Course overview:

The aim of this course is to present a general overview of the most relevant aspects involved in the design, synthesis, characterization and preclinical evaluation of radioactive compounds with potential interest as radiopharmaceuticals, namely in a theranostic context. At the same time, the participants will obtain practical skills on the manipulation of medical radionuclides, synthesis and in vitro evaluation of radiopharmaceuticals and their evaluation in different cellular and animal models. The course will comprise a theoretical part and a practical hands-on training that will run in laboratories licensed for the manipulation of medical radionuclides and for studies with human cell lines and animal models.

Program:

The theoretical part will address the production and characteristics of medical radionuclides for imaging and therapy, the design and types and clinical applications of radiopharmaceuticals (perfusion versus target-specific agents), fundamentals of radiopharmaceutical chemistry (classical PET radionuclides, radiohalogens, radiometals), analytical and quality control of radiopharmaceuticals, preclinical investigation of radiopharmaceuticals (cellular studies and animal imaging).

The theoretical part will rely on the e-course “Basic course in Radiochemistry” developed by the University of Helsinki and provided by the A-CINCH project. The selected participants must take this e-course before assisting to the HoT. Besides the e-learning courses, the theoretical part includes life courses on the preclinical evaluation of radiopharmaceuticals (cellular and biodistribution assays) to be taught in place during the HoT.

The HoT will comprise several practical sessions covering the several steps involved in the synthesis, characterization, in vitro and in vivo evaluation of a radiolabeled compound with potential interest as radiopharmaceutical. For that, exemplarily, some of these practical sessions will focus on a PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen) inhibitor labeled with an imaging radionuclide, which emerged in recent years as a promising scaffold to obtain target-specific radiopharmaceuticals for prostate cancer theranostics.

Audience

Graduation, MSc, PhD students and junior scientists interested in the field of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences.

Venue

Group of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences

Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Pólo de Loures do IST ()

Estrada Nacional 10 (km 139,7), 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal

 

Teaching and Learning:

Prerequisites: “Basic course in Radiochemistry”

Registration

There are no fees but the registration is obligatory. The application should be sent by e-mail to patricia.russo@ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt, and must include a brief motivation letter (max. 200 words) and a short academic CV.
The application must be done before the deadline of 30^th April 2023. Due to the hands-on nature of the HoT course, a maximum number of 9 participants will be considered. After the registration period, the local organizers will select the participants that will be informed of their acceptance or non-acceptance to participate in the HoT by the end of the 1^st week of May 2023.

Course flyer

You can find more information in the course flyer.

 

Accommodation/Travel funding

The HoT will be hold at Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear (CTN), which is located nearby Lisbon and can be reached by bus or train. Please, check the link: http://www.ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/uk/uk_comovir.htm

For the accommodation, the best option is to find a Hotel or Airbnb in the EXPO area in Lisbon, or nearby (https://lisbonlisboaportugal.com/lisbon-sights/Parque-Nacoes-lisbon.html). By train, it takes ca. 10 min to reach the CTN campus from Oriente station at the EXPO area.

To support travel, participants can apply for the ENEN2plus mobility grant through the link https://mobility.enen.eu/prog/individual_applications/.