Research interests are focused to the application of molecular imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) to assessing drug effects, including the study of migraine headache where we have looked at treatment as well as induction of headache. We have also had recent work looking at opiate receptors in the human brain using 11C-carfentanil, a radiopharmaceutical that binds to the mu opiate receptor.

The characteristics of positron emitting radio nuclides often make them ideal tracers for measuring drug effects. This includes the labeling drugs with PET radio nuclides such as C-11, or F-18. These nuclides allow for creation of labeled drugs nearly identical to their unlabelled counterparts. We have also used ³workhorse¹ radiopharmaceuticals such as FDG in a variety of settings ranging from measuring the uptake of glucose into white blood cells, to oral administration of this radiopharmaceutical, to application in the assessment of response to drugs in dementia. Other research areas include migraine headache, and neuroreceptor binding studies.