Frank Wuest, Dr. rer. nat. habil., PhD, MSc

About

I am a Professor and, since December 2021, the Chair of the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta. I obtained my Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Dresden University of Technology in Germany in 1999. I worked two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Medicine in St. Louis before becoming the Head of the PET-Tracer Division of the Research Centre Dresden-Rossendorf in 2001. In 2006, I accomplished his habilitation thesis in biochemistry at Dresden University of Technology, when I also received the Venia legendi in biochemistry.

In 2008, I started a new position as the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Chair in Radiopharmaceutical Sciences in the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta. I was an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar from 2010-2017. I also hold adjunct appointments with the Department of Chemistry and the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Alberta.

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Research

My research interests and expertise are in radiopharmaceutical sciences, nuclear medicine, cancer biology, and chemical biology, focusing on imaging biomarkers and radiotheranostics for targeted molecular imaging and cancer therapy. My research uses innovative radiopharmaceuticals to evaluate and translate the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of novel cancer biomarkers and drug targets associated with the development and progression of cancer into the clinic. Over the last five years, I have secured over $30M as a PI or Co-PI through various peer-reviewed operating and infrastructure research grants, including CIHR, NSERC, CFI, AIHS, PCC, and ACF. I published my research in over 200 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters. I am also the scientific lead of the Alberta Radiopharmaceutical Collaboration (ARC) to facilitate the rapid and safe clinical introduction of radiopharmaceuticals to enhance patient care and improve outcomes.

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Teaching

Cancer imaging and cancer therapeutics (ONCOL520 and ONCOL425)

Regulation of the cell cycle (BIOCHEM410/510)

Pharmaceutical Chemistry (CHEM405/669)

BIOCH 410 - Signal Transduction

Principles of the biochemistry of cell communication and signal transduction through receptor activation, generation of second messengers, control of protein modifications and regulation of the cell cycle. The course emphasizes mechanisms responsible for the regulation of cell migration, division and death with an emphasis on cancer. Prerequisites: BIOCH 310, 320 and 330, all with a minimum grade of B-, or consent of the Department. This course is intended for students in Honors or Specialization in Biochemistry. Students in other programs may be admitted subject to availability and with the consent of the Department. Graduate students may not register for credit (see BIOCH 510).

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BIOCH 510 - Signal Transduction

Principles of the biochemistry of cell communication and signal transduction through receptor activation, generation of second messengers, control of protein modifications and regulation of the cell cycle. The course emphasizes mechanisms responsible for the regulation of cell migration, division and death with an emphasis on cancer. Prerequisites: BIOCH 310, 320 and 330, all with a minimum grade of B-, or consent of the Department. Lectures are the same as for BIOCH 410, but with additional assignments and evaluation appropriate to graduate studies. This course may not be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained in BIOCH 410.

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Browse more courses taught by Frank Wuest

Nario A.P., Woodfield J., dos Santos S.N., Bergman C., Wuest M., Araújo Y.B., Lapolli A.L., West F.G., Wuest F., Bernardes E.S.

EJNMMI Research. 2022 June; 7 (1) 10.1186/s41181-022-00165-0

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Kaur J., Bhardwaj A., Wuest F.

MOLECULES. 2022 June; 27 (12) 10.3390/molecules27123722

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Nelson B.J.B., Ferguson S., Wuest M., Wilson J., Duke M.J.M., Richter S., Soenke-Jans H., Andersson J.D., Juengling F., Wuest F.

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE. 2022 April; 63 (4):584-590 10.2967/jnumed.121.262459

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Nelson B.J.B., Andersson J.D., Wuest F.

NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY. 2022 April; 110-111 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2022.04.005

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Rana N., Aziz M.A., Oraby A.K., Wuest M., Dufour J., Abouzid K.A.M., Wuest F., West F.G.

Pharmaceutics. 2022 April; 14 (4) 10.3390/pharmaceutics14040828

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Yuen R., West F.G., Wuest F.

Pharmaceutics. 2022 March; 14 (3) 10.3390/pharmaceutics14030645

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Francis F., Wuest F.

MOLECULES. 2021 October; 26 (21) 10.3390/molecules26216478

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Pérez D.J., Amirhossein Tabatabaei Dakhili S., Bergman C., Dufour J., Wuest M., Juengling F.D., Wuest F., Velázquez-Martínez C.A.

ChemMedChem. 2021 October; 16 (24):3720-3729 10.1002/cmdc.202100279

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Bailey J.J., Wuest M., Wagner M., Bhardwaj A., Wängler C., Wängler B., Valliant J.F., Schirrmacher R., Wuest F.

JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY. 2021 October; 64 (21):15671-15689 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00812

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Dawn Woodfield J., Bhardwaj A., Bergman C., Wuest F.

ChemMedChem. 2021 October; 17 (1) 10.1002/cmdc.202100544

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Litchfield M., Wuest M., Glubrecht D., Briard E., Auberson Y.P., Mcmullen T.P.W., Brindley D.N., Wuest F.

MOLECULAR PHARMACEUTICS. 2021 September; 18 (9):3352-3364 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00265

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Bailey J.J., Wuest M., Bojovic T., Kronemann T., Wängler C., Wängler B., Wuest F., Schirrmacher R.

ACS Omega. 2021 August; 6 (33):21741-21754 10.1021/acsomega.1c03315

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Juengling FD, Maldonado A, Wuest F, Schindler TH

Frontiers in Immunology. 2021 May; 12 10.3389/fimmu.2021.568959

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ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 2021 April; 12 (5):798-804 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00065

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Yuen R., Wagner M., Richter S., Dufour J., Wuest M., West F.G., Wuest F.

ORGANIC & BIOMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY. 2021 March; 19 (14):3241-3254 10.1039/d1ob00199j

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Ekanayake A.I., Sobze L., Kelich P., Youk J., Bennett N.J., Mukherjee R., Bhardwaj A., Wuest F., Vukovic L., Derda R.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 2021 March; 143 (14):5497-5507 10.1021/jacs.1c01186

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Vahedpour T., Kaur J., Hemmati S., Hamzeh-Mivehroud M., Alizadeh A.A., Wuest F., Dastmalchi S.

CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY. 2021 February; 18 (3) 10.1002/cbdv.202000832

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Ferguson S., Wuest M., Richter S., Bergman C., Dufour J., Krys D., Simone J., Jans H.S., Riauka T., Wuest F.

NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY. 2020 December; 90-91 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2020.10.005

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Nelson B.J.B., Wilson J., Andersson J.D., Wuest F.

Scientific Reports. 2020 December; 10 (1) 10.1038/s41598-020-79198-x

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Kaur J., Bhardwaj A., Wuest F.

CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL. 2020 December; 27 (10):3326-3337 10.1002/chem.202003315

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Krys D., Mattingly S., Glubrecht D., Wuest M., Wuest F.

MOLECULAR IMAGING AND BIOLOGY. 2020 December; 22 (6):1562-1571 10.1007/s11307-020-01529-1

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Nelson B.J.B., Andersson J.D., Wuest F.

Pharmaceutics. 2020 December; 13 (1):1-28 10.3390/pharmaceutics13010049

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Kedarisetti P., Bouvet V.R., Wei S.H.I., Bergman C.N., Dufour J., Ilkhechi A.K., Bell K.L., Paproski R.J., Lewis J.D., Wuest F.R., Zemp R.J.

Biomedical Optics Express. 2020 October; 11 (11):6211-6230 10.1364/BOE.410527