Rainer Kneuer

Rainer Kneuer, Ph.D. studied chemistry at the University of Würzburg, Germany and graduated at the Department of Organic Chemistry in the research group of Dr. J. Hartung. He joined Novartis 2001 as postdoctoral fellow being involved in the set-up of the Near-infrared Fluorescence (NIRF) imaging technology by designing fluorescently labeled target specific ligands for this application.
One year later he moved into a permanent position as Labhead in the preclinical imaging group.
His current work focuses on the design, synthesis, physicochemical and in vitro/vivo characterization of novel tracers for Near-Infrared Fluorescence, PET/SPECT, contrast agents for MR in vivo (molecular) imaging and reagents for Mass Cytometry. These probes are applied to visualize and quantify the distribution of compounds on the cellular/in vivo level and to study the effect of drugs on key cellular functions and mechanisms. In addition suitable delivery vehicles for tracers and contrast agents (e.g. nanoparticles, liposomes, biocompatible polymers) are developed in this lab.