A partnership with Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
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"Quantitative Targeted Therapies; Should You Believe What You See?"
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Speaker: Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026 Location:
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Register Here
*Zoom option available
Description
Targeted radiopharmaceuticals are an emerging class of agents that combine molecularly specific ligands with isotopes for research and clinical applications. Uniquely among cancer therapeutics, imaging of the distribution of these agents can provide information to guide patient application as well as improve the drug development process. Chemical advances for isotope production, evaluation and bioconjugation have led to several recent FDA approvals and increasing investment in the space. Yet, there are considerable challenges in both the quality and quantitative accuracy of clinical imaging of theranostics that is largely underappreciated, as well as persistent chemical barriers to improved drug design. This seminar will discuss our recent work at the interface of imaging science and radiochemistry to attempt to overcome these combined challenges towards novel theranostics and their translation, and opportunities for further development in this growing field.
About the Speaker
Dr. Daniel Thorek. Dr. Daniel Thorek is an Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, with an appointment in Radiation Oncology, and at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis. Dr. Thorek is also the co-director of the OIP at the SCC with Dr. Dehdashti. He attended the University of Toronto and received a Bachelors of Applied Science in Materials Engineering, followed by a doctorate in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania in Magnetic Resonance Imaging physics and contrast agent design. Dr. Thorek received further training as an R25T NCI Molecular Imaging Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center under Drs. Hedvig Hricak, Steve Larson and John Humm with a focus on nuclear medicine and radiation oncology. Dr. Thorek has trained radiochemists, biomedical engineers and medical physicists at the pre- and post-doctoral levels; first in his laboratory at Johns Hopkins University from 2014-2018 and since 2018 at the MIR. The lab takes a modality agnostic approach using advanced imaging and analytical techniques to optimize and understand radiopharmaceutical drugs. A major research focus of the laboratory is the development and translate targeted radiotherapies, with an emphasis on particle alpha particle emitting isotopes, and two agents developed in the lab have been translated to clinical trial and commercialization.
About the Seminar Series
The goal of the NextGen Precision Health & Ellis Fischel Cancer Center Science Seminar is to highlight transdisciplinary precision research taking place in the cancer field, provide opportunities for collaboration among researchers to build their own research efforts and promote clinical/researcher activity across the University of Missouri System and our partners.
For questions about this event, please reach out to Mackenzie Lynch.
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