Medical isotopes are a vital tool in helping physicians diagnose a variety of complex health conditions that affect the brain, the heart and many other organs, but the industry is experiencing a shortage of trained professionals that understand radio-pharmaceuticals.
Enter Ralf Schirrmacher, associate professor in Oncologic Imaging at the University of Alberta's Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility. Like most who work in radiochemistry, Schirrmacher initially obtained a PhD in Nuclear Chemistry before entering medicine. He wants to bring more people into radiochemistry, at an earlier stage in their medical career.
"There is plenty of opportunity for career advancement and it's such an important field for Canada's economy and health care," says Schirrmacher.
Thanks to his recently awarded McCalla Professorship, Schirrmacher will be able to combine his research and teaching to create a hands-on introductory course, which will be available to U of A medical students who wish to advance their understanding of medical isotopes.
"Most people come into this from other disciplines," Schirrmacher explains, "and they have to learn the basics from scratch at a relatively late point in their careers. That's something that I want to rectify with this new program, because there is a worldwide shortage - especially here in Canada - of institutes that provide that basic knowledge."
Schirrmacher has been conducting his research at the Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility (MICF), located at the U of A's south campus, for the past two years. The facility opened in 2013 to help produce technetium-99m, a material that is injected into the body to help with diagnostic imaging. The isotope is used for 80 per cent of medical imaging procedures.
Up until the opening of the MICF, two-thirds of the world's technetium-99m was produced at the nuclear reactor facility at the Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, which was built back in 1954. An unplanned shutdown of the facility in 2007, followed by numerous concerns about the facility's age, including leaks, and every break in production has caused a global shortage of the isotope.
"The Chalk River facility won't be supplying technetium-99m for much longer," Schirrmacher says. "It's not just a very old facility. There aren't enough trained professionals to continue operating those types of installations, and Canada certainly isn't looking to install any new reactors. "
The advantage of the MICF is that it can create the same isotopes without the need for a nuclear reactor, providing a more reliable and safer production alternative. Along with its strong ties to Alberta Health Services and the radiochemistry facilities at the Cross Cancer Institute, the U of A is in a favourable position to make the most of the MICF in this evolving field of research.
"That's one of the reasons I applied for the McCalla Professorship," Schirrmacher explains. "We need to promote this facility to the students and make sure that we use it to the fullest extent."
The radio- and nuclear chemistry program that Schirrmacher will create will introduce students to the basics of radioactive handling, measuring and safety as it applies to life sciences. Ultimately, he hopes that the course will help be an opportunity to destroy the stigma that comes with this line of work.
"Radioactivity is a huge concern to people, but what they need to realize is that radiation is everywhere in the world, " Schirrmacher explains.
"Whenever you're flying in an airplane, you're exposed to radiation because of your high altitude. There's radiation coming from the smoke detectors in your house. It's in the houses we build. People hear radiation and think that it immediately causes cancer - but our bodies are very capable of repairing themselves from the minor exposure we receive every day. Working at the MICF doesn't increase your exposure. If we set students up for success by teaching them the proper way to handle the radioactive materials that the MICF produces and how to properly protect themselves, there is no reason they can't have a long, safe career in this field."