Visit of the inventor of the first PET-CT system at MEDICIS

A wonderful opportunity today to show the MEDICIS facility to David Townsend the inventor of the first PET-CT system. The first combined PET/CT scanner was developed by David Townsend (at the University of Geneva) and Ronald Nutt (at CPS Innovationsin Knoxville, TN) in 1992 resulting in the installation of the first prototype for clinical evaluation, funded by the NCI, at the University of Pittsburgh medical center in 1998.

The PET-CT scanner has revolutionised medical diagnosis in many fields, by adding precision of anatomic localisation to functional imaging and was honored by Time Magazine as the “Medical Science Invention of the Year” in 2000. 

PRISMAP webinar on World cancer day, 5 Feb 2024, 14-15h CET

In honour of the World Cancer Day and aligned with the 2024 theme “Close the care gap” that celebrates cancer treatment progress in its many forms, PRISMAP is proud to host a dedicated webinar on 5 Feb 2024, 14.00-15.00 CET.

This event will specifically spotlight the latest advancements in both preclinical and clinical cancer research within the PRISMAP consortium.

Join us as we celebrate progress, share insights and foster collaboration in the fight against cancer.

The three following presentations have been confirmed: 

- Dr Asta Juzeniene, UiO: "Exploring the efficacy of 212Pb, 225Ac and 177Lu targeted radionuclides for cancer therapy: In vitro and in vivo assessments”

- Koen Vermeulen, SCK CEN: "Exploring the potential of targeted radionuclide therapy with [153Sm]Sm-DOTA-TATE: a preclinical approach"

- Clarita Saldarriaga Vargas, SCK CEN: "Computational models of mouse kidney tissues to investigate the influence of absorbed dose heterogeneity in nephrotoxicity in radiopharmaceutical therapy"

The webinar page is available here

PRISMAP information portal now available

The PRISMAP information portal is now available. 

This portal gathers documents providing information on specifications, standard practices and regulations relevant for the following major fields and topics addressed by PRISMAP:

  • Nuclear decay data
  • Production of radionuclides
  • Development and Preparation of Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Specifications and Quality Control/Metrology
  • Radioprotection/Transport Issues

The uploaded information relies on knowledge acquired or produced within the PRISMAP network, but links to entities with relevant information not available in PRISMAP documents are also provided.

It is in tune with the PRISMAP`s goal to standardize and harmonize research and development activities with novel radionuclides within and outside PRISMAP network, while providing guidance for their clinical translation, namely to pharmaceutical authorities and policy makers at the European and national levels.

Enjoy browsing!

Job opportunity in Radionuclide Production at King’s College London

A job opportunity in Radionuclide Production is available at King’s College London!

For the advert please refer to the KCL website

First publication of a project supported by PRISMAP!

We proudly present the first publication by a user project which received our PRISMAP services. 

Outcomes of the project entitled "Added Value using Terbium-161 over Lutetium-177 in Combination with the metabolically more stable GRPR Ligand AMTG for Targeted Radiotherapy of GRPR-expressing Malignancies? – A Preclinical Evaluation", led by Dr. rer. nat. Thomas Günther from Technical University of Munich, Germany have just been published in JNM. 

Enjoy reading!

A new cyclotron for partner NCBJ

A new cyclotron has just been installed at the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) which will allow to produce radionuclides which have not been produced at NCBJ to date and have not been widely available in Poland. Thanks to this new device, it will be possible to conduct research on new radiopharmaceuticals, in particular those that will be specially designed for the needs of individual patients.

To learn more about it


Lisbon public event - Presentations and summary now available

On 28 Nov 2023 we organised an in-person public event at the Lisbon School of Medicine, entitled "Challenges in nuclear medicine".

In the first session Portuguese and Spanish researchers presented their recent findings and invited to discuss challenges in nuclear medicine.

In the second session PRISMAP news, results from the project and its user projects and needs of the User Forum were in the focus.

For those who were not able to join us in Lisbon, the presentations and a summary of the round table discussion are now available on the event page

International collaboration is key for the success of nuclear medicine, OECD-NEA says

report recently published by the OECD's Nuclear energy agency (NEA) comes to the conclusion that International collaboration is key for the success of nuclear medicine.

Expecting the demand for new diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopes to increase, the agency calls for international collaboration and the promotion and involvement of young talents in the field. 

PRISMAP shares this view and is committed to achieving these goals.

PRISMAP in Lisbon

We are just back from a consortium meeting in Lisbon, wonderfully hosted by our colleagues from Instituto Superior Técnico de Lisboa

We enjoyed three days of intense discussions of the project progress so far, the next steps within the project and sustainability beyond PRISMAP. 

We also took the opportunity to invite the medical community to join us for a public day, learn about our user projects and novel avenues in nuclear medicine. In the first session Portuguese and Spanish researchers presented their recent findings and invited to discuss challenges in nuclear medicine. In the second session PRISMAP news, results from the project and its user projects and needs of the User Forum were in the focus. 

Walks through beautiful Lisbon plus pasteis de nata, cataplana and many other Portuguese delicacies rounded off the pleasure.

First stable beam production @ SPES

The selective production of exotic species (SPES) project aims to construct at Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL) a new facility for the production of radioactive ion beams (RIBs) according to the isotope separation on line (ISOL) technique. In the specific case of the SPES facility, a multi-foil uranium carbide target is impinged by a 40 MeV, 200 µA proton beam generated by a cyclotron proton driver. In these conditions, a fission rate of approximately 1013 fissions per second is expected in the target. Then, the 238U fission fragments are delivered to the ion source: here they can be ionized and subsequently accelerated toward the experimental areas.

On 31 October 2023, the first stable ion beam was produced inside the SPES ISOL bunker. In particular, making use of a FEBIAD Ion Source, the INFN staff produced 400 nA (mainly N1+ and CO1+) @ 50 keV. The ISOL machine proved to be stable and reliable for the entire duration of the tests.

This is the first important step towards reaching the first radioactive beam. The consolidation of the ISOL machine with stable beams will continue during the next months.

Visit of the CEO of NPL at MEDICIS

On Thursday 09th of November 2023, Dr Peter Tompson, Chief Executive Officer of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom (UK) visited the MEDICIS facility at CERN. He was accompanied by Dr Leon Lobo, head of the national timing center, and Emma Haynes, NPL partnerships officer.

PRISMAP MOOC "At the heart of European medical radioactivity" now open

The PRISMAP MOOC "At the heart of European medical radioactivity" is now open!

This MOOC is offered in the framework of the European medical radionuclides programme PRISMAP. It's intended for PhD students and young researchers in nuclear medicine. It provides participants with a common base of knowledge essential for a proper understanding of the concepts, activities and challenges of nuclear medicine, a field based on multidisciplinary involving several scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, pharmacy and digital sciences.

All information on this new educational resource and the link to enroll are available on the dedicated page on the PRISMAP website.

Please share this information widely.

EANM congress, join us at the PRISMAP booth!

Come and join us at the EANM congress (9-13 Sep 2023, Vienna). You can find us at booth No 23 in the Societies Village.


Join PRISMAP at the Auger-Symposium in Montpellier

PRISMAP will be part of the 10th international Auger symposium (Montpellier, 6-8 Sep 2023). 

Join us for the PRISMAP session taking place from 11.45-12.30 CET tomorrow, Thursday 7 Sep 2023. 

You'll learn about the

- “Production of Auger emitters in PRISMAP” by Mikael Jensen, Roskilde – Denmark
- “Evaluation of the therapeutic potential of 64CuCl2 in 3D models of glioblastoma” by Filipa Mendes, Lisboa – Portugal
- “Possibilities and options for production of Auger emitters in PRISMAP”. Thierry Stora, Geneva – Switzerland

Enjoy!

PRISMAP call 4 now open!

PRISMAP's call 4 for user projects is now open for proposal submission! Deadline for submission to this call is 29 Sep 2023.

New for this call are two additional radionuclides, Pb-203 and Ra-224, available in our radionuclide portfolio.
Information about these radionuclides and ideas for their use you can find on the individual radionuclide sheets for Pb-203 and Ra-224

Proposal part B is now limited to 5 pages for Sections 1-3 instead of 10 pages for Sections 1-6.

We strongly recommend that all applicants get in contact with us via our help desk to discuss their user project idea. In fact, most successful PRISMAP user projects have gone this route, and we will be happy to support all our users with a personal PRISMAP mentor for their project application.

Remember that travel, subsistence, and local accommodation costs of users carrying out experiences in one of our medical facilities may be funded by PRISMAP.

Please share this information widely and invite your colleagues to submit proposals and join our user forum.

We are looking forward to your proposals and the ideas behind!

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