Dr. Theresa Balber
[email protected]Theresa Balber studied pharmacy and received her doctorate from the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna, Austria. She completed her doctoral studies at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy (Division of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Vienna), where she developed a radiolabeled tracer for imaging the adenosine-3 receptor (using positron emission tomography) and was involved in the discovery of MCHR1 in brown adipose tissue. After graduation, she accepted a postdoctoral position at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute Applied Diagnostics, where she was responsible for the in vitro and in vivo characterization of new radiotracers for imaging and therapy (theranostics). She established protocols for the imaging of fertilized chicken eggs as an alternative tumor model and is very experienced in the production and quality control of radiopharmaceuticals. She teaches medical radiochemistry and pharmaceutical technology. She is also a board member of the Austrian Pharmaceutical Society (ÖPhG) and a member of the management committee of the COST Action CA22118 "Radionuclide Diagnostics for Personalised Medicine (RATIONALE)". Dr. Theresa Balber has recently joined Emrah Eroglu's group as a visiting scientist. She is receiving a 12-month scholarship from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tübitak). Her current research focuses on the effects of oxidative stress on tumor vasculature and angiogenesis.
Selected Publications
CAM-Xenograft Model Provides Preclinical Evidence for the Applicability of [68Ga]Ga-Pentixafor in CRC Imaging
Benčurová K, Friske J, Anderla M, Mayrhofer M, Wanek T, Nics L, Egger G, Helbich TH, Hacker M, Haug A, Mitterhauser M, Balber T. CAM-Xenograft Model Provides Preclinical Evidence for the Applicability of [68Ga]Ga-Pentixafor in CRC Imaging. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Nov 11;14(22):5549. doi: 10.3390/cancers14225549. PMID: 36428644; PMCID: PMC9688097.
Experimental Nuclear Medicine Meets Tumor Biology
Balber T, Tran L, Benčurová K, Raitanen J, Egger G, Mitterhauser M. Experimental Nuclear Medicine Meets Tumor Biology. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2022 Feb 14;15(2):227. doi: 10.3390/ph15020227. PMID: 35215337; PMCID: PMC8878163.
Discovery of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 in brown adipose tissue
Philippe C, Klebermass EM, Balber T, Kulterer OC, Zeilinger M, Egger G, Dumanic M, Herz CT, Kiefer FW, Scheuba C, Scherer T, Fürnsinn C, Vraka C, Pallitsch K, Spreitzer H, Wadsak W, Viernstein H, Hacker M, Mitterhauser M. Discovery of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 in brown adipose tissue. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2021 Jun;1494(1):70-86. doi: 10.1111/nyas.14563. Epub 2021 Jan 27. PMID: 33502798; PMCID: PMC8248337.
In vitro Radiopharmaceutical Evidence for MCHR1 Binding Sites in Murine Brown Adipocytes
Balber T, Benčurová K, Kiefer FW, Kulterer OC, Klebermass EM, Egger G, Tran L, Wagner KH, Viernstein H, Pallitsch K, Spreitzer H, Hacker M, Wadsak W, Mitterhauser M, Philippe C. In vitro Radiopharmaceutical Evidence for MCHR1 Binding Sites in Murine Brown Adipocytes. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2019 Jun 11;10:324. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00324. PMID: 31244769; PMCID: PMC6581027.
Preclinical In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of [18F]FE@SUPPY for Cancer PET Imaging: Limitations of a Xenograft Model for Colorectal Cancer
Balber T, Singer J, Berroterán-Infante N, Dumanic M, Fetty L, Fazekas-Singer J, Vraka C, Nics L, Bergmann M, Pallitsch K, Spreitzer H, Wadsak W, Hacker M, Jensen-Jarolim E, Viernstein H, Mitterhauser M. Preclinical In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of [18F]FE@SUPPY for Cancer PET Imaging: Limitations of a Xenograft Model for Colorectal Cancer. Contrast Media Mol Imaging. 2018 Feb 13;2018:1269830. doi: 10.1155/2018/1269830. PMID: 29666562; PMCID: PMC5830979.