VanBrocklin Delivers Welch Memorial Lecture - Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology

Henry VanBrocklin, PhD, professor of radiology at University of California, San Francisco, delivered the annual Michael J. Welch Memorial Lecture, hosted by the PET-RTRC and Siteman Cancer Center’s Oncologic Imaging Program. He presented “New Molecules, New Targets: Passive and Active Delivery of Tumor Homing Agents for Imaging and Therapy.”

From left: Michael L. Nickels, PhD, Daniel L.J. Thorek, PhD, Robert J. Gropler, MD, Henry Vanbrocklin, PhD, Farrokh Dehdashti, MD, Timothy Eberlein, MD, Buck Rogers, PhD. — *From left: Michael L. Nickels, PhD, Daniel L.J. Thorek, PhD, Robert J. Gropler, MD, Henry Vanbrocklin, PhD, Farrokh Dehdashti, MD, Timothy Eberlein, MD, Buck Rogers, PhD*.

An expert in radiopharmaceuticals, VanBrocklin serves as the director of radiopharmaceutical research and as director of the Center for Infectious Disease Molecular Imaging. His work covers various areas of radiopharmaceutical science, from producing short-lived radioisotopes to developing new methods for labeling biomolecules with imaging and therapeutic isotopes. His current research focuses on designing imaging agents for cancer cell markers, creating probes for neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, using imaging in drug development, and developing zirconium-89-labeled antibodies for imaging rheumatoid arthritis, HIV reservoirs and Long COVID. He has successfully translated over 10 radiopharmaceuticals for human studies.

VanBrocklin is a decorated researcher with many honors, including fellowships from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences. He received the 2018 Distinguished Investigator Award from the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research, the 2020 Michael J. Welch Award from the SNMMI Radiopharmaceutical Science Council, the 2023 SNMMI Paul Abersold Award and the 2026 Glenn T. Seaborg Award in Nuclear Chemistry.

Michael J. Welch, PhD

The lecture is dedicated to the memory of Michael J. Welch, PhD, a pioneering radiochemist and founding leader of the Oncologic Imaging Research Program. His many accomplishments include contributions to the compounds that allow imaging of brain blood flow and the creation of imaging agents for the study of many types of cancer. He also worked to ensure that an adequate supply of radiopharmaceuticals was available for medical treatment. VanBrocklin was mentored by Welch when he was earning his doctorate in radiopharmaceutical chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis.