• GUEST: Peter J.H. Scott, University Michigan (Ann Arbor)

🎙️ Welcome to Episode 14 of "Dive into Imaging Science"!
In this edition, we’re thrilled to welcome a very special guest: Peter Scott!

Peter’s passion for radiochemistry and his dedication to translating research into clinical applications have made a lasting impact on the field of Theranostics – also the central theme of this year’s TOPIM (don’t forget to check it out!). By following Peter’s inspiring career journey, we gain valuable insights into how the field has evolved over the years.

The Scott Lab focuses on using PET radiotracers to deepen our understanding of disease mechanisms and to develop companion diagnostics that support therapeutic innovation. A key focus of Peter’s work is the design and synthesis of novel PET tracers for imaging CNS disorders.

🎯 This brings us to this episode’s spotlight topic: Radiotheranostics in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Our discussion is sparked by a study from the group of Tara E. Mastren at the University of Utah, published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The paper investigates the use of targeted alpha therapy to reduce Amyloid-β aggregates – an intriguing approach that raises important questions about its potential in Alzheimer’s treatment.

We explore the immense potential of radiotheranostics in CNS disorders, as well as key challenges such as delivering compounds across the blood-brain barrier and minimizing effects on healthy tissue.

🍸 Continuing our tradition, we celebrate our guest with a special cocktail — this time, a nod to Peter’s love of gin and his British background. For this edition: the "Bee’s Knees", a classic from the Prohibition era, with a modern twist inspired by The Gin Vault in Birmingham. A simple, elegant sour to keep us energized — and just the right mix of sharp, sweet, and smooth.

Recipe: 3 parts Gin – 1 part lemon juice – 1 part blood orange juice – ½ part honey syrup

🎧 Tune in for a deep and dynamic discussion at the intersection of chemistry, imaging, and clinical innovation!

Selected Publication: Bender AA, Kirkeby EK, Cross DJ, Minoshima S, Roberts AG, Mastren TE. Development of a 213Bi-Labeled Pyridyl Benzofuran for Targeted α-Therapy of Amyloid-β Aggregates. J Nucl Med. 2024 Sep 3;65(9):1467-1472. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.124.267482. PMID: 39054283.

Further information on the European Society for Molecular Imaging:
https://e-smi.eu/
Contact: office@e-smi.eu

• GUEST: Fabian Kiessling, Aachen

Welcome to the Christmas edition of "Dive into imaging science"! Giannis and Tim have their festive hats on and are wearing their dodgy Christmas jumpers, ready for a cracker (!) of an episode. And we have a very special guest on the show – none other than our current past president, Fabian Kiessling, who heads up the Institute of Experimental Molecular Imaging and the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering at Aachen University.

We explore how to ‘make the visible invisible’ in the groundbreaking paper from the lab of Guosong Hong at Stanford by achieving optical transparency in live animals using a food dye that’s an ingredient in many potato chips! We conclude that this isn’t, in fact, the end of non-invasive imaging; instead, it opens a new frontier for optical and photoacoustic techniques.

Along the way, we learn that Fabian could have been a policeman if only he hadn’t been “a little bit weak in differentiating red and green” and that being a scientist is very much like being an artist. We discuss reproducibility in science, the importance of co-locating labs and people, and were swept along by Fabian’s passion for imaging science.

Cocktail - Continuing our tradition, we enjoy a special cocktail : It’s a Christmas and Aachen special so what better way to celebrate it with a twist on the Gluehwein Cretan style: Giannis’ own home-made brandy and raki (cretan grappa that is), red wine, cinnamon sticks, cloves, honey and a red orange slice from his garden.

Selected Publication: Ou Z, Duh YS, Rommelfanger NJ, Keck CHC, Jiang S, Brinson K Jr, Zhao S, Schmidt EL, Wu X, Yang F, Cai B, Cui H, Qi W, Wu S, Tantry A, Roth R, Ding J, Chen X, Kaltschmidt JA, Brongersma ML, Hong G. Achieving optical transparency in live animals with absorbing molecules. Science. 2024 Sep 6;385(6713):eadm6869. doi: 10.1126/science.adm6869. Epub 2024 Sep 6. PMID: 39236186.

Further information on the European Society for Molecular Imaging:
https://e-smi.eu/
Contact: office@e-smi.eu

• GUEST: Elisa Konofagou, New York

We continue at full speed with back to back podcasts hosting leaders in the field of molecular imaging. In this edition we welcome Elisa Konofagou and share her passion for ultrasound imaging and its unique capabilities for visualising biology inside the human body. Her group has developed methods for estimating minute deformation as a result of physiological function, such as in the heart and vessels, and displacements induced by the ultrasound wave itself, such as in tumours and nerves. She is particularly interested in translating these technologies to a clinical setting and impacting the improvement of healthcare.

The use of innovative ultrasound imaging to solve a clinical problem is the focus of this edition. The discussion revolves around a paper presenting an artful application of ultrasound localization microscopy to image the hemodynamics of myocardial microvasculature in patients. The paper was recently published from the group of Meng-Xing Tang at Imperial College London in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

We discover their breakthrough approach in achieving super resolution, that is resolution beyond the diffraction limit of ultrasound waves, by localizing the position and following the path of circulating microbubbles in the vasculature in a beating human heart. This study presents the potential of ultrasound localisation microscopy to improve the understanding of myocardial microcirculation with a great impact on patients with cardiac microvasculature and coronary heart disease. As a bonus discussion before the end we briefly touch upon the art of choosing how to write a paper: when should we write a detailed paper for a very specific audience, vs making it accessible to generalists?

Continuing our tradition, we enjoy a special cocktail dedicated to Elisa’s French connection as well as the chosen paper. For this edition the “French 75”, invented some 100 years ago in Paris. If you want to try it while listening here’s the recipe: 1 measure Gin, ½ measure fresh lemon juice, ½ measure sugar syrup, top up with champagne for some microbubbles! Serve in a flute and garnish with a lemon twist.

Selected Publication: Yan J, Huang B, Tonko J, Toulemonde M, Hansen-Shearer J, Tan Q, Riemer K, Ntagiantas K, Chowdhury RA, Lambiase PD, Senior R, Tang MX. Transthoracic ultrasound localization microscopy of myocardial vasculature in patients. Nat Biomed Eng. 2024 Jun;8(6):689-700. doi: 10.1038/s41551-024-01206-6. Epub 2024 May 6. PMID: 38710839; PMCID: PMC11250254.

Further information on the European Society for Molecular Imaging:
https://e-smi.eu/
Contact: office@e-smi.eu