Michael van Dam

Department Vice Chair, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles

Professor, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles

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My laboratory is interested in making cutting edge molecular imaging methods (e.g. positron emission tomography, PET) more accessible. We are developing improved ways to produce diverse PET tracers at lower cost for research and clinical use. Our research involves developing new automated and miniaturized technologies to streamline all phases of the tracer production process, including novel techniques for microscale radiosynthesis, new analytical approaches for radiochemical and radiometabolite analysis, and high-throughput methods for radiopharmaceutical screening and synthesis optimization. We also produce PET tracers (small molecules, peptides, proteins) for various research groups for imaging of various biological processes (including metabolism, gene expression, cell proliferation, etc.). We collaborate with several groups on the development of novel PET tracers and theranostic compounds and on the development of new chemistry approaches for simplified tracer production.

Interests

radioligand therapy, Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI), technology development, microfluidics, positron-emission tomography (PET), radiosynthesis modules / radiosynthesizers, molecular imaging, theranostics, radiometabolite analysis, automation and robotics, high-throughput optimization, radiochemical analysis, radiochemistry, radiosynthesis automation, radiosynthesis optimization

Education and Training

California Institute of TechnologyPostdoc09/2006Microfluidics and radiochemistry
California Institute of TechnologyPh.D.08/2005Applied Physics
University of TorontoM.A.Sc.08/1998Computer Engineering
Queen's UniversityB.Sc.E.05/1996Engineering Physics

Publications

  1. Lu Y, Collins J, Lin KS, van Dam RM. Scalable droplet-based radiosynthesis of [18F]fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium cation ([18F]FBnTP) via a "numbering up" approach.. Lab on a chip, 2024.
  2. Laferriere-Holloway TS, Rios A, van Dam RM. Detrimental impact of aqueous mobile phases on 18F-labelled radiopharmaceutical analysis via radio-TLC.. Analytical methods : advancing methods and applications, 2023.
  3. Rios A, Holloway TS, Chao PH, De Caro C, Okoro CC, van Dam RM. Microliter-scale reaction arrays for economical high-throughput experimentation in radiochemistry.. Scientific reports, 2022.
  4. Bernardes E, Caravan P, van Dam RM, Deuther-Conrad W, Ellis B, Furumoto S, Guillet B, Huang YY, Jia H, Laverman P, Li Z, Liu Z, Lodi F, Miao Y, Perk L, Schirrmacher R, Vercoullie J, Yang H, Yang M, Yang X, Zhang J, Zhang MR, Zhu H. Highlight selection of radiochemistry and radiopharmacy developments by editorial board.. EJNMMI radiopharmacy and chemistry, 2022.
  5. Wang J, van Dam RM. Economical Production of Radiopharmaceuticals for Preclinical Imaging Using Microdroplet Radiochemistry.. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2022.
  6. Lisova K, Wang J, Hajagos TJ, Lu Y, Hsiao A, Elizarov A, van Dam RM. Economical droplet-based microfluidic production of [18F]FET and [18F]Florbetaben suitable for human use.. Scientific reports, 2021.
  7. van Dam RM, Chatziioannou AF. Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging in the Development and Production of Radiopharmaceuticals.. Frontiers in physics, 2021.
  8. Rios A, Holloway TS, Wang J, van Dam RM. Optimization of Radiochemical Reactions using Droplet Arrays.. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2021.
  9. Lisova K, Wang J, Chao PH, van Dam RM. A simple and efficient automated microvolume radiosynthesis of [18F]Florbetaben.. EJNMMI radiopharmacy and chemistry, 2020.
  10. Wang J, Chao PH, Slavik R, van Dam RM. Multi-GBq production of the radiotracer [18F]fallypride in a droplet microreactor.. RSC advances, 2020.
  11. Jones J, Ha NS, Barajas AG, Chatziioannou AF, van Dam RM. Integration of High-Resolution Radiation Detector for Hybrid Microchip Electrophoresis.. Analytical chemistry, 2020.
  12. Wang J, van Dam RM. High-Efficiency Production of Radiopharmaceuticals via Droplet Radiochemistry: A Review of Recent Progress.. Molecular imaging, 2020.
  13. Lisova K, Chen BY, Wang J, Fong KM, Clark PM, van Dam RM. Rapid, efficient, and economical synthesis of PET tracers in a droplet microreactor: application to O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine ([18F]FET).. EJNMMI radiopharmacy and chemistry, 2019.
  14. Wang J, Rios A, Lisova K, Slavik R, Chatziioannou AF, van Dam RM. High-throughput radio-TLC analysis.. Nuclear medicine and biology, 2019.
  15. Wang J, Holloway T, Lisova K, van Dam RM. Green and efficient synthesis of the radiopharmaceutical [18F]FDOPA using a microdroplet reactor.. Reaction chemistry & engineering, 2019.
  16. Kannan P, Füredi A, Dizdarevic S, Wanek T, Mairinger S, Collins J, Falls T, van Dam RM, Maheshwari D, Lee JT, Szakács G, Langer O. In vivo characterization of [18F]AVT-011 as a radiotracer for PET imaging of multidrug resistance.. European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2019.
  17. Li J, Ha NS, Liu T', van Dam RM, 'cj' Kim CJ. Ionic-surfactant-mediated electro-dewetting for digital microfluidics.. Nature, 2019.
  18. Rios A, Wang J, Chao PH, van Dam RM. A novel multi-reaction microdroplet platform for rapid radiochemistry optimization.. RSC advances, 2019.
  19. Wang J, Chao PH, van Dam RM. Ultra-compact, automated microdroplet radiosynthesizer.. Lab on a chip, 2019.
  20. Waldmann CM, Stuparu AD, van Dam RM, Slavik R. The Search for an Alternative to [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE in Neuroendocrine Tumor Theranostics: Current State of 18F-labeled Somatostatin Analog Development.. Theranostics, 2019.
  21. Zettlitz KA, Tavaré R, Tsai WK, Yamada RE, Ha NS, Collins J, van Dam RM, Timmerman JM, Wu AM. 18F-labeled anti-human CD20 cys-diabody for same-day immunoPET in a model of aggressive B cell lymphoma in human CD20 transgenic mice.. European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2018.
  22. Schopf E, Waldmann CM, Collins J, Drake C, Slavik R, van Dam RM. Automation of a Positron-emission Tomography (PET) Radiotracer Synthesis Protocol for Clinical Production.. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2018.
  23. Chao PH, Lazari M, Hanet S, Narayanam MK, Murphy JM, van Dam RM. Automated concentration of [18F]fluoride into microliter volumes.. Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine, 2018.
  24. Lisova K, Sergeev M, Evans-Axelsson S, Stuparu AD, Beykan S, Collins J, Jones J, Lassmann M, Herrmann K, Perrin D, Lee JT, Slavik R, van Dam RM. Microscale radiosynthesis, preclinical imaging and dosimetry study of [18F]AMBF3-TATE: A potential PET tracer for clinical imaging of somatostatin receptors.. Nuclear medicine and biology, 2018.
  25. Sergeev ME, Lazari M, Morgia F, Collins J, Javed MR, Sergeeva O, Jones J, Phelps ME, Lee JT, Keng PY, van Dam RM. Performing radiosynthesis in microvolumes to maximize molar activity of tracers for positron emission tomography.. Communications chemistry, 2018.
  26. Ly J, Ha NS, Cheung S, van Dam RM. Toward miniaturized analysis of chemical identity and purity of radiopharmaceuticals via microchip electrophoresis.. Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, 2018.
  27. Wang J, Chao PH, Hanet S, van Dam RM. Performing multi-step chemical reactions in microliter-sized droplets by leveraging a simple passive transport mechanism.. Lab on a chip, 2017.
  28. Ha NS, Sadeghi S, van Dam RM. Recent Progress toward Microfluidic Quality Control Testing of Radiopharmaceuticals.. Micromachines, 2017.
  29. Collins J, Waldmann CM, Drake C, Slavik R, Ha NS, Sergeev M, Lazari M, Shen B, Chin FT, Moore M, Sadeghi S, Phelps ME, Murphy JM, van Dam RM. Production of diverse PET probes with limited resources: 24 18F-labeled compounds prepared with a single radiosynthesizer.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017.
  30. Ha NS, Ly J, Jones J, Cheung S, van Dam RM. Novel volumetric method for highly repeatable injection in microchip electrophoresis.. Analytica chimica acta, 2017.
  31. Chao PH, Collins J, Argus JP, Tseng WY, Lee JT, Michael van Dam R. Automatic concentration and reformulation of PET tracers via microfluidic membrane distillation.. Lab on a chip, 2017.
  32. Lee JT, Zhang H, Moroz MA, Likar Y, Shenker L, Sumzin N, Lobo J, Zurita J, Collins J, van Dam RM, Ponomarev V. Comparative Analysis of Human Nucleoside Kinase-Based Reporter Systems for PET Imaging.. Molecular imaging and biology, 2017.
  33. Dooraghi AA, Carroll L, Collins J, van Dam RM, Chatziioannou AF. ARAS: an automated radioactivity aliquoting system for dispensing solutions containing positron-emitting radioisotopes.. EJNMMI research, 2016.
  34. Hoover AJ, Lazari M, Ren H, Narayanam MK, Murphy JM, van Dam RM, Hooker JM, Ritter T. A Transmetalation Reaction Enables the Synthesis of [18F]5-Fluorouracil from [18F]Fluoride for Human PET Imaging.. Organometallics, 2016.
  35. Lazari M, Irribarren J, Zhang S, van Dam RM. Understanding temperatures and pressures during short radiochemical reactions.. Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine, 2015.
  36. Keng PY, van Dam RM. Digital Microfluidics: A New Paradigm for Radiochemistry.. Molecular imaging, 2015.
  37. Chen YC, Liu K, Shen CK, van Dam RM. On-demand generation and mixing of liquid-in-gas slugs with digitally-programmable composition and size.. Journal of micromechanics and microengineering : structures, devices, and systems, 2015.
  38. Lazari M, Lyashchenko SK, Burnazi EM, Lewis JS, van Dam RM, Murphy JM. Fully-automated synthesis of 16β-(18)F-fluoro-5α-dihydrotestosterone (FDHT) on the ELIXYS radiosynthesizer.. Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine, 2015.
  39. Sergeev ME, Morgia F, Lazari M, Wang C, van Dam RM. Titania-catalyzed radiofluorination of tosylated precursors in highly aqueous medium.. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015.
  40. Lazari M, Collins J, Shen B, Farhoud M, Yeh D, Maraglia B, Chin FT, Nathanson DA, Moore M, van Dam RM. Fully automated production of diverse 18F-labeled PET tracers on the ELIXYS multireactor radiosynthesizer without hardware modification.. Journal of nuclear medicine technology, 2014.
  41. Tseng WY, van Dam RM. Compact microfluidic device for rapid concentration of PET tracers.. Lab on a chip, 2014.
  42. Chen S, Javed MR, Kim HK, Lei J, Lazari M, Shah GJ, van Dam RM, Keng PY, Kim CJ. Radiolabelling diverse positron emission tomography (PET) tracers using a single digital microfluidic reactor chip.. Lab on a chip, 2014.
  43. Javed MR, Chen S, Lei J, Collins J, Sergeev M, Kim HK, Kim CJ, van Dam RM, Keng PY. High yield and high specific activity synthesis of [18F]fallypride in a batch microfluidic reactor for micro-PET imaging.. Chemical communications (Cambridge, England), 2014.
  44. Cheung S, Ly J, Lazari M, Sadeghi S, Keng PY, van Dam RM. The separation and detection of PET tracers via capillary electrophoresis for chemical identity and purity analysis.. Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis, 2014.
  45. Javed MR, Chen S, Kim HK, Wei L, Czernin J, Kim CJ, van Dam RM, Keng PY. Efficient radiosynthesis of 3'-deoxy-3'-18F-fluorothymidine using electrowetting-on-dielectric digital microfluidic chip.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2013.
  46. Ma X, Tseng WY, Eddings M, Keng PY, van Dam RM. A microreactor with phase-change microvalves for batch chemical synthesis at high temperatures and pressures.. Lab on a chip, 2013.
  47. Dooraghi AA, Keng PY, Chen S, Javed MR, Kim CJ, Chatziioannou AF, van Dam RM. Optimization of microfluidic PET tracer synthesis with Cerenkov imaging.. The Analyst, 2013.
  48. Ly J, Masterman-Smith M, Ramakrishnan R, Sun J, Kokubun B, van Dam RM. Automated reagent-dispensing system for microfluidic cell biology assays.. Journal of laboratory automation, 2013.
  49. Shah GJ, Ding H, Sadeghi S, Chen S, Kim CJ, van Dam RM. On-demand droplet loading for automated organic chemistry on digital microfluidics.. Lab on a chip, 2013.
  50. Claggett SB, Quinn KM, Lazari M, Moore MD, van Dam RM. Simplified programming and control of automated radiosynthesizers through unit operations.. EJNMMI research, 2013.
  51. Lazari M, Quinn KM, Claggett SB, Collins J, Shah GJ, Herman HE, Maraglia B, Phelps ME, Moore MD, van Dam RM. ELIXYS - a fully automated, three-reactor high-pressure radiosynthesizer for development and routine production of diverse PET tracers.. EJNMMI research, 2013.
  52. Sadeghi S, Liang V, Cheung S, Woo S, Wu C, Ly J, Deng Y, Eddings M, van Dam RM. Reusable electrochemical cell for rapid separation of [¹⁸F]fluoride from [¹⁸O]water for flow-through synthesis of ¹⁸F-labeled tracers.. Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine, 2013.
  53. Ding H, Sadeghi S, Shah GJ, Chen S, Keng PY, Kim CJ, van Dam RM. Accurate dispensing of volatile reagents on demand for chemical reactions in EWOD chips.. Lab on a chip, 2012.
  54. Sadeghi S, Ding H, Shah GJ, Chen S, Keng PY, Kim CJ, van Dam RM. On chip droplet characterization: a practical, high-sensitivity measurement of droplet impedance in digital microfluidics.. Analytical chemistry, 2012.
  55. Keng PY, Chen S, Ding H, Sadeghi S, Shah GJ, Dooraghi A, Phelps ME, Satyamurthy N, Chatziioannou AF, Kim CJ, van Dam RM. Micro-chemical synthesis of molecular probes on an electronic microfluidic device.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011.
  56. Elizarov AM, Meinhart C, Miraghaie R, van Dam RM, Huang J, Daridon A, Heath JR, Kolb HC. Flow optimization study of a batch microfluidics PET tracer synthesizing device.. Biomedical microdevices, 2011.
  57. Sun J, Masterman-Smith MD, Graham NA, Jiao J, Mottahedeh J, Laks DR, Ohashi M, DeJesus J, Kamei K, Lee KB, Wang H, Yu ZT, Lu YT, Hou S, Li K, Liu M, Zhang N, Wang S, Angenieux B, Panosyan E, Samuels ER, Park J, Williams D, Konkankit V, Nathanson D, van Dam RM, Phelps ME, Wu H, Liau LM, Mischel PS, Lazareff JA, Kornblum HI, Yong WH, Graeber TG, Tseng HR. A microfluidic platform for systems pathology: multiparameter single-cell signaling measurements of clinical brain tumor specimens.. Cancer research, 2010.
  58. Liu K, Chen YC, Tseng HR, Shen CK, van Dam RM. Microfluidic device for robust generation of two-component liquid-in-air slugs with individually controlled composition.. Microfluidics and nanofluidics, 2010.
  59. Elizarov AM, van Dam RM, Shin YS, Kolb HC, Padgett HC, Stout D, Shu J, Huang J, Daridon A, Heath JR. Design and optimization of coin-shaped microreactor chips for PET radiopharmaceutical synthesis.. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2010.
  60. Cho JS, Taschereau R, Olma S, Liu K, Chen YC, Shen CK, van Dam RM, Chatziioannou AF. Cerenkov radiation imaging as a method for quantitative measurements of beta particles in a microfluidic chip.. Physics in medicine and biology, 2009.
  61. Maltezos G, Garcia E, Hanrahan G, Gomez FA, Vyawahare S, Vyawhare S, van Dam RM, Chen Y, Scherer A. Design and fabrication of chemically robust three-dimensional microfluidic valves.. Lab on a chip, 2007.
  62. Rolland JP, Van Dam RM, Schorzman DA, Quake SR, DeSimone JM. Solvent-resistant photocurable liquid fluoropolymers for microfluidic device fabrication [corrected].. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2004.
  63. Reese MO, van Dam RM, Scherer A, Quake SR. Microfabricated fountain pens for high-density DNA arrays.. Genome research, 2003.
  64. van Dam RM, Quake SR. Gene expression analysis with universal n-mer arrays.. Genome research, 2002.