About the team
The THERACAN project is led by UiT The Arctic University of Norway and the University Hospital of North Norway, and is funded by the Tromsø Research Foundation, the Trond Mohn Research Foundation, and the Norwegian Cancer Society. The project has collaborators in Denmark, Thailand, France, USA, Indonesia and Norway.
Contact information for Inigo Martinez: inigo.martinez@uit.no.
Rune Sundset (MD, PhD) serves as Head of the PET Imaging Centre at the University Hospital of North Norway and leads the Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology Research Group at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. As one of the two lead coordinators of the THERACAN project, he is responsible for the overall coordination and strategic direction of the consortium, while overseeing the scientific activities and deliverables specifically of Work Package 3.
Contact information for Rune Sundset: rune.sundset@unn.no.
Mathias Kranz (PhD) is a researcher at the Tumor Biology Research Group (TBRG), UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and the PET Imaging Center at University Hospital of North Norway (UNN). His research focuses on preclinical PET/MRI, brain tumor models in mice and pigs, radiotracer development, dosimetry, and individualized dose prediction. His current work in particular focuses on the development of novel theranostic approaches and strategies to enhance drug delivery and treatment efficacy, including focused ultrasound. Dr. Kranz is Work Package Leader in the THERACAN project and Principal Investigator of the NORTHCARE project, funded through the TFS Starting Grant.
Contact information for Mathias Kranz: mathias.kranz@unn.no
Turid Hellevik (PhD) is a clinical radiation physicist and research leader in radiation oncology, with over 15 years’ experience in both fields. Hellevik has a multidisciplinary background in cell and cancer biology that complements her clinical expertise on external beam radiotherapy. Her published research focuses on how radiotherapy modulates the tumor microenvironment, including aspects on immuno-oncology and dose-related anti-tumor responses. In the THERACAN project, Dr. Hellevik co-leads Work Package-2 with Prof. Martinez. WP-2 seeks biomarkers to predict patient responses to targeted radioligand therapy (TRT) and to improve TRT outcomes in combined treatment strategies.
Contact information for Turid Hellevik: turid.hellevik@unn.no.
Samuel Kuttner (PhD) is a medical physicist and researcher at the PET Imaging Center, University Hospital of North Norway (UNN), and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the UiT Machine Learning Group. His research focuses on quantitative PET imaging, medical physics, and deep-learning methods for improved cancer imaging and treatment monitoring. He has expertise in clinical and preclinical dynamic PET imaging, image analysis, and the development of non-invasive deep-learning-based prediction models for the arterial input function, used for quantitative PET imaging and kinetic modelling. In the THERACAN project, Dr. Kuttner co-leads Work Package 3, Image-Guided Personalization of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy. He contributes to the planning and coordination of clinical diagnostic and theranostic interventional studies, addressing regulatory requirements as well as dosimetry, medical physics, imaging, and machine-learning aspects.
Contact information for Samuel Kuttner: samuel.kuttner@unn.no.
Stine Haatveit Klausen is a PhD candidate with a background from UiT The Arctic University of Norway and experience in preclinical cancer models, radiotherapy, and PET imaging. She holds a Master’s degree in Biomedicine, where her research focused on the immunological effects of radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Her PhD research within the THERACAN project explores the combination of low-dose external beam radiotherapy with targeted radiotheranostics (TRT), with particular emphasis on therapeutic efficacy and treatment-induced changes in the tumor and its immune microenvironment.
Contact information for Stine Haatveit Klausen: stine.h.klausen@uit.no
Riad Hajdarevic (PhD) is a researcher at UiT The Arctic University of Norway with a background in immunology, medical genetics, and cancer research. He holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Oslo, where his research focused on autoimmune disease and the genetic and immunological mechanisms underlying disease susceptibility. Following his doctoral research, his work has increasingly focused on cancer biology and immunotherapy, with particular emphasis on the tumor microenvironment and the interactions between cancer cells and the immune system. His research with THERACAN will explore how radiation alone and in combination with other therapeutic interventions influence immune signaling, cellular composition, and stromal interactions within tumors.
Contact information for Riad Hajdarevic: riad.hajdarevic@uit.no
Piyapan Suwattananuruk (PhD) holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from King Mongkut's University of Technology and a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Phytochemistry from Mahidol University. He pursued his Ph.D. with a focus on the development of bifunctional chelators for gallium-68 PET imaging. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the PET Center, University Hospital of North Norway.
Contact information for Piyapan Suwattananuruk: piyapan.suwattananuruk@unn.no.
Trond Velde Bogsrud (MD, PhD) is fellow of the European Board of Nuclear Medicine, specialist in clinical miochemistry, nuclear medicine, and physiology and nuclear medicine (Denmark). He is also senior consultant at PET-Imaging Center, UNN, Tromsø, and at Department of Nuclear Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark (20%). He has been affiliated with Department of Nuclear Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA, since 1997, including training and research (PhD), and he is now a research collaborator. The last years his research interest has focused on theranostic including tumor dosimetry, in particular radioligands targeting sodium-iodine symporters and PSMA-receptors.
Contact information for Trond Velde Bogsrud: trond.bogsrud@unn.no
Tore Bach-Gansmo (MD, PhD) is specialist in nuclear medicine. He is senior consultant at PET-Imaging Center, UNN, Tromsø, and medical adviser for Norwegian Medical Cyclotron Center in Oslo. He has been dosent of Radiology at Uppsala Academic Hospital, professor of Nuclear Medicine at Haukeland, Bergen, and professor of Molecular Imaging at Oslo MET. He has aprox 100 publications, including The Lancet Oncology, and received award for best clinical publication in JNM 2006. Recent research includes theranostics in prostate cancer as well as amyloid cardiomyopathy.
Contact information for Tore Bach-Gansmo: Ingolv.Tore.Bach-Gansmo@unn.no
Angel Moldes-Anaya (PhD) is laboratory manager for Cyclotron and Radiochemistry at the PET Imaging Centre, UNN and Adjunct Ass. Professor in Nuclear and Radiochemistry at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. His expertise encompasses medical cyclotron technology, radionuclide production, radiometal chemistry, radiopharmaceutical synthesis, analytical quality control, and GMP-compliant production. He is co-leader of Work Package 1 in THERACAN, contributing to the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals and radiotheranostic strategies for precision cancer medicine.
Contact information for Angel Moldes-Anaya: Angel.Salvador.Moldes.Anaya@unn.no.
Collaborators
Prof. Ole Munk – Århus University Hospital, Denmark
Dr. Jolanta Durski – Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA
Dr. Rien Ritawadhy – BRIN Jakarta, Jakarta, Indenosia
Prof. Opa Variagupta and Prof. Pornchai – Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Dr Asta Juzeniene – Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Prof. Jean Pierre Pouget – University of Montpelier, Montpelier, France
Dr. Michele Mondini – Institute Gustave Roussy, Paris, France