Biography
Professor Michael R. Kilbourn obtained a B.S. (Biochemistry) from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1975, followed by a Ph.D. (Organic Chemistry, with John Katzenellenbogen) from the University of Illinois in 1980. This was followed by postdoctoral research (Radiochemistry, with Alfred P. Wolf) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is currently an Emeritus Professor of Radiology at the University of Michigan Medical School-Ann Arbor).
Professor Kilbourn is the author of 178 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 28 book chapters. His research efforts are supported by grants from the Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health. At the SNMMI National Meeting in 2009, Professor Kilbourn received the Paul C. Aebersold Award for Outstanding Achievements in Basic Science Applied to Nuclear Medicine (read the press release).
Areas of Interest
- Development and in vivo evaluation of new PET radiopharmaceuticals for the opioid, muscarinic cholinergic and BABAA receptors.
- Development of radiotracers for imaging neurotransmitter transporters (VMAT2, VAChT) and peptide transporters (PEPT2).
- Application of PET and PSCET imaging to follow trafficking, disposition, and survival of labeled stem cells in animal models of tissue regeneration.
- Evaluation of microPET imaging as a tool for radiotracer development.
- Application of PET imaging biomarkers in pharmaceutical development.