Übersicht

The research of Prof. Brendel focuses on the development and clinical translation of innovative molecular imaging technologies for the quantitative assessment of disease biology in oncology and neurodegenerative disorders. His goal is to establish imaging biomarkers that characterize cellular and molecular disease mechanisms to support precision medicine, therapeutic development, and treatment monitoring.

A major focus of his current work is oncology, where he develops PET-based imaging approaches to characterize the tumor microenvironment and monitor treatment response. By integrating molecular imaging with histopathology, flow cytometry, autoradiography, and single-cell analyses, his research identifies biomarkers of immune activation, stromal remodeling, and therapeutic efficacy across multiple cancer models.
Building on longstanding expertise in neurodegeneration, Prof. Brendel also develops molecular imaging biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsonian disorders, and related proteinopathies. His work has contributed to the clinical translation and quantitative evaluation of PET tracers targeting protein aggregation, neuroinflammation, synaptic integrity, and microglial activation.

Complementing these disease-focused studies, Prof. Brendel leads a methodological research program aimed at improving the biological interpretability and quantitative accuracy of molecular imaging. His group develops novel PET radiotracers, quantitative imaging methods, and translational workflows, including single-cell radiotracing (scRadiotracing), which enables direct assignment of in vivo PET signals to defined cellular populations. Together with advances in kinetic modeling, multimodal PET/MRI, and standardized multicentred imaging protocols, this work bridges preclinical and clinical research.

By integrating radiopharmaceutical development, quantitative image analysis, mechanistic validation, and clinical translation, Prof. Brendel establishes robust imaging biomarkers for target engagement, immune activation, disease progression, and therapeutic response, facilitating their translation from experimental models into clinical trials and routine patient care.