Neuroscience at Nottingham
 

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Pete Harvey

Assistant Professor of Molecular Imaging, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

Pete completed an MChem (2009) and PhD (2013) at Durham University, with his doctoral studies focusing on the development of paramagnetic chemical shift (PARASHIFT) agents for new magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy (MRI/MRS) applications. Following his PhD, he was awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship to move to The University of Manchester to work on biosensors based on the interaction between flavoeznymes and luminescent upconverting nanoparticles. In 2015, Pete was awarded a Wellcome Trust-MIT Postdoctoral Fellowship and moved to the Biological Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Here, he focused on tools for molecular functional MRI, including contrast agents capable of reporting on neurotransmitters and strategies to improve delivery of agents across the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

Expertise Summary

Research in Pete's group spans across multiple Schools, with dedicated lab and office space across the Schools of Chemistry and Medicine. Pete's background is in developing molecular tools for imaging and sensing applications, with a particular focus on contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His work has included new methods for imaging contrast agents in vivo (19F/1H PARASHIFT MRI/MRS), novel forms of contrast agents (metal-free contrast, functional agents), sensors based on a luminescence readout, and strategies for increasing delivery of agents across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). His lab experience began with a background in synthetic chemistry and expanded to cover molecular biology, histology, and preclinical imaging.

Now based across the Precision Imaging Beacon within the School of Medicine and with lab space and research ongoing in the School of Chemistry, Pete is using his broad background experience to focus on neurodegenerative disease. He is approaching this challenging problem from a multi-angle approach; new imaging methods for improving sensitivity or specificity, novel contrast agents for targeted and/or functional imaging, and understanding and improving trans-BBB delivery in healthy and disease models. While primarily focused on imaging, some of the work also has significant overlap in therapeutic and theranostic applications.

Recent Publications

  • DIRINGER, MARIE-CHARLOTTE, COLIAT, PIERRE, MATHIEU, CLELIA, LAURENT, NINA, MURA, CAROLE, BANERJEE, MAINAK, ZHU, CHEN, GRABOWSKA, ANNA, RITCHIE, ALISON, CLARKE, PHILIP, BERNARD, ALEXANDRE, VIT, CLAIRE, BURCKEL, HELENE, NOEL, GEORGES, HARVEY, PETER, PIVOT, XAVIER and DETAPPE, ALEXANDRE, 2023. Clinically Translatable Transcrocetin Delivery Platform for Correction of Tumor Hypoxia and Enhancement of Radiation Therapy Effects SMALL.
  • WEI, HE, WISNIOWSKA, AGATA, FAN, JINGXUAN, HARVEY, PETER, LI, YUANYUAN, WU, VICTORIA, HANSEN, ERIC C., ZHANG, JUANYE, KAUL, MICHAEL G., FREY, ABIGAIL M., ADAM, GERHARD, FRENKEL, ANATOLY, I, BAWENDI, MOUNGI G. and JASANOFF, ALAN, 2021. Single-nanometer iron oxide nanoparticles as tissue permeable MRI contrast agents PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 118(42),
  • BRICAULT, SARAH, BARANDOV, ALI, HARVEY, PETER, DETIENNE, ELIZABETH, HAI, AVIAD and JASANOFF, ALAN, 2020. Image-guided neural activity manipulation with a paramagnetic drug. Nature communications. 11(1), 136
  • SEDGWICK, ADAM C., BREWSTER, JAMES T., II, HARVEY, PETER, IOVAN, DIANA A., SMITH, GRAHAM, HE, XIAO-PENG, TIAN, HE, SESSLER, JONATHAN L. and JAMES, TONY D., 2020. Metal-based imaging agents: progress towards interrogating neurodegenerative disease CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS. 49(10), 2886-2915

Neuroscience at Nottingham

The University of Nottingham
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telephone: +44 (0) 115 XXX XXXX
email: research-group-email@nottingham.ac.uk