Emory University School of Medicine

The lab was established in 1993 and research interests encompass PET and SPECT radiotracer development of oncology, brain and heart agents. This emphasis of the is research is on the design and evaluation of peripheral benzodiazepine receptor ligands for imaging peripheral vascular disease and mapping of intracranial tumors, carbohydrates for in vivo  study of regional glucose metabolism in cancer, alicyclic and branched chain amino acids for in vivo  mapping of intracranial and systemic tumors, radiolabeled fatty acids for in vivo study of regional fatty acid metabolism in heart disorders, cocaine analogs for in vivo study of the dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine reuptake sites in neurodegenerative disease, psychiatric and addictive disorders, heterocyclic  analogs for in vivo mapping of CRF1 receptors in psychiatric disorders, heteroaromatics for imaging amyloid in AD and heteroaromatics for imaging complex I of the oxidative transport system. In addition to radiotracer development, other research interests include applied research, involving the development of automated devices to facilitate the use of new radiotracers in clinical medicine. Research has resulted in the translation of the first reported synthetic amino alicyclic acid radiolabled with the PET radioelement fluorine-18 for imaging both intracranial tumors and prostate cancer in patients.