Research Associate, Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre

Email: sms96@wbic.cam.ac.uk

Research interests

I work under the supervision of Prof Franklin I Aigbirhio at Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre on the development of new positron emission tomography (PET) probes for brain imaging. My current project involves development of PET radiotracers for imaging protein synthesis in vivo based on non-amino acid framework. Rate of protein synthesis is an important biomarker of the diseased state and PET imaging allows for direct visualization and quantification of the extent of its perturbation. My project includes synthesis of a small library of derivatives, radiolabelling methodology and their evaluation in vitro and in vivo.

Key publications

Sephton SM,  Müller Herde A, Mu L, Keller C, Rüdisühli S , Auberson Y,  Schibli R, Krämer SD, Ametamey  SM. (2015) Preclinical evaluation and test-retest studies of [18F]PSS232, a novel radioligand for targeting Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 (mGlu5). Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging. 42(1), 128-137.

Sephton SM, Mu L, Dragic M, Krämer SD, Schibli R, Ametamey SM. (2013) Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of E- and Z-Geometrical Isomers of PSS232 as potential Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Subtype 5 (mGlu5) Binders. Synthesis. 45, 1877-1885.

Sephton SM, Mu L, Müller A,  Wanger-Baumann CA, Schibli R, Krämer SD, Ametamey SM. (2013) Synthesis and in vitro/in vivo pharmacological evaluation of [11C]-ThioABP, a novel radiotracer for imaging mGluR5 with PET. Med. Chem. Comm. 24(3), 520-526.

Sephton SM, Mu L, Schweizer WB, Schibli R, Krämer SD, Ametamey SM. (2012) Synthesis and evaluation of novel -Fluorinated (E)-3-((6-(Methylpyridin-2-yl)ethynyl)cyclohex-2-enone-O-methyl Oxime (ABP688) derivatives as Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 5 PET radiotracers. J. Med. Chem. 55(16), 7154-7162.

Sephton SM, Dennler P,  Leutwiler D, Mu L, Wanger-Baumann CA, Schibli R, Krämer SD, Ametamey SM. (2012) Synthesis, radiolabelling, and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of a novel fluorinated ABP688 derivative for the PET imaging of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 5. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging. 2(1), 14-28.

Areas of expertise

organic synthesis, radiolabelling, PET imaging, NMR