YBII Spotlight: Danielle Vesper

Community is a core value of YBII and is essential to our pursuit of collaborative and interdisciplinary science. Read more about our spotlight featuring Danielle Vesper, lead production chemist at the Yale PET Center. She has worked in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities since 2012 and in positron emission tomography (PET) labs since 2015.

Q: What’s a term or misconception from your field you wish more people understood?

A: Radiation doesn’t glow in the dark! Family and friends have asked me many times if the radiotracers we produce glow, and I was once asked if the patient glows after tracer administration. I tend to explain that when something is radioactive, it emits energy and, in certain situations, can produce visible light, but in this case it does not react in a way that leads to the blue or green glow often depicted in the media.

Q: How has the Institute / Imaging Research community helped you, or how do you hope to contribute?

A: Working at the Institute has given me many opportunities to learn new techniques and new chemistry. For example, this last year I was trained in cyclotron operations and am now a licensed cyclotron operator in addition to performing daily synthesis. In the future, I am hoping to continue to be involved in onboarding, developing, and optimizing new tracers.

Q: What’s your favorite figure you’ve ever made?

A: During undergrad, I synthesized ferrocene Fe(C₅H₅)₂. It contains a central iron(II) “sandwiched” between two cyclopentadienyl rings. I came across this molecule when reading about organometallic catalysts and thought it would be an interesting project for one of my chemistry labs. I really enjoy hands-on work in lab, so I remember this time in my education fondly!

Q: What advice would you give to someone entering your subfield?

I strongly recommend having a solid organic chemistry background and shadowing senior staff in a radiochemistry lab. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to making a radiotracer: cyclotron, synthesis, QC, regulations, etc. I suggest learning about each step to understand the whole picture. Safety is also a high priority, so becoming familiar with radiation safety is a must.

Q: How can people connect with you?

A: My ORCID is 0009-0004-1491-2497. I can be reached at danielle.vesper@yale.edu.