Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a non-invasive form of functional molecular imaging that enables <i>in vivo</i> monitoring of physiological processes via administration of a radiotracer (a bioactive molecule tagged with a positron emitting radioisotope) to a patient. Currently, PET imaging finds application in drug discovery (e.g. target engagement, receptor occupancy studies, companion diagnostics, selection of patients for clinical trials) and personalized medicine (early diagnosis of disease, prediction of response to therapy and subsequent monitoring of response to personilzed treatment). This presentation will introduce the fundamentals of PET imaging including principles of radiotracer design, strategies for synthesizing radiotracers (e.g. approaches for late-stage fluorination with <sup>18</sup>F), regulatory considerations (e.g. cGMP synthesis of radiotracers for clinical use), and provide an overview of applications of PET imaging in healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry through examples from both the University of Michigan PET Center's Radiotracer R & D Program and the recent PET imaging literature.

Synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals and applications in functional positron emission tomography (PET) imaging

249th National Meeting (2015)

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