Llop Team – CICbiomaGUNE

Website: http://personal.cicbiomagune.es/jllop/

Dr. V. Gómez-Vallejo, chemist and Chemical Engineer, did her PhD on the development of labelling strategies using short-lived positron emitters. Between 2005 and 2007 she worked as Quality Control Responsible in the Radiopharmaceutical Laboratory at IAT-PRBB, where she was involved in preclinical and clinical studies sponsored by research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Since October 2007, Dr. Vanessa Gómez-Vallejo is the Platform Manager in Radiochemistry at CIC biomaGUNE, where she is providing support to internal and external researchers and  coordinates training and maintenance activities. During the last 10 years, Dr. Gómez-Vallejo has led the implementation of >25 tracers labelled with 13N, 11C, and 18F that are routinely produced in the radiochemistry lab and used in different pre-clinical applications in the areas of oncology, cardiology, and neurosciences. She has implemented methods for the in-house production of 89Zr and 64Cu, and has incorporated to the radiochemistry lab’s portfolio other radionuclides such as 123I, 124I, 125I, 131I, 67Ga, 99mTc and 111In. Dr. Gómez-Vallejo actively participates as senior researcher in different regional, national, and EU-funded projects, and has demonstrated a relevant scientific productivity with >100 scientific contributions. She holds the accreditation to work with experimental animals (C and D functions) and she was the President of The Ethical Committee of CIC biomaGUNE from 2016 to 2019.

Zuriñe Baz Maldonado, currently working as senior technician at the Radiochemistry and Nuclear Imaging lab at CIC biomaGUNE, got her degree in Chemical Sciences in 2005, specializing in Petrochemicals and Macromolecules. In 2009 she joined Dr. Llop’s group in CIC biomaGUNE, where she is responsible for general management tasks and leads communication activities through the group’s webpage and social media. Over the past 15 years, she has played a pivotal role in the reconstruction, processing, and quantification of PET and SPECT images. Additionally, she has taken the lead in conducting training sessions, imparting her expertise in the utilization of specialized software for image quantification to new students and post-doctoral researchers joining the group.

Grace Mehta obtained her master’s degree in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India. Her PhD thesis focuses on synthesizing gold nanoparticles functionalized with N-Heterocyclic carbenes, and subsequent radiolabelling with diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides. The nanoparticles will be used in theranostic applications in different mouse cancer models, under the supervision of Dr. Jordi Llop and Dr. Mónica Carril. 

Huu Bao Nguyen is a PhD student in the Radiochemistry and Nuclear Imaging group at CIC BiomaGUNE – Spain, supervised by Professor Jordi Llop Roig. He earned his master’s degree in Medical Sciences from Kyungpook National University, South Korea, where his research centred on developing radiotracers and using monoclonal antibodies and nanoparticles, particularly liposomes, for delivering radioisotopes to tumours.

For his PhD, Huu Bao is focusing on the development of carbon dot-based nanoparticles, aiming to improve the targeted delivery of pharmaceuticals and radioisotopes to tumors for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, advancing strategies for cancer treatment and detection.