As a research assistant at the University of Wisconsin, I shared responsibility for the operation and maintenance of our CTI RDS 112 and GE PETtrace cyclotrons for production of clinical and research radiotracers for Positron Emission Tomography imaging. I've worked to produce, characterize, and use a variety of isotopes, notably 11C, 18F, 61/64Cu, 34mCl, 89Zr, and 66/68Ga, among others. In several cases, I have automated these chemistries, using Scansys (Denmark) and Siemens commercial modules as well as systems I've built myself. Some of these include [18F]FLT, [18F]FES, [18F]FMISO, [11C]MHED, [11C]DTBZ, [11C]PK11195, and [11C]PBR.
I shared responsibility for the PETtrace's installation, the construction of its targets and its validation, which included MCNPX modeling of the facility to identify and correct dosimetric concerns. I have also performed several pre-clinical imaging studies of PET radiotracers. My dissertation (~31 MB, pdf) examines the production of high specific activity electrophilic PET synthons: [18F]F2 and [34mCl]ClF; the latter is now produced exclusively at Wisconsin by deuteron irradiation of separated 36Ar targets.
I have used a variety of analytical techniques, including HPLC, GC, TLC, MS, and x-ray spectroscopy, as well as a variety of industrial processes that are germane to radionuclide production, like electroplating, machining of common and rare metals, soldering and brazing.
