Buck Rogers, PhD

My research focuses on molecular imaging and targeted radiotherapy. The overarching goals of my laboratory are to (1): perform basic radiochemistry experiments to understand the chelation of radioactive metals, and (2) develop radiopharmaceuticals for non-invasive disease imaging and therapeutic interventions. Our projects primarily focus on the chelation of radionuclides, such as 64Cu and 89Zr for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging, and 177Lu, 67Cu, and 90Y for radiotherapeutic applications. My laboratory has developed both peptide- and antibody-based radiopharmaceuticals. Notably, I was the first to publish on a 64Cu-labeled peptide, a derivative of which is now being evaluated in human clinical trials for both imaging and therapy. The translational impact of my work is evident in the FDA approval of similar agents using 177Lu and 64Cu.