Early Career Researchers Network (ECRN)

Wendy Delbart
I am a biomedical scientist in Nuclear Medicine Department at Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium. In 2014, I earned a Master's in Biomedical Sciences from Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL). During my PhD studies, I investigated the radiobiology of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy and graduated from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2023. Since 2015, I am also working part-time in clinical research in Nuclear Medicine Department at Institut Jules Bordet, from the design of investigator-initiated trials to study conduct coordination and results analysis. I am an active member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) and the Belgian Society of Nuclear Medicine (BELNUC).

Simone Kleinendorst
I am a PhD student at the Department of Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine at the Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. In 2020, I graduated from my master’s degree in Molecular Mechanisms of Disease from Radboud University and started my PhD. I am investigating the therapeutic potential and working mechanisms of combined CAIX-targeted radionuclide therapy and immune checkpoint inhibition in a pre-clinical setting.

Janke Kleynhans

I am a radiochemist/radiopharmacist with a passion for radiobiology. I am currently a post-doctoral research fellow at KU Leuven in the lovely Belgian city Leuven. I have experience in the production of theranostics as a responsible radiopharmacist (actinium-225 and lutetium-177). My current radiochemistry based research project is the development of generator based theranostic radiopharmaceuticals – most notably rhenium-188 and bismuth-213. It is my dream to contribute toward making theranostics available worldwide, regardless of geographic or economic constraints.

Peter Gawne

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London working on novel radioimmunotherapeutics for neuroblastoma. I received my Masters in Chemistry from the University of Hull, before joining the Medical Imaging CDT at King’s College London (KCL) and Imperial College London in 2015; where I obtained a Masters of Research in Medical Imaging Science, followed by my PhD in Radiochemistry at KCL ─ under the supervision of Dr Rafael T. M. de Rosales. I subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the same group focusing on the radiolabeling and imaging of cells and nanomedicines. Following that I moved to Genova, Italy to work at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) on the radiolabeling and imaging of particle-based drug delivery systems for the treatment of neurological diseases.

Sapna Lunj

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester working in the Translational Radiobiology Group led by Prof Ananya Choudhury. My current research focuses on understanding and comparing the immune response induced by different radiotherapy modalities in prostate and bladder cancer. I have had a long standing interest in the role the tumour microenvironment plays in influencing the efficacy of cancer therapies. I received my PhD from the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Prof Nicola Brown where my project focused on how modulation of the tumour angiogenic process influenced cancer therapy response in breast cancer. I have subsequently worked on a collaborative translational research project with GSK and Dr Jamie Honeychurch and Dr Eleanor Cheadle at the University of Manchester, where my project focused on comparing the phenotypes of circulating and tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes in response to immune checkpoint inhibition.

Mariangela Sabatella

I am a Postdoc Researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam working on molecular mechanisms underlying the action and response to (novel) β- and α-emitters-based PSMA-TRT. I received my Master graduation in Medical Biotechnology at University of Naples Federico II and obtained my PhD at the Erasmus Medical Center working on molecular mechanism of DNA damage repair upon UV light-induced adducts and interstrand crosslinks in human cells and the nematode C. elegans. Before starting my current position, I worked as Postdoc Researcher at Princes Maxima Center for pediatric oncology in Utrecht focusing on identification and validation of (hidden) germline mutations causative for (familial) cases of pediatric cancer predisposition.

Anthony Waked

I’m a PhD student at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) and the University of Liège, Belgium. My research focuses on the preclinical evaluation of targeted radionuclide therapy for glioblastoma, with an emphasis on understanding the underlying radiobiology of such treatments. I’m a biochemist by training, with a master’s in stem cells and regenerative medicine from the Lebanese University. I currently serve as a deputy-secretary at the European Radiation Research Society and an Ambassador for Oncidium Foundation, which aims to increase access to radiotheranostics worldwide. Because I'm a strong believer in the role that scientists (should) play outside the lab, I’m also active in other youth organizations and NGOs that work at the interfaces of science, health and human rights. In my free time, I like to...just kidding! What free time?!

Paul Gape

I am a PhD student under the supervision of Dr Samantha Terry at King's College London. My work focuses on the application of dosimetry, radiobiology and theragnostic imaging for optimisation of molecular radionuclide therapy. I am particularly interested in the Pb203/Pb212 theragnostic pair. Before starting the PhD, I studied physics and worked clinically as a medical physicist in several hospitals in the UK.

Julia Raitanen

I am a chemist by training and currently PhD student at the University of Vienna, working at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy (Division of Nuclear Medicine) at the Medical University of Vienna. My main research interest lies in (targeted) radiotherapy of cancer, including novel approaches of Auger Electron Therapy. In this context, I currently focus on radiobiological assessments in 2D and 3D cell culture systems.