Research in the field of nuclear medicine focuses on the development, evaluation and optimisation of oncological pharmaceuticals, e.g. for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate carcinoma or leukaemia. The focus is on PSMA-specific peptides, which are successfully analysed using established molecular biological methods and various imaging techniques.

The diagnosis and analysis of neurodegenerative diseases using novel tau-specific peptides are also the focus of work in the Department of Nuclear Medicine. The enrichment and specificity is primarily analysed in vitro or in tissue sections.

In the field of preclinical research, the Department of Nuclear Medicine uses state-of-the-art methods to successfully work on complex interdisciplinary projects. A broad spectrum of cell lines and great expertise in cultivation and maintenance form the basis for in vitro studies. These include, for example, specific binding studies or temporal analyses of the uptake of radiolabelled peptides, antibodies and other substances. State-of-the-art technology, e.g. a chromatography system of the latest generation for the purification of proteins or a flow cytometer for cell studies with fluorescent samples, is available for this purpose.

A digital autoradiography system with a resolution of up to 50 µm is available for autoradiographic analyses, e.g. in histological preparations, protein gels or for checking radiolabelling. In addition to the excellent resolution of this imaging method, the quantification capability is also an important advantage.

The Nuclear Medicine Clinic is very interested in alternative methods to animal testing. One technique that is already being used and further optimised is in ovo studies using the HET-CAM(Hen's egg test - chorioallantoic membrane) model. Tumours are established on the membrane in the hen's egg and biodistribution and enrichment studies are carried out in order to investigate the specificity of substances independently of animal testing.