Revolutionising Infection Diagnosis Through Targeted Radiometal Imaging
Background of the Project:
People with conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, organ transplants, or immunodeficiencies face higher risks of infection, complications, and death. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is vital to improve outcomes in these vulnerable groups. However, clinical diagnosis of microbial infections is often challenging, and noninvasive methods tend to perform poorly. Existing lab techniques typically require invasive sample collection, followed by time-consuming culture and antibiotic resistance testing. These methods delay results and lack real-time monitoring to assess disease burden or pinpoint the infection site. Imaging tools that specifically target pathogens are highly sought after to improve noninvasive infection diagnosis and localisation. Currently, no clinical imaging test can reliably distinguish infections from inflammation or malignancy or differentiate between bacterial and fungal infections.
Emerging research is exploring radiometals conjugated with targeting molecules for in vivo imaging of infections via PET or SPECT. These agents can also be linked to therapeutics, enabling combined diagnosis and targeted antimicrobial treatment (theranostics)—offering a promising tool in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
At King’s College London, in collaboration with clinicians as well as scientists from UKSHA, we have set up a unique facility to develop radiotracers (conjugating radiometals with different targeted molecules) and to evaluate them biologically in vitro and in vivo. We work closely with clinicians, King’s translational and King’s IP & Licensing team. Our team has expertise in working with industry to develop radiopharmaceutical kits.
What we offer:
We are offering an exciting and ambitious PhD research opportunity to explore different molecules/targets to develop infection-specific radiotracers and navigating their clinical translation.
Depending on the project choice/previous experience/interests, as a PhD student, you will gain hands-on experience in
- Synthetic chemistry and analytical techniques (HPLC, LC–MS, NMR)
- Designing and synthesising compounds for bacterial or fungal new targets or developing theragnostic agents
- Radiation safety, regulation and handling radioisotopes
- Radiochemistry (radiolabelling of compounds, purity, stability and in vitro characterisation of radiolabelled compounds using radio iTLC and radio-HPLC)
- Microbiological assays (microbial cell growth and maintenance, in vitro evaluation of radiolabelled compounds in different microbial pathogens) & tissue culture-based ex vivo evaluation
- Ethical and regulatory compliance for animal study (Home Office licensing in the UK)
- Preclinical animal studies (in vivo studies in healthy and infection model), Imaging data acquisition and analysis (Positron Emission Tomography)
Complementary training includes research ethics, scientific communication, project management, and collaboration across clinical and scientific disciplines—equipping you to contribute to innovative diagnostics and targeted therapies in the fight against infectious diseases and AMR.
References:
- Akter A, Lyons O, Mehra V, Isenman H, Abbate V. Radiometal chelators for infection diagnostics. Front Nucl Med. 2023 Jan 9;2:1058388. doi:10.3389/fnume.[contact details available in the full listing].
- Akter A, Firth G, Darwesh AMF, et al. [68Ga]Ga-Schizokinen, a Potential Radiotracer for Selective Bacterial Infection Imaging. ACS Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 9;10(8):[contact details available in the full listing]. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.4c00067.
- Akter A, Cooper MS, Darwesh AMF, Hider RC, Blower PJ, Price NM, Lyons O, Schelenz S, Mehra V, Abbate V. Radiotracers for in situ infection imaging: Experimental considerations for in vitro microbial uptake of gallium-68-labeled siderophores. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2024 Dec;110(4):116522. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.[contact details available in the full listing].
- Young JD, Abbate V, Imberti C, Meszaros LK, Ma MT, Terry SYA, Hider RC, Mullen GE, Blower PJ. 68Ga-THP-PSMA: A PET Imaging Agent for Prostate Cancer Offering Rapid, Room-Temperature, 1-Step Kit-Based Radiolabeling. J Nucl Med. 2017 Aug;58(8):[contact details available in the full listing]. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.[contact details available in the full listing].
- Failla M, Floresta G, Abbate V. Peptide-based positron emission tomography probes: current strategies for synthesis and radiolabelling. RSC Med Chem. 2023 Jan 6;14(4):592-623. doi: 10.1039/d2md00397j.
- Floresta G, Keeling GP, Memdouh S, Meszaros LK, de Rosales RTM, Abbate V. NHS-Functionalized THP Derivative for Efficient Synthesis of Kit-Based Precursors for 68Ga Labeled PET Probes. Biomedicines. 2021 Apr 1;9(4):367. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9040367.
Please also visit Dr Vincenzo Abbate’s website for more information:
Vincenzo Abbate - King's College London
Application deadline: For prospective students interested in our PhD project, applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Funding: Self-funded Home/International Students only.
Candidate Requirement:
We prioritise candidates with a strong MSc/MRes background who have demonstrated research skills through their dissertation in microbiology, biomedical science, chemistry, biology or relevant subjects. However, A 1st or 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in above-stated subjects with lab-based project experience is also welcomed. For more information on the entry requirements and fees please visit our website.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/areas/cancer-and-pharmaceutical-sciences-mphil-phd
Applications and Enquiries:
Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact Dr Vincenzo Abbate (email: [contact details available in the full listing]) to discuss in detail before applying for this PhD studentship.
Please apply via the King's Apply website (https://apply.kcl.ac.uk) to the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Science (PhD).
