• Positron emission tomography (PET) is powerful non-invasive imaging technique that employs radiolabeled pharmaceuticals.

• PET radiopharmaceuticals can be various chemical structures (e.g., small molecules, peptides, antibodies, other biomolecules) typically labeled with cyclotron-produced positron emitters such as carbon-11, fluorine-18, oxygen-15, and nitrogen-13 and more recently with generator-produced gallium-68.

• PET radiopharmaceuticals are categorized by function as 1) radiotracers and 2) radioligands that can be applied to study different areas of research including cardiology, neurology/psychiatry, and oncology.

Research scientists and clinicians – including trainees – who either conduct research in hybrid imaging or (plan to) use MR-PET for clinical studies. The course session assumes no background in PET and only basic MR physics and technical knowledge.To introduce MR scientists and clinicians to the exciting field of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) specifically with respect to PET radiopharmaceutical production and familiarizing the audience with a few commonly-used and newer PET radiopharmaceuticals.Participants will learn about basic radiochemistry principles regarding radioisotope production of common PET isotopes and how they are used to synthesize common radiolabeled pharmaceuticals. They will also see some examples of how radiopharmaceuticals are applied in the fields of cardiology (e.g., [¹³N]ammonia), neurology/psychiatry (e.g., [¹¹C]flumazenil, [¹¹C]raclopride, [¹⁸F]FTC-146, [¹⁵O]water), and oncology (e.g., [¹⁸F]FDG, [¹⁸F]FPPRGD2, [⁶⁸Ga]DOTATATE). The audience will eventually appreciate that PET is used to visualize specific radiolabeled molecules in living organisms with sensitivity in the picomolar range. Finally, the participants will realize that the development of more PET radiopharmaceuticals can expand the utility of the extremely sensitive functional imaging component of PET. Anatomical (structural) and functional (spectroscopy) MR imaging will complement the diagnostic power of PET to open new possibilities in MR-PET imaging for future patient management and clinical research.