My research interest and expertise involve developing and applying imaging technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of brain malignancies. I conduct preclinical diagnostic and therapeutic research using animal models of intracranial glioblastoma with novel theranostic agents, utilizing intranasal route of delivery, nanotechnology, targeted drug delivery, animal brain tumor model development, and animal neuroimaging including bioluminescent imaging and PET/MRI molecular imaging agents to better diagnose brain tumors and improve therapy assessment. Through both clinical and preclinical research, I am investigating the synthetic amino acid, 18F-Fluoroethyltyrosine (FET), a potent radiotracer available for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of malignant brain tumors. My doctoral dissertation work was focused on peptide therapy for treatment of epilepsy, leading to in vivo imaging experiments with radiolabeled agents using intranasal drug delivery to the brain. Nanoparticle treatment of glioblastoma administered intranasally and tracked by PET/CT imaging in a rodent model applied metabolic imaging to translational imaging of malignant brain tumors remains my principal area. I aspire to become an established NIH investigator by narrowing my focus on the most promising novel agents using multimodality animal and human imaging to track and validate the fate of labeled compounds as well as understand their pharmacodynamics, biodistribution, ADMET, and efficacy.

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