1)    Briefly, what excites you about your work? What is your favourite aspect of your research?
My research activities have been linked from the very beginning to astatine. I have been working with the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth for nearly 15 years. Isn’t that exciting? Experiments are generally conducted with few femtomoles of this radioelement, and to be able to perform and monitor organic syntheses with such tiny amounts is particularly rewarding.
 
2)    What is your vision of the future of radiochemistry/radiopharmacy/nuclear medicine? With the recent approval in US and EU of the first alpha-emitter based radiopharmaceutical ([223Ra]Radium chloride), a breach has opened for a new generation of radiopharmaceuticals based on 225Ac, 211At, 212Pb/212Bi, 149Tb and other alpha emitters. Many exiting challenges are to be overcome in coming decades in order to turn them into radiopharmaceuticals approved for clinical use.
 
3)    What is your opinion on why young researcher should choose radiochemistry/radiopharmacy/nuclear medicine as their research discipline?
 
Mostly for the frequent interactions you will have with people of the many related fields: physicists, radiochemists, organic and inorganic chemists, pharmacists, biologists, medical doctors and medical physicists, etc…You’re guaranteed to learn new things every day until the last day of your career.
 
 
4)    Do you have encouraging advice for young researchers to succeed in the world of science?
Choose a topic that really excites you, that is the best way to stay motivated and pass the moments experiments are not working so well. And go out of your lab as much as possible to meet other scientists in symposium or in their lab to feed your curiosity, expand your horizon and opportunities
A.   If I were not a scientist, I would be …
Most likely a chef, if possible in a gastronomic restaurant.
B.    What was your last experiment in the lab?
Trying to put 211At on a molecule with a new reaction of course!