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Breast cancer survivor Missy Baird now supports isotope production at ORNL, contributing to treatments for the disease she once faced. Her decades-long career reflects resilience, leadership and a commitment to advancing the lab’s mission.
Researchers at ORNL will share their discoveries and innovations at DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Energy Innovation Summit in San Diego, California.
ORNL researchers showed that engineered nanobodies can precisely deliver radioactive isotopes such as actinium-225 to HER2-positive cancer cells. The work highlights ORNL’s ability to design and produce nanobodies for targeted cancer treatment and research.
ORNL technicians recover radium-226 from obsolete medical devices such as needles and tubes once used to treat tumors. The purified radium is then irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor to produce radioisotopes used in cancer treatments.
ORNL is advancing cancer treatment by developing medical radioisotopes and leading research to improve targeted alpha therapies and theranostics. Researchers are designing advanced chelators and nanoparticles while using artificial intelligence and quantum simulations to better understand radioisotope behavior.
ORNL produces more isotopes than any other national lab, while DOE’s Office of Isotope R&D and Production and the National Isotope Development Center manage their sale and distribution. Together, they coordinate production and delivery to maintain a steady U.S. supply of critical isotopes for medicine, industry, national security, and research.
Actinium-225, a radioactive isotope produced at ORNL, is advancing targeted alpha therapy, a promising cancer treatment that delivers intense, short-range energy to destroy cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. As one of the few suppliers, ORNL produces, purifies and ships actinium-225 worldwide to support ongoing cancer research.
ORNL is not only a leading research institution for medical isotopes, it is also the United States’ biggest producer of isotopes for both medical and other purposes. The lab’s ability to produce critical isotopes will be supercharged over the coming years with three major new facilities.
BWXT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory signed a memorandum of understanding to advance the Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment supporting the Department of Energy’s effort to reestablish a domestic supply of unobligated enriched uranium for national defense. The agreement formalizes collaboration to produce low-enriched uranium for tritium production and highly enriched uranium for naval nuclear propulsion.
Actinium-225 is a radioactive isotope that emits four powerful alpha particles as it decays through a short-lived chain of elements before reaching stable bismuth. Because alpha radiation is highly energetic but travels only a tiny distance, scientists can harness it in targeted alpha therapy to precisely destroy cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.