Dr. Ivis Chaple leads the dedicated radiochemistry research group at the University of Tennessee, focusing on radiopharmaceutical development, isotope production, and molecular imaging. By focusing on these subjects, we better understand how novel radiopharmaceuticals behave in vitro and in vivo to drive improvements in radiotherapy and diagnostic drugs, also known as theranostics.

While nuclear medicine is a principal focus in our group, we continue the development of lanthanide and actinide separation methods through resin-based ion exchange chromatography to aid and understand the isotope production pipeline.

We encourage collaboration both within and outside of the University of Tennessee, and we actively partner with the Univerity of Alabama at Birmingham, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Chemistry Department at Michigan State University, and the Institute for Nuclear Security at UTK.

For Prospective Students

Postdocs, Graduate, and Undergraduate students interested in performing research in the Chaple Research Group should contact Professor Chaple by email ([email protected]) to discuss this opportunity. Please be sure to include a brief statement of goals and interests, unofficial transcripts, and an updated CV. Those who are interested should note that our lab works with biological hazards, chemical hazards, and radioactive hazards, and will be expected to be comfortable with handling these materials in a controlled environment. Students are expected to make a multi-semester commitment to their research projects with the goal of publishing original research results.