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| Victor W. Pike, Ph.D., Senior Investigator |
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Dr. Pike received his B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 1972 and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the same University in 1975. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Birmingham University, he joined the MRC Cyclotron Unit (London) in 1978 at the foundation of its strong research program in positron emission tomography (PET), eventually becoming Head of its Chemistry and Engineering Section. Throughout his career Dr. Pike has had a strong interest in all chemical aspects of the discovery, development and evaluation of novel radioactive probes for molecular imaging with PET. Dr. Pike was awarded the Marie Curie Award in 1995 and Springer Prize in 1999 for his work in this area. He joined the Molecular Imaging Branch of NIMH as a Senior Investigator in 2001. His laboratory develops novel radioactive probes for the investigation of neuropsychiatric disorders with PET.
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Staff:
Research Interests:
The core scientific interest of this Section is to invent and implement new radioactive probes (radiopharmaceuticals) for imaging specific molecular targets (e.g. neurotransmitter receptors, transporters or enzymes) in animal and human brain with positron emission tomography (PET). These probes are vital for PET investigations of the underlying causes of neuropsychiatric illness and the mechanisms and efficacies of existing or proposed treatments.
The main scientific challenges to the Section are i) the discovery and synthesis of candidate probes (usually based on small drug-like organic molecules), ii) the rapid labeling of these candidates with short-lived cyclotron-produced positron-emitters (e.g. carbon-11, t1/2 = 20 min and fluorine-18, t1/2 = 110 min), iii) full evaluation of the radioactive probes in vivo, including characterization of their metabolism, and iv) the production of successful probes for PET experiments in animals and humans. The section also undertakes fundamental research to advance the methodology of PET radiochemistry, including its automation, and also develops methods for the measurement and identification of radioactive metabolites.
The Section interacts strongly with scientists from other disciplines in (e.g. biologists, pharmacologists, biomathematicians, neurologists and psychiatrists) to optimize the quality of PET-derived data from animal and clinical PET experiments.
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Selected Recent Publications:
Sandell J., Halldin C., Pike V.W., et al. (2001) New halogenated [11C]WAY analogues, [11C]6FPWAY and [11C]6BPWAY - radiosynthesis and assessment as radioligands for the study of 5-HT1A receptors in living monkey, Nucl. Med. Biol. 28, 177 - 185.
Marchais S., Nowicki B., Wikstrom H., Halldin C., Brennun L.T. and Pike V.W. (2001) Short and efficient syntheses of analogues of WAY-100635; new and potent 5-HT1A receptor antagonists, Biorg. Med. Chem. 9, 695-702.
Constantinou C., Aigbirhio F.I., Smith R.G., Ramsden C.A. and Pike V.W. (2001) [18F]Xenon difluoride exchanges fluoride under mild conditions - a simple preparation of [18F]xenon difluoride for PET and mechanistic studies, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 1780-1781.
Glaser M., Brown D.J., Law M.P., Iozzo P., Waters S.L., Poole K., Knickmeier M., Camici P.G. and Pike V.W. (2001) Preparation of no-carrier-added [124I]A14-iodoinsulin as a radiotracer for positron emission tomography, J. Label. Compd Radioparm. 44, 465-480.
Hume S., Hirani E., Opacka-Juffry J., Myers R., Townshend C., Pike V. and Grasby P. (2001) Effect of 5-HT binding of [11C]WAY-100635 to 5-HT1A receptors in rat brain, assessed using in vivo microdialysis and PETafter fenfluramine, Synapse 41, 150-159.
Contact Information:
Dr. Victor W. Pike
PET Radiopharmaceurical Sciences Section
Molecular Imaging Branch, NIMH
Building 1, Room B3
1 Medical Center Drive MSC 0000
Bethesda, MD 20892-0000
Telephone: (301) 594-7450 (office),
(301) 480-3610 (fax)
Email: pikev@intra.nimh.nih.gov
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