Abstract:

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a molecular imaging technique that uses compounds labeled with positron emitting isotopes to image deep inside the body. The most common isotopes to label small molecules are fluorine-18 (t_1/2 = 110 min) and carbon-11 (t_1/2 = 20.3 min). Due to the short half-lives of these isotopes the chemistry used for labeling has to be quick and efficient. In this talk, I will discuss the synthesis and evaluation of [¹⁸F]3-fluoro-4-aminopyridine, a PET tracer for imaging brain diseases that has recently advanced to human studies, and the synthesis of several carbon-11 labeled derivatives of 4-aminopyridine. I will also present our work making (radio)fluorinated derivatives of gabapentin for imaging neuropathic pain and epilepsy.

Short Biography of the Speaker:

Pedro Brugarolas is an Assistant Professor working at the Gordon Center for Medical Imaging at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Brugarolas obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 2012 and pursued additional postdoctoral training in Neuroscience and Radiochemistry at the University of Chicago (1/2011 – 3/2017) and at the NIH (3-6/2017). Since 7/2017, Dr. Brugarolas leads a research laboratory at MGH focused on the development of novel PET tracers. In 2020, Dr. Brugarolas and his colleagues at MGH began human studies with [¹⁸F]3F4AP, a novel PET tracer for demyelinating diseases, initially developed at the University of Chicago when Dr. Brugarolas was a postdoc.