Bringing Targeted Alpha
Therapies to Patients
About AdvanCell
AdvanCell is a radiopharmaceutical company that works with technology to develop a revolutionary cancer treatment called Targeted Alpha Therapy, providing new hope for patients with untreatable cancers.
The major limitation to its widespread adoption is the scalable supply of the isotopes required to make these therapies.
AdvanCell’s targeted alpha therapies are powered by a platform technology – a world-first alpha isotope generator which addresses the greatest unmet need in targeted alpha therapy – the reliable and scalable supply of isotope.
Management Team
Andrew Adamovich
Andrew is a founder and CEO of AdvanCell. Prior to AdvanCell, Andrew led investment activities for Riverland Capital, a private investment firm, where as a founder and director he focused on investing in China.
Andrew is a director of G2 Therapies, a spinout from the Garvan Institute, and is a director of CGI Glass Lewis, the Australian affiliate of Glass Lewis, a corporate governance advisory firm. Andrew was a director and shareholder of Yuan Chuan Radio (sold to Shanghai-listed Orient Securities), ASX-listed Hostworks Group (sold to Broadcast Australia), amongst other listed and private companies.
Andrew began his career at Peregrine Investments in Hong Kong in 1997 and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Berkeley.
Andrew is an experienced investor in healthcare and is responsible for business development for AdvanCell and corporate activities for the Company.
Simon Puttick
Simon completed a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham in 2012 where his study was focused on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to understand the spatial organisation of ionic liquids. Following his PhD, Simon moved to the University of Cambridge as a Research Fellow focused on the discovery of magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers of neurodegeneration in Huntington's Disease.
Simon moved to Australia in 2013 to take up a position as a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland focused on the development of targeted radionuclide therapies for primary brain cancers. In this position Simon developed a keen interest in the field of nuclear medicine and has developed a portfolio of active research in this field.
Simon moved to CSIRO in 2018 to lead a program of research in targeted alpha therapy development and remains a visiting scientist.
Simon joined AdvanCell in 2021 to realise the potential of the AdvanCell's targeted alpha therapy portfolio.
Anna Karmann
Anna has over 20 years‘ experience in biopharma industry, drug development, and clinical practice. As a board certified Radiologist, she has deep expertise in medical imaging, radiobiology, and radiopharmaceutical therapies.
Most recently, Anna was an executive at RayzeBio where she led the development of early-stage assets and provided strategic and clinical leadership for the GPC3 and CA9 programs to IND. Anna led and executed global compassionate use trials, which significantly contributed to the successful IPO and subsequent acquisition of the firm.
Prior to RayzeBio, Anna was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company where she successfully led projects for pharmaceutical, biotech, and investor clients with a focus on clinical development, targeted oncology, portfolio and commercial strategy, and operational performance.
Anna holds an MD from RWTH Aachen University, a PhD from Maastricht University, and an MBA from RWTH Aachen University and Tsinghua University Beijing. She gained significant clinical practice and clinical research experience at the University Medical Center Maastricht, Netherlands and Stanford University Hospital, CA, USA.
Matthew Vincent
Matthew joined from POINT Biopharma, where he was a Senior Vice President of Business Development. Matt is based in Boston and has over 30 years of experience in company business development and as a law firm partner. He has a wide range of experience relevant to business development and M&A strategy. Matt has also contributed to therapeutic discovery - including as an inventor on a number of pipeline programs in different companies. His deal sheet includes strategic partnerships and acquisitions involving Eli Lilly, Pfizer, GSK, BMS, Merck, Genentech/Roche, Moderna and Astellas amongst others.
Gary Li
Gary has over 20 years of multi-modality drug discovery, translational, and early development experience at both strategic and operational levels. Most recently, as RayzeBio’s 3rd employee and SVP, he led Discovery Biology, Translational Medicine, and Portfolio Strategy from its inception. Particularly, he spearheaded the effort in establishing a rich portfolio spanning from novel targets to Phase III assets. In addition, he played a key role in company building, fund raising, licensing, and scientific communication.
Before joining RayzeBio, Gary was SVP, Translational Medicine at BridgeBio and its affiliate, QED Therapeutics, leading all aspects of Translational Research and Companion Diagnostics, which led to multiple global drug approvals. Prior to QED, he was VP of Oncology Research at Ignyta, where he built a highly productive research team from the ground up and led multiple programs to NDA and IND milestones. Before Ignyta, Gary held various scientific positions with increasing responsibilities at Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, contributing to target ID/validation, drug discovery, and multiple drug approvals.
Gary earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an inventor of multiple patents, has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, and delivered over 100 invited talks and meeting presentations.
Chris Horvath
Chris brings nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical oncology expertise spanning drug discovery, commercialization, and corporate leadership, to AdvanCell.
Over the past 8 years, Chris has been responsible for commercial strategy and leadership, launch preparation and execution, and revenue growth of both clinical-stage and commercial radiopharmaceuticals in oncology. Most recently at POINT Biopharma, he served as EVP, Commercial, and managed cross-functional alliance operations with Lantheus for two clinical-stage assets. As head of the prostate cancer franchise at Novartis/Advanced Accelerator Applications, Chris orchestrated the organizational build and set the strategic foundation for the successful US launches of Pluvicto and Locametz. Prior to this, Chris held progressively senior commercial positions at Janssen, Dendreon, Merck, and Bayer.
Chris's academic background includes a BSc in Chemistry & Biology from Wilfrid Laurier University, an MSc in Analytical Science from the University of Guelph, and an MBA in Pharmaceutical Management & Marketing from Rutgers Business School.
Kevin K. W. Kuan
Kevin received his PhD in the field of synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Adelaide in 2016 studying biomimetic synthesis of marine natural products. He joined AdvanCell in October 2021 and is currently Director of Operations.
Prior to joining the company, Dr. Kuan was the Head of Chemistry and Product Development at Clarity Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company’s radiopharmaceutical product development and manufacturing operations across all stages of clinical development. Dr. Kuan held various roles of increasing responsibility at the Molecular Imaging and Therapy Research Unit (MITRU), a TGA licensed cyclotron facility belonging to the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Dr. Kuan has extensive experience in the implementation and supply of Investigational Medicinal Products for clinical trials and the development of radiometals on cyclotron solid targetry systems.
He holds a patent for Formulations of PSMA Imaging Agents (Australian Patent No. AU 2019901765) and is a Member of the Royal Australian Chemistry Institute (MRACI) and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM)
William Tieu
William holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Adelaide and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Sydney where he developed novel radiopharmaceuticals. He joined AdvanCell in October 2021 as the Head of Chemistry.
Dr Tieu has over 11 years’ experience in drug development, project management and GMP manufacturing. Prior to joining AdvanCell Isotopes, Dr Tieu was the Senior Research Radiochemist at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, with responsibility for managing the development of over a dozen radiopharmaceutical and radioisotope products. His role also included scientific contribution to numerous chemistry, radiation and pre-clinical studies. During this period, he was part of a team who helped develop several radiopharmaceuticals including [18F]FDOPA, MK6240, [64Cu]Cu-peptides, [64Cu]Cu-ATSM, [89Zr]Zr-mAbs and production of various imaging isotopes including 68Ga, 89Zr, 45Ti and ²⁰³Pb.
Dr Tieu also has experience with manufacturing of 89Zr-mAbs for a first in human Phase 1 clinical trials. He has 26 publications and 2 patents with his work has been cited more than 443 times. His h-index is 13. Dr Tieu is a current member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Sheruna Naidoo
Sheruna completed a PhD in Medical Radiation Science from the University of Sydney in 2010 and has over 15 years' experience in radiopharmaceutical manufacturing and registration. She has a deep understanding of the sterile manufacturing and regulatory requirements specifically in this area.
Sheruna’s professional career has spanned across clinical Nuclear Medicine, including research and development, facility design, sterile manufacturing and supply of radiopharmaceuticals in both the private and public health sectors.
She brings specific skills and background to AdvanCell in governance, risk management and radiopharmaceutical science (RPS) and drug registration.
Andrew Burgoyne
Andrew's expertise lies in radiochemical processing and in the production and purification of radioisotopes. He has a particular interest in alpha emitting radionuclides that can be used in the field of targeted alpha therapy. Most recently he led, amongst other efforts, the fabrication of Ra-224/Pb-212 generators from Th-228 and the production of accelerator-produced Ac-225 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the US Department of Energy Isotope Program.
Thomas Kryza
Thomas completed a PhD in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry at the University of Tours in 2013 where his research was focused on the involvement of proteases in lung cancer progression. In 2014, Thomas moved to the Queensland University of Technology- Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre as a Research Fellow to work on the roles of proteases in prostate cancer progression.
In 2018, Thomas started to work at the Mater Research Institute – University of Queensland as a Senior Research Officer focused on the development and preclinical validation of targeted therapies for pancreatic, ovarian and breast cancers. Thomas has been involved in various translational projects conducting to multiple high-impact publications, novel preclinical models and the progression of several agents to clinical testing.
Thomas joined AdvanCell as Preclinical Development Manager in October 2022 to push forward the preclinical development of the AdvanCell's targeted alpha therapy portfolio.
Paola Santoro
Paola has over 20 years' experience in clinical operations and drug development, from early stage to phase IV, with focus on radioligand therapy (RLT) development in the US and globally.
Prior to AdvanCell, Paola was Director at Ariceum, where she provided strategic and clinical leadership for the early-stage alpha therapy IND, clinical protocol and trial set up.
Earlier, Paola was Sr Clinical Development and Operations Leader at Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA) and Global Trial Director at Novartis (NVS), where she successfully led several RLT programs.
As first Clinical Operations employee at AAA, Paola built the global clinical operations department, set up and executed the NETTER-1 Phase III pivotal trial, leading to the successful IPO, marketing authorization of Lutathera® and subsequent acquisition of the firm. She further contributed operationally and strategically to IND and NDA submissions with the FDA and co-authored the NEJM publication.
At NVS, Paola contributed to the scale up of the RLT platform and was member of the ISRC committee in charge of protocols review and approval for the oncology division. She authored and executed the Lutathera® post-authorization protocols, including NETTER-2.
Paola earned her BSc and Ms in Biology at Milan University, Italy.
Megan Crumbaker
Dr. Megan Crumbaker is a medical oncologist. She earned her medical degree from the University of Sydney and completed a PhD in prostate cancer genomics at the University of New South Wales.
As a clinician-scientist at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Dr. Crumbaker gained strong experience in cutting-edge clinical trials focusing on radioligand therapies and translational biomarkers. With a dedication to both research and patient care, Dr. Crumbaker is committed to advancing the field of oncology through innovative research and clinical trials.
Stephani Thompson
Stephani has over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in drug development and regulatory consulting. She provides strategic and regulatory leadership for Clinical Trial Applications (CTA), Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and New Drug Applications (NDA) / Marketing Authorization Applications (MAA) across various therapeutic areas, including oncology, autoimmunity, inflammation, and orphan diseases.
As part of her consulting work, she oversees the development of early and late-stage assets, pivotal / Phase 3 trials as well as global registrational planning for pharmaceutical clients. Prior to that, Stephani held positions of increasing responsibility at small, medium, and large biopharmaceutical companies, focusing on regulatory affairs strategy from early to late-stage product development, with a focus on oncology.
Stephani holds a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from Temple University, a Master of Science (MS) in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs, also from Temple University, and a Master of Science (MS) in Pharmacology from Drexel University College of Medicine.
Stephen Rose
Stephen has over 25 years’ experience in clinical R&D within the academic sector along with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency. He works closely with clinicians developing the next generation of molecular imaging, therapeutic and diagnostic platforms targeting oncology sector. Before joining AdvanCell, Prof Rose was director of a prestigious CSIRO Future Science Platform, a highly successful $35m research program with over 30 FTE scientific staff at the PhD level to drive innovation in the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals sector. This included targeting the development of novel theranostic platforms for improved delivery of novel alpha radioligand therapies for difficult to treat cancers.
During this career, Prof Rose has made a significant contribution to obtaining competitive funding from various national medical research funding bodies (NHMRC, MRFF), state government R&D initiatives, the international pharmaceutical industry and private medical service providers. In terms of impact on health, he introduced to Australia a new PET tracer (F18-FEOBV) to measure cholinergic function in dementia patients and was instrumental in establishing clinical molecular imaging research program using MRI, F18-FDOPA and F18-FMISO PET to improve care pathways for patients with brain cancer. Prof Rose has played a major role of bringing new liquid biopsy diagnostic tests to the clinic including the development of NeuroLiB; the first epigenetic ccfDNA assay for detecting neural injury currently being validated through a prospective clinical trial. He was also instrumental in establishing a $5 million theranostics discovery R&D program with GenesisCare, the largest private providers of cancer care services in Australia. Prof Rose has published more than 240 manuscripts in international peer reviewed journals. In terms of general citation indices, his work has been cited 11900 times and his h-index is 52.
Julian F. Kelly
Julian has over 20 years of expertise working with & managing nuclear & radioactive materials. He has a PhD in chemical physics (ANU), and over 10 years of experience developing IP on the innovative uses of radiation and radioactive materials. Julian held scientific roles at CSIRO, the Defence Intelligence Organisation, and at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
Julian served as Nuclear Attaché in the Australian Embassy in Vienna, representing Australia on technical nuclear matters at the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Board of Directors
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Bill Ferris
Bill is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Company. Bill was appointed Chair of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), now named Brandon BioCatalyst, in March 2020, the largest source of funding in Australia for the development and commercialisation of early stage bio-medical discoveries providing both the capital and expertise to guide the successful emergence of new therapies. Bill was the inaugural Chair of Innovation and Science Australia from2015 to 2018.
Bill's former recent directorships include: Chairman, Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Chair of the Federal Government’s Health and Hospitals Fund Advisory Board. Other former directorships include: Chairman, Accolade Wines Australia and UK, Austar United Communications, Australian Trade Commission (Austrade); Macquarie University Asia Pacific Council; and Director, Garvan Research Foundation, Austal Ltd and Australian Institute of Management (NSW) Ltd. Bill also joined the expert panel for the Federal Government’s Strategic Review of Health and Medical Research in October 2011and was a member of the Harvard Business School Asia Pacific Advisory Council from 2010 – 2019.
Bill was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1990 for services to the export industry and, in2008, was made Companion in the Order of Australia for his philanthropic activities as a leader in support of medical research and his role in the establishment of the private equity sector in Australia. The AC is the highest-ranking civilian award in Australia.
Bill is the author of 3 books: “Really Making a Difference” published December 1993, “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained” published March 2000, and “Inside Private Equity”, published January 2013.
Andrew Adamovich
Andrew is a founder and CEO of AdvanCell. Prior to AdvanCell, Andrew led investment activities for Riverland Capital, a private investment firm, where as a founder and director he focused on investing in China.
Andrew is a director of G2 Therapies, a spinout from the Garvan Institute, and is a director of CGI Glass Lewis, the Australian affiliate of Glass Lewis, a corporate governance advisory firm. Andrew was a director and shareholder of Yuan Chuan Radio (sold to Shanghai-listed Orient Securities), ASX-listed Hostworks Group (sold to Broadcast Australia), amongst other listed and private companies.
Andrew began his career at Peregrine Investments in Hong Kong in 1997 and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Berkeley.
Andrew is an experienced investor in healthcare and is responsible for business development for AdvanCell and corporate activities for the Company.
Kevin Cameron
Kevin is CEO at Ionetix Corporation. Prior to joining Ionetix in 2011, Mr. Cameron served as President of Glass, Lewis & Co., a leading independent corporate governance research firm which he co-founded in 2003. Prior to Glass Lewis, he served as General Counsel at Moxi Digital, a technology venture founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Mr. Cameron previously served as General Counsel at NorthPoint Communications, a publicly-traded broadband telecommunications company acquired by AT&T. Before NorthPoint, he was an attorney with the corporate law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans in Washington D.C. and served as a law clerk to the Hon. James L. Buckley of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Mr. Cameron is a director of KERYX Biopharmaceuticals (NASD:KERX), a director of AvidBiotics, a former director of Reddy Ice, and was a founding board member of ProCure Treatment Centers, the leading provider of proton therapy treatment in the U.S. He earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. at McGill University.
Jamil Beg
Jamil is a life science investor and company builder focused on advancing breakthrough science into transformational medicines for patients. Jamil joined SV Health Investors in January 2024 and is a Partner based in Boston. He works with founders, entrepreneurs, operators, and co-investors to establish and build new biotech startups, as well as fund and grow established private biotech companies across any stage of investment.
Jamil founded and operated several biotech startups as well as invested across therapeutic areas, stages of technology platforms/assets, and modalities. Over his career, Jamil has been involved in over twenty private financings, seven public offerings, and three M&A transactions. He has operated in six venture-backed startups and contributed to the advancement of multiple FDA approved products. Select investments and operating roles include Akouos (NASDAQ: AKUS, acquired by Eli Lilly), Aprea (NASDAQ: APRE), Kinaset Therapeutics (founding investor), Nido Biosciences (founder), RallyBio (NASDAQ: RLYB), Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SAGE), and Transave Inhalation Therapeutics (merged with Insmed). Jamil brings a wealth of entrepreneurial and operational expertise from his time building companies like Sage Therapeutics and Nido Biosciences and founding several stealth biotech startups.
Jamil earned his B.S.E. in Bioengineering and Master of Biotechnology degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his M.B.A. in Healthcare Management and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he was a recipient of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Merit Award.
Bali Muralidhar
Bali Muralidhar, MD, PhD is Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer and COO at Abingworth, a leading transatlantic life sciences investment firm. He has over 20 years professional experience in healthcare across a range of functions including venture investing, R&D, clinical practice and teaching. He represents Abingworth on the boards of AdvanCell, Pathalys, Wugen and Ascend amongst others.
Prior to joining Abingworth, Bali was a senior partner at MVM Partners LLP in London where he completed investments in and served on the boards of several companies, both public and private. In 2018, Bali was named among Financial News’ Rising Stars in Private Equity, which celebrated 25 men and women under the age of 40 standing out in the European private equity industry. Before MVM, Bali was a member of Bain Capital's healthcare deal team.
Bali obtained a degree in clinical medicine from the University of Oxford and practiced general surgery at the John Radcliffe and Addenbrooke's Hospitals in Oxford and Cambridge, respectively. He has a PhD in translational cancer research from the MRC Cancer Cell Unit, University of Cambridge, and has published over a dozen peer reviewed papers. He was also a Bye-Fellow in Medical Sciences at Downing College, Cambridge where he taught pathology, surgery and medicine.
Anthony Aiudi
Anthony Aiudi has been part of the investment team at Morningside Technology Advisory since 2020. He has experience providing operational and managerial oversight to early-stage biotechnology companies.
Anthony serves on the boards of several biotechnology companies across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas. He has also facilitated company creation, completed multiple financings for private companies, and provided operational support for portfolio companies.
Anthony completed a Fellowship in Clinical Research at Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Northeastern University, where he was also adjunct faculty. He later was a clinical research scientist at Merck & Co. From late 2015-2020, he was a director at Stealth BioTherapeutics, where he led the clinical development for numerous rare disease programs through their global Phase 3 program and supported the company through its IPO.
Anthony received his Pharm.D. and MBA from the University of Rhode Island and an M.S. in finance from Northeastern University.
Christopher Gagliardi
Chris is a Principal at Sanofi Ventures, joining in 2017 with a background in life science and healthcare consulting. He previously spent three years as a management consultant at L.E.K. consulting, where his work focused on corporate strategy, due diligence, commercial launch planning and asset valuation across the pharmaceutical, biotech, R&D and API manufacturing sectors.
In addition to his role as a director on AdvanCell’s board, Chris represents Sanofi on the Boards of Sudo Biosciences, i2O Therapeutics and Minervax, and is an observer for Atalanta Therapeutics, Avilar Therapeutics, Matchpoint Therapeutics, and Nextpoint Therapeutics. Chris also serves on the Board of Trustees at Roger Williams University.
Prior to a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, Chris earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as a B.S. in both Biology and Chemistry from Roger Williams University.
Chidozie Ugwumba
Chidozie serves as Managing Partner of SymBiosis, leading sourcing, due diligence, and execution of investments, and advising portfolio companies. Prior to SymBiosis, Chidozie led the Direct and Impact Investment Group of WIT, LLC and worked on the Private Credit and Infrastructure teams at Partners Group, a global private investment manager. Chidozie earned an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, and a BA in Political Science from Amherst College.
Scientific Advisory Board
Oliver Sartor
Dr. Sartor is an internationally recognized expert in prostate cancer. His medical practice and research have focused on prostate cancer since 1990 when he finished a medical oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He has published over 500 manuscripts and led or co-led multiple national and international clinical studies, including multiple phase III studies pivotal for FDA approval in prostate cancer (samarium-153 EDTMP, cabazitaxel, radium-223, and Lu-177-PSMA-617). In addition to therapeutic studies, he has long been involved with translational and scientific studies with prostate cancer patients. He has lectured widely, and at last count has given invited lectures in 33 countries.
After serving as a Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Tulane Cancer Center for 15 years, he moved to Mayo Clinic in April 2023 where he is now Professor of Medical Oncology, Chief of the Genitourinary Cancers Group, and Director of Radiopharmaceuticals.
Ken Herrmann
Dr. Hermann is a well-known leader in the field of oncologic nuclear medicine. He currently acts as Chair of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the Universitätsklinikum Essen in Germany, Chair of the EANM Oncology & Theranostics Committee, and serves as a Section Editor of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Ken’s earlier career found him as a Visiting Assistant Professor promoted to Associate Professor in the Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division of the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California Los Angeles in addition to holding his position as Vice Chair of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the Universitätsklinikum Würzburg. Ken holds a Doctorate Degree from Humboldt Universität Berlin and completed his residency in Nuclear Medicine at Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München in addition to his MBA, which he received from the Universität Zürich, Switzerland in 2011.
Louise Emmett
Dr. Emmett is the Director of Theranostics and Nuclear Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and a clinical researcher at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. She is also a Professor of Medicine (conjoint)at the University of New South Wales. She underwent her medical training at Auckland University, New Zealand, physician training in Sydney, Australia, and postgraduate training in nuclear cardiology in Toronto, Canada. Her Doctorate of Medicine in nuclear cardiology was completed in 2014. Dr Emmett has a subspecialty interest in prostate cancer and has been Principal Investigator (or Co-PI) on multiple prospective phase 1-3imaging and therapy theranostics trials since 2014. Dr Emmett is focused on the clinical development of new theranostic agents, optimal combinations, and functional imaging biomarkers for better personalisation of treatment choices in theranostics.
Michael Morris
Dr. Morris is a prostate cancer specialist, clinical investigator, full member, and the Section Head of Prostate Cancer of the Genitourinary Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
He earned his medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and performed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He then completed his medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Morris has led numerous clinical trials but has a particular research focus on targeted therapy for prostate cancer, especially those that bridge the fields of Medical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine. In the field of therapeutics, he has focused on tumor and bone-directed radiopharmaceuticals for prostate cancer. He was part of the leadership team that developed Lu-177 PSMA-617, which is now FDA approved for men with advanced prostate cancer. He has a research focus interest in developing novel imaging technologies for metastatic prostate cancer and in credentialing imaging biomarkers. He has been a co-developer of the Prostate Cancer Working Group 2 and 3 Consensus Criteria, and prostate-specific imaging technologies such as PSMA-directed PET imaging. In addition, he is the Medical Director of the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium. He has long had an interest in novel methods of implementing prostate cancer clinical trials, and utilizing digital methods to reduce barriers to expertise, clinical care, and investigational studies.
Tom Hope
Dr. Hope is the Vice Chair of Clinical Operations and Strategy in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California San Francisco. He serves as the Director of Molecular Therapy at UCSF and as Chief of Nuclear Medicine at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
In 2007, he received his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine and he completed a one-year internship at Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco. Subsequently, he completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology at UCSF, followed by a clinical fellowship in Body MRI and Nuclear Medicine from Stanford. Dr. Hope’s main research focus is on novel imaging agents and therapies, particularly in prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. He helped lead the development of Ga-68 PSMA-11, which subsequently led to the approval of this drug by the FDA. Additionally he leads the PRRT program for neuroendocrine tumors and PSMA Radioligand Therapy at UCSF.
Shahneen Sandhu
Professor Shahneen Sandhu is an internationally recognised medical oncologist and clinician-scientist with an appointment at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne and Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology at the University of Melbourne. Her research in prostate cancer and melanoma has focused on the co-development of novel therapeutics and biomarkers. Over her career, she has made significant contributions to developing new therapies and personalising therapies for prostate cancer and melanoma. Her research program comprises innovative clinical trials, biomarker and translational research that has established 7 new therapies for melanoma and prostate cancer. She has leadership roles in 6 clinical trials which evaluate the use of radionuclide therapy for metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer. She runs several investigator-initiated trials including PRINCE (Pembrolizumab and 177Lu-PSMA),LuPARP (Olaparib and 177Lu-PSMA) and Evolution (Ipilimumab, Nivolumab and177Lu-PSMA) phase I/II trials.
Michael Hofman
Professor Michael Hofman is a nuclear medicine physician and physician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne and Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology at the University of Melbourne. He was named as Australia's top researcher in the field of Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging ("The Australian" Top 250 Researchers) in 2024 and 2025. At Peter Mac, he leads a theranostics Centre of Excellence, the PET/CT clinical program and is a member of the Research Leadership Group.
Prof. Hofman was an early pioneer of both PSMA PET/CT and PSMA theranostics, contributing to the evidence-base that has been transformative for improving outcomes for patients with prostate cancer. He has a strong track record having successfully led numerous clinical trials, from first-in-human trials of novel radiotracers to orchestrating complex multi-center randomised clinical trials.
His collaborative approach has brought together multi-disciplinary expertise from more than ten centres around Australia to conduct first-in-field trials resulting in seminal research published in high impact journal such as The Lancet. His research portfolio includes discovery research of new radiotracers, clinical trials (imaging and therapy) and using deep learning to develop new imaging biomarkers. He has delivered more than 250 talks in all 7 continents and has received numerous awards including the 2024 Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Saul Hertz MD Award, a life-time achievement award recognising individuals who have made outstanding contributions to radionuclide therapy.
Clemens Kratochwil
Dr. Kratochwil studied medicine at the University of Ulm in Germany. After graduating from medical school, his residency led him through the Departments of Nuclear Medicine of the University Hospital Ulm, Technical University Munich and Heidelberg University Hospital. He received his Doctors Degree (“18F-FLT for monitoring treatment response”) in 2008. Since 2010 he worked as a consultant and since 2013 as the supervising physician of the radionuclide ward of Heidelberg University Hospital.
His clinical and preclinical scientific interest is focused on targeted alpha-emitter therapy. Work related to 213Bi-Dotatoc was decorated with the SNM Nuclear Oncology Council Young Investigator Award and the RSNA Trainee Research Prize in 2011. Work related to 225Ac-PSMA617 with the EANM Marie Curie Award and the Therapy Award of the German society of Nuclear Medicine. Using ²⁰³Pb surrogate imaging, he explored PSMA-ligands with favorable characteristics for ²¹²Pb labeling. As a nuclear medicine professional and researcher, he already (co)authored approx. 180 peer-reviewed articles.
Christopher Sweeney
Professor Christopher Sweeney is the inaugural Director of the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAIGENCI) at the University of Adelaide.
He received his medical degree from the University of Adelaide and completed an internship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Professor Sweeney did his residency in internal medicine at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center (Wisconsin, USA) and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at Indiana University Medical Center (Indiana, USA), where he was later appointed Associate Director for Clinical Research for the Simon Cancer Center. Professor Sweeney joined the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts, USA) in 2009. He was promoted to Full Professor at Harvard University in 2018 and returned to Australia in 2022. His primary research interest is drug discovery and development. His academic focus is primarily on the management of genitourinary malignancies, with a focus on prostate and testicular cancer.
