Nuclear Medicine Laboratory
Head: Professor Stephen Mather
Dept Nuclear Medicine
Cancer Research UK
59/60 Bartholomew Close
St Bartholomew's Hospital,
London EC1A 7BE
Tel +44 (0)20 7601 7153
Fax +44 (0)20 7796 3907
Please also see the Institute of Cancer's web pages at the Barts and
The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry.
http://www.cancer.qmul.ac.uk/research/molecular_oncology_imaging/index.html
The Cancer Research UK Nuclear Medicine Group at St Bartholomew’s
Hospital comprises the Nuclear Medicine Research Laboratory (NMRL) in
the Dominion House Centre for Research and the Clinical Research Group based
within the hospital department of Nuclear Medicine. The work of the group falls
into three main areas.
- Pre-clinical radiopharmaceutical development
- Clinical trials of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals
- Specialised education and training in Nuclear Medicine and Radiopharmacy.
Our principal fields of research are the exploration of radiolabelled
monoclonal antibodies and other vectors such as cytokines, neuropeptides,
DNA oligonucleotides and oligosaccharides for tumour targeting. We have
developed a number of different techniques for labelling these compounds
with a variety of different radionuclides and have gone on to study several
in diagnostic and therapeutic clinical trials. To progress candidate radiotracers
from the pre-clinical stage to clinical evaluation requires, in addition
to the actual preparation of the radioconjugate under pharmaceutically
acceptable (GMP) conditions, the development of validated assay procedures
and compliance with a raft of regulatory requirements.
Because it is unique in the UK, the NMRL has often become the first port
of call for academic and commercial organisations who require specialised
expertise in radiopharmaceutical development to assist them in their research.
In addition to pursuing our own research directions , the lab tries so
far as possible to share its facilities and expertise and to act as a
national and international resource for academic and commercial collaborators
requiring this assistance.
Through collaborations with the Department of Pharmacy at Kings College
London we have established courses in Radiopharmacy which provide specialised
teaching for the whole of the UK and in association with the European
Association of Nuclear Medicine and have helped to set up courses to provide
the teaching for this specialisation throughout Europe in particular at
the Institut National de Science et Technologie Nucleaire (INSTN), Paris.
The shortcomings of our current systems of delivery have meant that we
continue to look for novel approaches for this type of specialised teaching
in particular distance learning solutions. Through collaborations with
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the British Council
we host a number of fellowships every year for visiting Nuclear Medicine
doctors and scientists.
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