| | Staff Scientists and Clinicians
| Lisheng Cai, Ph.D. |
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Dr. Cai is a staff scientist of the PET
Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Section (PRSS), Molecular
Imaging Branch (MIB) of the Intramural Research Program,
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes
of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. He obtained his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago and did his postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago before he joined NIMH in June, 2002. He was the recipient of K. C. Wong Education Foundation Fellowship and Bernard Smaller Prize of the University of Chicago. |
| Research Interests |
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Dr. Cai’s research at the NIMH is on development of PET radiotracers which could be biomarkers of neuro-degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer�s disease, and mood and anxiety disorders, such as bipolar disorder. He is interested in design and synthesis of ligands that bind selectively and specifically with protein targets, such as A–beta-amyloid, alpha-synuclein, tau-aggregates, and protein kinase C, which are believed to be involved in the diseases. Those ligands selected from in vitro assays will be subjected to animal studies, primate studies, and eventually human studies, in collaboration with other scientists primarily within the Molecular Imaging Branch, and sometimes in the world. |
| Representative Selected Recent Publications: |
- Cai, L.; Liow, J.-S.; Zoghbi, S. S.; Cuevas, J.; Baetas, C.; Hong, J.; Shetty, U.; Seneca, N. M.; Brown, A. K.; Gladding, R.; Temme, S.; Herman, M. M.; Innis, R. B.; Pike, V. W.:
Synthesis, radiolabeling, and evaluation of 11C-labeled 6-methylthio-2-(4'-N,N-dimethylamino)phenylimidazo[1,2-α]pyridine derivatives as radioligands for beta-amyloid in alzheimer’s disease.
J. Med. Chem., 51, 148-158, 2008.
- Cai, L.; Innis, R.B.; Pike, V.W.:
Radioligand development for PET imaging of β-amyloid (Aβ) current status.
Current Med. Chem., 14 (1), 19-52, 2007.
- Cai L., Cuevas J., Nichols L., Temme S., Herman M.M., Dagostin C., Widdowson D.A., Innis R.B. & Pike V.W. :
Structure-activity relationship study of IMPY derivatives as candidate radioligands for beta-amyloid.
J. Med. Chem., 50, 4746-4758, 2007.
- Seneca, N.; Cai, L.; Liow, J.-S.; Zoghbi, S. S.; Gladding, R. L.; Hong, J.; Pike, V. W.; Innis, R. B.:
Brain and whole-body imaging in nonhuman primates with [11C]MeS-IMPY, a candidate radioligand for beta-amyloid plaques.
Nuclear Med. Biol., 34, 681-689, 2007.
- Cai L., Cuevas J., Peng, Y.Y. & Pike V.W.:
Rapid palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling in the synthesis of aryl thioethers under microwave conditions.
Tetrahedron Letters, 47, 4449-4452, 2006.
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