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Collaborate with us

We're eager to work with university researchers and biotechnology companies to develop and test new drugs and tracing agents.

We boast a multimillion pound state of the art PET imaging facility and can provide a number of technological platforms and expertise in positron emission tomography.

Our research platforms and services

An exciting feature of our centre is that it naturally brings together opportunities for a wide selection of science skills and backgrounds, ranging from fundamental physical sciences through biological and medical to the more pragmatic development of new clinical agents and practice:

FDOPA is a fluorinated version of LDOPA and has both neurological and oncological applications. In neurology, F DOPA crosses the blood brain barrier and is stored in presynaptic vesicles until activation triggers its release and binding in dopamine receptors.

FDOPA is used to study presynaptic striatal dopaminergic function in neurologic disorders such as Parkinon's disease, schizophrenia, addiction and Huntingdon's disease.

In oncology, FDOPA can be used in a wide range of neuroendocrine tumours, including pheochromocytoma, paraganglioma, medullary thyroid cancer and gastro-entero-pancreatic tumours.

FDOPA is also useful in imaging brain tumours. It accumulates in gliomas and is useful is distinguishing between radionecrosis and recurrence. We can produce, supply and scan with this tracer platform.

[F-18] fallypride is a highly selective, high affinity PET ligand well suited for measuring D2/D3 receptor availability in the extrastriatal regions of the brain, including thalamus, prefrontal, cingulate, and temporal cortex, brain regions implicated in schizophrenia with other imaging modalities.

In partnership with FDOPA, it enables the imaging of both dopamine transmission and receptor status. We can produce, supply and scan with this tracer platform.

Tau proteins are one the two biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease. Tau is also associated with a wide range of neurological disorders known as Tauopathies.

PET imaging with F tau enables quantification of tau protein in the brain. This enables identification of patients at risk of developing dementia before they demonstrate signs of mild cognitive impairment and will allow tracking of the development of tauopathies over time, as well as enabling assessment of the effectiveness of anti-Tau therapy. We can produce, supply and scan with this tracer platform.

Beta amyloid is the second biomarker associated with Alzheimer's disease. We can provide patient scans of this biomarker enabling in depth investigation of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

In parallel with the F tau platform, we have the capability to image and track both dementia biomarkers over time and identify patients at risk of developing dementia.

Flumazenil (FMZ) is a specific reversible antagonist that binds to the benzodiazepine binding site of the GABAA–central benzodiazepine receptor complex. It is useful in localising refractory focal epilepsy.

Sodium fluoride is a tracer that enables the imaging of metastatic bone disease. The technique offers increased sensitivity and specificity compared to traditional single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) bone scan imaging.

Fluorothymidine (FLT) is a substrate for thymidine kinase and the accumulation of FLT in cells is proportional to TK1 activity and cellular proliferation.

FLT has been widely used in oncological research to image cancer and evaluate response to treatment in cancers such as lymphoma, breast, head and neck, brain, cervical, pancreatic, oesophageal, kidney, lung, colorectal and neuroendocrine tumours.

We can radiolabel a wide range of monoclonal antibodies and cells and then track their pharmacokinetics in vivo over a period of weeks.

Contact us

To find out more about collaborating with us, please send an email with your contact details to:

Wales Research and Diagnostic Positron Emission Tomography Imaging Centre (PETIC)