The Radiopharmacy Centre is a research unit of the Medical University of Białystok, established in January 2024. It operates fully equipped, modern laboratories for the production and quality control of radiopharmaceuticals and for conducting preclinical in vitro and in vivo research using molecular imaging techniques and specialized radiometric instrumentation.

A highly qualified interdisciplinary team with expertise in pharmacy, radiopharmacy, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology, as well as experience in in vitro cell cultures and animal models, enables the implementation of research projects in medicine, diagnostics, pharmacy, and other scientific disciplines.

In 2024, the Centre obtained authorization from the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency to work with radioactive isotopes and was entered into the register of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as an institution authorized to conduct experimental procedures on animals (mice and rats). In addition, the Centre holds permits from the Minister of Climate and Environment to operate a genetic engineering facility with contained use of GMO and GMM and is adapted to work under GMP conditions with the possibility of further expansion.

Scope of the Centre’s activities includes:

Radiopharmaceutical production

• acquisition of radionuclides from ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga and ⁹⁹Mo/⁹⁹ᵐTc generators,

• labeling of radiopharmaceutical kits and precursors,

• labeling of peptides and peptidomimetics (including DTPA, MIBI, PSMA, DOTA-TATE, FAPI).

Quality control of radiopharmaceuticals

• analyses performed according to pharmacopoeial methods (HPLC with radiodetection, GC, TLC),

• determination of radioactive isotopes and metabolites in biological samples (blood, tissue homogenates, cell lysates),

• determination of radioactive isotopes in environmental samples (soil, water, food), medicinal products, and dietary supplements.

Preclinical in vitro studies

• search for novel radiotracers for PET cancer diagnostics,

• evaluation of radiotracer effects on cellular metabolism, viability, and signaling pathways,

• studies on cancer cell lines and primary cell cultures,

• development of in vitro models using gene silencing and overexpression (plasmids, siRNA),

• ligand–receptor binding assays ([⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-FAPI, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE),

• cellular metabolism studies and protein expression analysis using Western blot,

• basic biochemical assays (enzyme activity, protein content – ELISA).

Preclinical in vivo studies

• studies in animal models (mice and rats),

• anatomical and functional imaging (brain, heart, blood flow),

• imaging of primary tumors and metastases (diagnostics and therapy monitoring),

• assessment of biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of radiopharmaceuticals (“whole body scan”),

• use of PET/MR 3T and SPECT/CT scanners for fusion of functional and anatomical images,

• specialized coils for imaging the mouse heart and brain.

We invite you to collaborate.

Link to the unit's website: www.umb.edu.pl/centrum_radiofarmacji

Contact:

Anna Gromotowicz-Popławska, PhD

e-mail: anna.gromotowicz-poplawska@umb.edu.pl

phone: +48 85 686 52 90

Radiopharmacy Centre

Jacek Kuroń Street 7

15-569 Białystok, Poland

e-mail: radiofarmacja@umb.edu.pl