The MITC building currently is approximately 9,000 square feet of space devoted to chemistry on the main floor of the building, which includes 16 fume hoods. The space is allocated such that half of these labs are designated for synthetic chemistry and half for radiochemistry.
In addition to the synthesis and radiochemistry labs, there is an equipment room for analytical/quality control instrumentation. There are alcoves for chemical storage, refrigerators, and freezers. The lower level of the building has another 500 square feet for radiochemistry that can be used by investigators whose primary labs are located on the main campus.
Researchers throughout campus will have access to the chemistry/radiochemistry space for producing radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy. Major equipment includes a gamma counter, a liquid scintillation counter, HPLCs described above, two radio-TLC scanners, two-dose calibrators, and a centrivap concentrator.
Our building also houses a 752-square-foot classroom for seminars, lab meetings, and in-person meetings with potential or ongoing collaborators. The audio/visual equipment includes upgraded, state-of-the-art virtual conference attendance and hosting virtual meetings with collaborators. This room is available for MITC faculty and users.
Shared Resources
The MITC building also offers access to a Bruker 400 MHz NMR (managed by the Department of Chemistry), a Biotage flash chromatography system with a photodiode array detector, a microwave reactor, one preparative, and three analytical HPLCs, and a chromatography system dedicated for protein-based radiopharmaceuticals.
Partnerships and collaborations of researchers throughout campus with primary MITC investigators may involve synthesis of targeting ligands and radiochemistry optimization and/or radiolabeling of existing compounds.
Photo Courtesy of MURR
MITC and MURR
One of our most important key differentiators is our partnership with the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR®). MURR is the highest-power university research reactor in the United States, operating at 10 megawatts, 6.5 days a week and 52 weeks a year. The MURR facility enables research across many disciplines – From investigating ancient cultures and how plants respond to their environment, to analyzing industrial materials and developing radiopharmaceuticals that have lifesaving clinical applications, the MURR facility is a reliable resource for researchers, scientists, engineers and students across the country.
Small Animal Molecular Imaging (MI) and Targeted Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (TRT)
On the lower level of the MITC building, there is approximately 1,600 square feet of space for performing MI and TRT studies in rodent models of disease. This shared resource houses a Bruker Albira Si PET/SPECT/CT scanner and a Bruker BioSpec 3T MRI.
The suite of rooms include three vivarium rooms to house conventional and immune-compromised rodents, as well as a separate room for rodents that have been injected with radiotracers. The entire suite of imaging and vivarium rooms are inside a barrier facility to maintain the required environment and air quality for the optimal health of the rodent subjects.