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Jason Cai, PhD

Associate Professor of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging

Contact Information

Jason Cai, PhD

Mailing Address

  • Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

    801 Howard Ave

    New Haven, CT 06519

    United States

Research Summary

As neurodegenerative diseases and cancers pose a huge challenge to our society, novel and creative approaches are needed to illuminate their pathogenesis, detect the diseases at early stages to allow for more effective interventions, and monitor therapeutic effects. We are developing novel PET imaging approaches that directly measure biochemical or phenotypic changes in living subjects, through the integration of medicinal chemistry, radiochemistry, quantitatvie PET imaging, and pharmacology.

Extensive Research Description

PET imaging; Brain imaging; Cancer diagnosis and prognosis; Biomarker and drug discovery and development

Coauthors

Research Interests

Alzheimer Disease; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; Pharmacokinetics; Pharmacology; Biomarkers; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Positron-Emission Tomography; Drug Discovery; Drug Development

Public Health Interests

Aging; Biomarkers

Research Images

SV2A PET in APP/PS1 Mice
The in vivo quantification of synaptic density by SV2A PET in rodent brains opens an avenue to measure the synaptic dynamics in the context of other proteinopathies and circuit changes longitudinally for mechanistical studies and to monitor therapeutical interventions preclinically.

Selected Publications

  • Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases as PET imaging targets for central nervous system diseasesTong J, Chen B, Tan P, Kurpiewski S, Cai Z. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases as PET imaging targets for central nervous system diseases Frontiers In Medicine 2022, 9: 1062432. PMCID: PMC9685622, DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1062432.
  • Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases as PET imaging targets for central nervous system diseasesTong J, Chen B, Tan P, Kurpiewski S, Cai Z. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases as PET imaging targets for central nervous system diseases Frontiers In Medicine 2022, 9: 1062432. PMID: 36438061, PMCID: PMC9685622, DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1062432.
  • P-304 The synthesis and bioevaluation of a novel and brain penetrable PARP1 tracer [18F]Pamiparib in rodents and nonhuman primatesTong J, Chen B, Chen B, Gu J, Gu J, Alluri S, Alluri S, Zheng M, Zheng M, Zheng C, Felchner Z, Felchner Z, Gao H, Gao H, Zhang L, Zhang L, Kapinos M, Labaree D, Ropchan J, Nabulsi N, Carson R, Huang Y, Cai Z. P-304 The synthesis and bioevaluation of a novel and brain penetrable PARP1 tracer [18F]Pamiparib in rodents and nonhuman primates Nuclear Medicine And Biology 2022, 108: s214-s215. DOI: 10.1016/s0969-8051(22)00440-1.
  • P-303 Synthesis and preclinical evaluation of PD-L1 PET tracer [18F]FDHPA in miceTong J, Chen B, Chen B, Alluri S, Alluri S, Gu J, Gu J, Zheng M, Zheng M, Zheng C, Felchner Z, Felchner Z, Gao H, Gao H, Zhang L, Zhang L, Kapinos M, Labaree D, Ropchan J, Nabulsi N, Marquez-Nostra B, Carson R, Huang Y, Cai Z. P-303 Synthesis and preclinical evaluation of PD-L1 PET tracer [18F]FDHPA in mice Nuclear Medicine And Biology 2022, 108: s214. DOI: 10.1016/s0969-8051(22)00439-5.
  • P-278 Development and preliminary evaluation of the fluorine-18 labeled benzamido-dihydroindene derivative [18F]FBAIN as a potential radiotracer for PET imaging of the chemokine receptor CXCR5Lindemann M, Tong J, Chen B, Kranz M, Oteiza A, Martin-Armas M, Sadasivam P, Drake L, Liu M, Spencer E, Huang Y, Cai Z. P-278 Development and preliminary evaluation of the fluorine-18 labeled benzamido-dihydroindene derivative [18F]FBAIN as a potential radiotracer for PET imaging of the chemokine receptor CXCR5 Nuclear Medicine And Biology 2022, 108: s200-s201. DOI: 10.1016/s0969-8051(22)00414-0.
  • PET Imaging of Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2AFinnema S, Li S, Cai Z, Naganawa M, Chen M, Matuskey D, Nabulsi N, Esterlis I, Holmes S, Radhakrishnan R, Toyonaga T, Huang Y, Carson R. PET Imaging of Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2A 2020, 993-1019. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-53176-8_29.
  • Synthesis and Preclinical Evaluation of an 18F‑Labeled Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A PET Imaging Probe: [18F]SynVesT‑2Cai Z, Li S, Zhang W, Pracitto R, Wu X, Baum E, Finnema SJ, Holden D, Toyonaga T, Lin SF, Lindemann M, Shirali A, Labaree DC, Ropchan J, Nabulsi N, Carson RE, Huang Y. Synthesis and Preclinical Evaluation of an 18F‑Labeled Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A PET Imaging Probe: [18F]SynVesT‑2 ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2020, 11: 592-603. PMID: 31961649, DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00618.
  • PET imaging of synaptic density: A new tool for investigation of neuropsychiatric diseasesCai Z, Li S, Matuskey D, Nabulsi N, Huang Y. PET imaging of synaptic density: A new tool for investigation of neuropsychiatric diseases Neuroscience Letters 2018, 691: 44-50. PMID: 30075287, PMCID: PMC6339829, DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.07.038.
  • PET Imaging for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease From Pathologic to Physiologic BiomarkersBao W, Jia H, Finnema S, Cai Z, Carson RE, Huang YH. PET Imaging for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease From Pathologic to Physiologic Biomarkers PET Clinics 2017, 12: 329-350. PMID: 28576171, DOI: 10.1016/j.cpet.2017.03.001.
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