Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine - Nuclear Chemistry (INM-5)

Stefan Spellerberg Member of International Advisory Board for WTTC   Our chief engineer, Stefan Spellerberg, has been appointed as a member of the International Advisory Board for the International Workshop on Targetry and Target Chemistry (WTTC). The next event, which will take place in Nara, Japan in August 2026, will be the first in the series to be held in Asia. Stefan Spellerberg will be part of the international advisory team that help the local organisation committee to plan the workshop. He was already involved in the preparations for this year's WTTC in Heidelberg and was responsible for the 3-Days Hands-on Summer School as part of it at our Institute at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Nuklearchemisches Praktikum erfolgreich absolviert   Neun Studierende der Universität zu Köln haben in den vergangen zehn Tage erfolgreich das Grundpraktikum Nuklearchemie im INM-5 absolviert. Angeleitet durch Mitarbeitende und Doktoranden des INM-5 erhielten sie Einblick in die Grundlagen des radiochemischen Arbeitens, Markierungsmethoden und die Qualitätskontrolle.

Scientific paper published in Pharmaceuticals   Fully automated production of (((S)-1-carboxy-5-(6-([18F]fluoro)-2-methoxynicotinamido)pentyl)carbamoyl)-l-glutamic acid ([18F]JKPSMA-7 Authors:  Prof. Bernd Neumaier (corresponding author) Dr. Philipp Krapf Thomas Wicher Prof. Boris Zlatopolskiy Prof. Johannes Ermert   Use DOI https://lnkd.in/d49g-Muw to get the whole version of this research paper.  

Research paper published in European Journal of Medical Chemistry "[18F]R91150: Improved radiosynthesis and in vivo evaluation as imaging probe for 5-HT2A receptors" From INM-5 were involved: Prof. Bernd Neumaier Dr. Chris Hoffmann Prof. Heike Endepols Elizaveta Urusova Dominik Elchine Dr. Felix Neumaier Prof. Boris Zlatopolskiy Use DOI 10.1016/j.ejmech.2025.117265 to get the whole version of this research paper.

Scientific paper published “Cross sections for the formation of 84m,gRb, 83Rb, and 82mRb in 86Sr(d,x) reactions up to deuteron energies of 49 MeV: Competition between α -particle and multinucleon emission processes”     Prof. Bernd Neumaier, Dr. Ingo Spahn from INM-5 are co-authors and Prof. Dr. Sayed Qaim from INM-5 is corresponding author of this paper. Use DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.110.064608 to get the whole version of this scientific paper.

Prof. Neumaier ist neuer geschäftsführender Direktor des INM Mit Beginn des Jahres 2025 ist Prof. Bernd Neumaier (links im Bild) neuer geschäftsführender Direktor des Instituts für Neurowissenschaften und Medizin (INM). Zu der neuen Aufgabe gratulierte ihm der bisherige geschäftsführende Direktor Prof. Alexander Drzezga (rechts im Bild). Prof. Neumaier wurde bereits im Dezember 2024 von den Direktorinnen und Direktoren des INM gewählt und wird die Aufgabe 2025 und 2026 übernehmen.

Weihnachtsfeier des INM-5 Im Rahmen der diesjährigen Weihnachtsfeier unseres Instituts übergab der Doktorand Michael Gemki das traditionelle Weihnachtsgeschenk der Doktoranden und Masteranden an Prof. Bernd Neumaier. Musikalische Beiträge von Prof. Heike Endepols und Prof. Johannes Ermert, leckeres Essen und gute Gespräche rundeten die Feier ab.  

Jonas Strecker verteidigt erfolgreich seine Doktorarbeit   Wir gratulieren unserem Doktoranden Jonas Strecker herzlich zur erfolgreichen Verteidigung seiner Doktorarbeit mit dem Titel „Synthese und Evaluation von Chelatoren für metabolisch stabile Titan-45-Komplexe“ an der Universität zu Köln. Jonas Strecker zum Inhalt seiner Arbeit: „Diese Arbeit fokussierte sich auf den Positronen-Emitter Ti-45. Dafür wurde zuerst eine Säulenchromatographische Methode zur Isolierung von Ti-45 von dem Targetmaterial entwickelt. Zusätzlich wurden neue Bis(hydroxylamin)triazin-Liganden synthetisiert. Diese wurden anschließend für die Komplexierung von Ti-45 verwendet. Diese zeigten hohe Stabilitäten unter physiologischen Bedingungen. Außerdem wurden die ersten Fortschritte in der Entwicklung eines theranostischen Paars mit Ti-45 und Zinn-117m erzielt.“ Mit ihm freuen sich sein Doktorvater Prof. Bernd Neumaier (links im Bild) und Zweitprüfer Prof. Axel Klein (rechts) über den erfolgreichen Abschluss.

Joint Research Project 99MoBest Nuclear medical diagnostics are routinely used every day in hospitals and diagnostic practices worldwide. An indispensable product here is the radionuclide 99Mo. The production and supply of 99Mo (molybdenum) currently takes place exclusively in nuclear reactors worldwide. The radiochemical processing and treatment are costly and associated with the generation of radioactive waste. Avoiding and reducing radioactive waste in the production and handling of medical isotopes therefore remains a central task and challenge. Accelerator-based neutron radiation sources with the aim of using these possibilities for the production of radiodiagnostics and radiotheranostics offer a way to accomplish this task. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and with our project partners, University Hospital Cologne – Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging (Prof. Bernd Neumaier) University of Cologne – Department Nuclear Chemistry (Prof. Bernd Neumaier, Prof. Johannes Ermert, Dr. Eric Strub) Forschungszentrum Jülich – Jülich Centre of Neutron Science (Prof. Thomas Gutberlet, Dr. Erik Mauerhofer) FH Aachen – Energy Technology (Prof. Michael Butzek, Dr. Christoph Langer) Leibniz University Hannover – Institute of Radioecology and Radiation Protection (Prof. Clemens Walther) we are developing an innovative concept for the sustainable and cost-efficient production and use of 99Mo-based radiodiagnostics without fissile material and with the least possible generation of radioactive waste products under project coordination of Prof. Bernd Neumaier.

Forschungszentrum Jülich – INM-Retreat 2024 The retreat was organised as a symposium with tutorials, workshops, scientific presentations and poster sessions. The focus was on the exchange of ideas across the scientific fields of the individual institutes in order to identify opportunities for cooperation and synergy potentials. For INM-5, doctoral students Otari Gokhadze and Michael Gemki presented the current state of their scientific work. Otari Gokhadze: "Gliomas overexpress the L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1), making them a key target for PET imaging with radiolabeled amino acids. This study compared two alternative tracers—7-[18F]fluoro-L-tryptophan (7-[18F]FTrp) and 5-[18F]fluoro-meta-L-tyrosine (5-[18F]FMT)—against the established [18F]FET in an orthotopic glioma model. While 5-[18F]FMT showed high initial uptake, its rapid washout limited its use for sustained imaging. In contrast, 7-[18F]FTrp demonstrated strong tumor delineation and sustained retention, providing high-quality images for up to 2 hours post-injection, similar to [18F]FET at early timepoints (first 30 min). These findings suggest 7-[18F]FTrp as a promising PET probe for glioma imaging, offering a valuable alternative to [18F]FET with enhanced imaging potential." Michael Gemki: "The focus of the project was the development of a method for the non-invasive detection of mutations in the gene encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1). Mutated IDH1 (mIDH1) is an important biomarker for the classification of diffuse glioma but can currently only be detected through invasive tissue sampling. With 7-[18F]F-FT-2102, a radiofluorinated derivative of the mIDH1-selective inhibitor olutasidenib (FT 2102) was developed, which demonstrated selective uptake in mIDH1-expressing cells. This represents a promising step toward precise, non-invasive diagnostics for brain tumors."