This proposal is an R13 application to provide support for students and post-docs to attend the 16th International Symposium on Radio-pharmaceutical Chemistry which will be held at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa on June 24 -28, 2005. This meeting covers the whole field of Radio-pharmaceutical Chemistry from the preparation and isolation of the various short lived radio-nuclides, the chemistry involved in the preparation of the radio-labeled compounds, evaluation of the labeled compounds in animal models, the validation of the mechanism of interaction with the target and the problems associated with formulating the materials for human use. It is the only meeting of its kind that covers the whole field and yet is not just a subset of the larger field of nuclear imaging. The field has expanded greatly in the last few years as the importance of nuclear imaging has grown both as a research and a clinical tool. Because of rapid expansion, there is a scarcity of young investigators in the field and we believe that this approach to a meeting will foster their careers and increase their competitiveness in obtaining government funding. We have also planned informal social events to further the discussions between the mentors and students. We would like to provide bursaries of ~$2,000 per student or post-doc so as to allow 10 students to attend the meeting.
