Jared Schaeffer

Lanthanides are increasingly used in technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and cellular imaging with gadolinium and europium respectively. Due to toxicity of the free Lewis acidic lanthanide in the body, a strong coordinating ligand system is needed for safe transport through the body. My research aims to investigate how crown ether molecules can be used to control the speciation of lanthanides in an aqueous and bio-relevant media. By conjugating a ligated lanthanide with a targeting vector, a theragnostic approach can be achieved by using similar molecules for both diagnoses through imaging and treatment with radionuclides by changing the lanthanide identity for different cancers.