People

I am a Radiochemist with experience in both SPECT and PET chemistry. Before I came to Glasgow, I worked for many years as both a radiochemist and a synthetic chemist in the radiopharmaceutical industry. My interests are using radiotracers to look at changes in biological chemistry in disease. As such, I’m interested in the development of novel radiotracers, which is a multi-disciplinary process bringing together chemistry, radiochemistry and biology, and the translation of such new tracers from a pre-clinical phase into the clinic. I’m also interested in the clinical applications of new and existing radiotracers, in which I collaborate with colleagues in Clinical Physics and Psychological Medicine. Beyond the development and use of tracers, I’m interested in the development of radiolabelling and purification methods

Neuroinflammation is a common factor in a variety of neurological disorders, including dementia. Thanks to molecular imaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET), the extent of neuroinflammation can be detected in vivo, assisting with diagnosis and monitoring of the disease, as well as benefiting the preclinical research. During my PhD project, I will be studying 18kDa translocator protein (TSPO) as a biomarker for neuroinflammation and validating the use of novel TSPO radiotracers to image dementia-associated neuroinflammation in preclinical dementia models. In addition, I will assess the cellular distribution of TSPO in the brain under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.

Cancer research and development, drug discovery of antitumoral agents, targeted therapies, molecular imaging as innovative tool of diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours, medicinal chemistry of PARP inhibitors, radiochemistry, pre-clinical studies.

Involved in basic and clinical research in the study of the host response to cancer.

Dr Pimlott is the principal radiochemist in the research and development radiopharmaceutical group, based at the Radionuclide Dispensary, Western Infirmary, Glasgow. Her research is focused on the development of novel molecular imaging agents. This includes:-

• the development of novel radiolabelling methodologies
• the synthesis and evaluation of novel tracer candidates using both in vitro and in vivo imaging techniques
• the development of novel in vitro methodologies for the prediction of radiotracer in vivo characteristics.

Dr Pimlott is also experienced in the provision of radiopharmaceuticals for clinical research studies in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice standards. Research is funded by the SINAPSE, Wellbeing of Women, Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC), Neurosciences Foundation, Chief Scientist Office (Scottish Executive), Medical Research Scotland and GE Healthcare.