Since I always had a great interest in radioactivity, right after obtaining my bachelor’s degree in chemistry, I took the opportunity and began to work in the field of radiopharmaceutical manufacturing for PET/CT diagnostics. In principle, they are radioactive drugs that aid to diagnose cancer in early stages and as small as tip of a match. The radiopharmaceuticals or tracers consist of two parts – suitable radionuclide and biochemically active molecule with high affinity for specific tissue. And as the saying goes, one shoe does not fit every foot. Therefore, vast amount of different disease requires for vast number of appropriate tracers. Now, with this in mind we can really enjoy the process of discover, investigate, characterize, study and translate various combinations of these two elements to achieve more successful results.

Consequently, it led to my master’s thesis to be developed in the same topic of radiopharmaceuticals. Once we experienced the possibility to use therapeutic radionuclides - emitting electrons instead of positrons – to also treat patients, it did not take long to continue with my PhD studies. Now I investigate methods how to produce and purify novel same chemical element radioisotopes for radiopharmaceutical synthesis towards diagnostics and treatment of cancer. The ultimate theragnostic goal – treat what you see.

By starting my PhD in University of Latvia, I also gravitated more towards scientific research as young researcher at Institute of Chemical Physics, University of Latvia. Fortunately, I was offered the possibility to extend my toolbox for my research with CERN-MEDICIS. MEDICIS is a facility within CERN that can produce and purify novel and exotic medical radionuclides for research with 1.4 GeV protons, delivered by PSB at CERN or external collaborators coupled with mass-separator - a device that can physically separate same chemical element isotopes with respect to their atomic mass. It is worth mentioning that chemically it is impossible to achieve such purity level if one does not use expensive and highly enriched target materials in the first place. Therefore, it is obvious that mass-separation becomes a key part in the success of such “perfect match” theragnostic radiopharmaceutical development. Now with PRISMAP such “tools” become available for more and more research centres across Europe and they will definitely aid radionuclide and radiopharmaceutical translational research.

Ever since I have worked and did research in this field, people have asked me, if there really are no drugs that cure cancer? I would always reply that now there are, but huge effort and improvement still is needed. Therefore, I believe that with such projects as PRISMAP more and more breakthroughs are soon to be expected.

After obtaining his master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Latvia, Edgars continued to pursue his career as radiochemist by producing radiopharmaceuticals for PET/CT diagnostics and radionuclide therapy. Recently he started as a PhD student in chemistry/radiochemistry at the University of Latvia and CERN-MEDICIS. His research focusses on novel “matched pair” theragnostic radionuclide production, purification and radiopharmaceutical synthesis.

Edgar Mamis

After obtaining his master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Latvia, Edgars continued to pursue his career as radiochemist by producing radiopharmaceuticals for PET/CT diagnostics and radionuclide therapy. Recently he started as a PhD student in chemistry/radiochemistry at the University of Latvia and CERN-MEDICIS. His research focusses on novel “matched pair” theragnostic radionuclide production, purification and radiopharmaceutical synthesis.

During my studies in nuclear physics, I learned all about the atomic nucleus. I was stumped when I learned how the nuclear structure could be described completely by quantum mechanical formalisms and how this naturally leads to radioactive decay as it was observed by M. Curie and her husband. Even more fascinating is the fact that this physical phenomenon eventually contributes to the treatment of cancer patients. However, the transition from a radionuclide into a medicinal product is not evident and requires large efforts and excellent collaborations between various disciplines. Until now, I had the opportunity to dig into two different aspects of radionuclide therapy. After studying the production of medical radioisotopes, I am currently investigating the tumour dosimetry of radionuclide therapy.

For my master thesis, I investigated the potential of a new detector at the MEDICIS laboratory at CERN. This facility was founded especially to promote research in nuclear medicine and to introduce novel radiopharmaceuticals. It makes use of a target that is irradiated by the PSB which is one of the preaccelerators of the large hadron collider, the largest man-made machine on earth. At the MEDICIS facility itself, the aim is to obtain a pure radionuclide sample by extracting it from a target which contains a whole bunch of different radionuclides after irradiation. This can be done by a combination of high temperatures, high electric fields, large electromagnets and high power lasers such that one can play with various physical and chemical properties of the nuclides. The fact that the production of radionuclides requires such large and highly technical infrastructures is not surprising since one needs to overcome the enormous forces that keep the atomic nucleus together in order to destabilise the nuclear conformation.

Once the radionuclides are created, it comes down to optimising the usage of the emitted radiation such that the cancerous cells receive a maximal absorbed dose while limiting the radiation burden to the healthy tissue. With this goal in mind, a team of researchers with expertise in chemistry, pharmacy, biology, and dosimetry develop novel radiopharmaceuticals and try to understand the underlying mechanisms to optimise the treatments.

Recently I got the opportunity to also discover this side of the story as a PhD candidate in the dosimetry group at the Belgian nuclear research centre SCK CEN. Herein I try to develop a model that will be able to predict the treatment outcome on a preclinical level. Such a model will be valuable in the development and evaluation of novel radiopharmaceuticals.

I am blessed with the opportunity to contribute to this interesting field of research. It is inspiring to see how each discipline faces its specific problems and at the same time shares common difficulties of working with radionuclides. Furthermore, the short half-life of the relevant isotopes asks for an excellent collaboration, for which PRISMAP can act as a catalyst. In the end, the combined expertise will aid to reach the common final goal: providing better treatments for the patients.

Kaat Spoormans

After finishing her master in nuclear physics at the KU Leuven, Kaat recently started as a PhD student in the dosimetry group at the Belgian nuclear research centre SCK CEN in collaboration with the group of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging at KU Leuven. Her research focusses on TCP modeling in preclinical radionuclide therapy.

One of the main goals of PRISMAP is to create a sustainable, well-connected community of people working on all the aspects of medical isotopes from production and research to clinical applications. A key factor in making this community sustainable are the young researchers who are working on their PhD in the field. We are in the process of creating a PRISMAP PhD Label with the aim of establishing a quality label that will be recognised by higher education institutions in the field.

The PRISMAP Label will be awarded to PhD students who completed the requirements listed in the PRISMAP PhD Charter at the end of their PhD in recognition of their research achievements, transdisciplinary training, mobility and networking capacity, and breadth of professional and transferable skills. The PRISMAP PhD Label will thus become a recognisable label ensuring quality of training for the employer and employability for the students beyond their PhD. Get in touch if you think your higher education institution should be the first to sign on to the PRISMAP PhD Charter.

Additionally, as part of completing the requirements to obtaining the PRISMAP PhD Label and in order to create opportunities for students to network, candidates to the PRISMAP PhD Label will contribute short articles about their research or current events in the field to this newsletter. These contributions will form a community-run blog on the PRISMAP website where students can showcase their research. Click here to read the first contribution where Kaat Spoormans (SCK CEN/KU Leuven) is telling us about transitioning from radioisotope production research to modelling organ dosimetry with innovative isotopes.