University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

[Scientific staff | Publications within DiMI | References]

Group Description

The University of Sydney is unique in that several of its major departments are involved in molecular imaging which include the Department of Pharmacology, the School of Chemistry, the School of Physics, the School of Medical Radiation Sciences along with associate Institutes including the Department of PET and Nuclear Medicine at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) and the Ramaciotti Centre for Brain Imaging within Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI). The BMRI is one of Australia’s only facilities that integrates basic neuroscience research, new technologies, clinical trials and clinical practice in the brain and mind sciences. It is currently the only facility of its kind owned by, and housed within a University. All these laboratories play an essential role in neuroscience research at the University of Sydney and bring together major efforts in: 

  • The design and development of new radiolabelled molecular probes for studies of CNS neuroreceptors using functional imaging
  • Designing radiolabelled forms of therapeutic drugs for pharmacokinetic studies
  • Structure-property relationships with regards to bioactive CNS molecules
  • Development of pharmacological techniques for studying receptor-ligand interactions
  • Use of pharmacological probes to identify brain regions and neural pathways affected in substance abuse, neurodegenerative and psychotic disorders
  • Neurology and neurophysiology, animal models of disease

Facilities on campus include a self-shielded General Electric PETtrace cyclotron and associated radiochemistry and QC facilities. The cyclotron is capable of accelerating protons (17 MeV) and deuterons (8 MeV) for production of short-lived radioisotopes for clinical and research studies in PET. The radiochemistry laboratory at RPA houses 8 Comecer hot cells, a General Electric [11C]methyl iodide module, 2 Coincidence Technologies [18F]FDG modules and a GET dispenser while the radiochemistry laboratory at the BMRI houses 2 hot cells and a nucleophilic fluorination module. Both laboratories are designed to allow automated syntheses along with the development of new chemistry and radioligands using C-11 or F-18, I-124 and I-123. The QC laboratories are equipped with radio-HPLC, radio-TLC, GC-MS and a gamma spectrometer. The campus houses a Siemens Biograph LSO PET/CT scanner (RPA), a microPET (Concord, Siemens CTI) (BMRI), a microSPECT (BMRI, built in-house), an intracerebral b-microprobe (Biospace) (BMRI), and high resolution autoradiography. A bio-molecular and mathematical modelling laboratory exists (BMRI) to aid in the development of new chemical entities and the interpretation of imaging data. An optical motion tracking system  (Polaris) is in place to correct for motion during PET studies.  Several groups on campus are also involved in the study of human disease with the aid and development of animal models including AD, PD and MS. Furthermore, to achieve the goals of this research programme, the University of Sydney has close collaborations with international research groups including the University of Tours in which a co-tutelle agreement is in place for the training of postgraduate students, Département de Recherche Médicale-CEA, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, the Forchungszentrum Juelich Germany, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Firenze Italy, Imperial College London, University of Manchester Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes USA, the Jefferson Laboratory detector group USA, University of California Davis USA and the University of Chicago USA.