) award, which will support her continued training. These new resources will advance the design and development of new synthetic organic and radiochemical methodologies for radiopharmaceutical development.