As a professor at ETH Zurich and laboratory head at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Roger Schibli shapes radiopharmacy. In this conversation, he explains why he believes philanthropy is an expression of academic responsibility.

Radiopharmacy is a term rarely heard in everyday life. What defines this discipline, and what excites you about it?

ROGER SCHIBLI – In radiopharmacy, we couple targeting molecules with minute amounts of radioactivity. This creates radiopharmaceuticals that can either detect diseases within the body or treat them with precision. What’s remarkable is that the molecule itself often remains the same; only the type of radioactivity determines whether it serves a diagnostic or therapeutic purpose. We call this interplay “theragnostics”. It’s a unique medical concept that continues to fascinate me.

Drug development is associated more with the pharmaceutical industry than universities. Why is radiopharmacy an exception?

Radiopharmaceutical agents pose major logistical challenges. Radioactive isotopes are short-lived, so drugs can’t be massproduced or stored. Instead, they must be manufactured fresh every day, often right in the hospital. These special demands have long made the field too complex and economically unattractive for industry. As a result, research and application remained largely academic – at least until recently.

What has changed?

Large clinical trials now show that radiopharmaceutical therapies are highly effective in treating advanced cancers and generally cause fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy. Until now, they’ve mainly been used for patients who have exhausted all other treatment options. Increasingly, however, interest is turning to applying the therapies at an earlier stage and combining them with established cancer treatments. This raises promising options for patients as well as new research questions on topics like long-term side effects, optimised molecules and novel isotopes.

How do you experience the collaboration between ETH Zurich and PSI?

As a true win-win. PSI benefits from ETH’s broad academic environment, and from access to talented students and international networks. ETH benefits from PSI’s unique infrastructure and expertise. It’s important to me to link both institutions in my research and teaching. My doctoral researchers and senior scientists, for example, work alternately at ETH and PSI.