CV Science

Jean-François GESTIN PhD organic chemistry

Course and current status

Actual position: Head of the Radiochemistry & Radiopharmacy research group U.892 INSERM, Nantes, FRANCE.

2004 : Director of Research I.N.S.E.R.M.

2000 : Founder of CHELATEC

1991 : Head Researcher at I.N.S.E.R.M.

1990 : PhD, University of Sciences, Nantes.

- 1st Year : French Atomic Energy Commission (Cis-Bio-International) and U.211 I.N.S.E.R.M., Nantes.

-2sd et 3trd Year : Brookhaven National Laboratory; Radiopharmaceutical chemistry, Dr. S.Srivastava.

Scientific summary

Our fundamental is that antibodies armed by radionuclides should deliver toxic doses of irradiation to the tumor and thus become useful therapeutic agents for cancer treatment. Our team is one of the rare in France interested in radioimmunotherapy (RIT) and the only one to develop the use of alpha particles in tumor targeting. This activity of research requires different competences from the extraction and purification of radionuclides to the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals responding to quality criteria needed for preclinical and clinical evaluations.

 The object of our researches is rather easy to define : To use radionuclides to combat cancer or more modestly to participate in the development of RIT (targeting radionuclides with antibodies to eradicate tumors) and cancer molecular imaging, particularly by positron emission tomography (PET). This last topic brings us very diverse and crucial information for the improvement of cancer RIT: disease staging, proliferative capacity, tumor response and prognosis etc. RIT and molecular imaging require similar tools: radionuclides adapted to RIT or to molecular imaging, specific vectors, radiolabeling expertise and medical physics for absorbed dose calculation. They join as well by the fact as the RIT needs nuclear imaging: expression of the antigen that can be targeted, pharmacokinetic studies, quantitative imaging for dosimetry. Our project thus aims at associating both to be able to propose innovations and transfer them over the years from the laboratory to the patients.