Professor of Radiology & of Surgery
Dr. David R. Vera is presently Professor of Radiology and of Surgery at UC San Diego and Director of the UC San Diego In Vivo Cancer and Molecular Imaging Center, one of seven NCI-sponsored centers nationwide. His research focus is the design and synthesis of targeted diagnostic agents capable of measuring receptor density and affinity. Dr. Vera began his career at UC Davis, where he contributed to the development Tc-99m-galactosyl-neoglycoalbumin, the first technetium-99m labeled receptor-binding radiopharmaceutical and the first to be approved for commercial human-use as TcGSA, a product of Nihon Mediphysics. Dr. Vera’s current research uses receptor-binding technology for sentinel node mapping of melanoma, breast, GI, and urologic cancers.