Xiankai Sun, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Radiology, and Advanced Imaging Research Center
Director, Cyclotron and Radiochemistry Program
Phone: 214-645-5978
Email
Dr. Sun obtained his Ph.D. in supramolecular chemistry from the University of New Hampshire in 2000, under the supervision of Dr. Edward Wong, Ph.D. He conducted three years of postdoctoral training with Drs. Michael Welch and Carolyn Anderson and served on the junior faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Sun joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2004 and holds the Dr. Jack Krohmer Professorship in Radiation Physics.
Dr. Sun specializes in designing and synthesizing imaging probes and therapeutic agents for various diseases, including cancer and diabetes. His research focuses on developing biocompatible nanoscale scaffolds to enable multi-presentation of functionalities for detection and intervention of disease states; designing and synthesizing bifunctional chelator scaffolds for imaging signal amplification; and preparing targeted imaging probes for noninvasive assessment of pancreatic beta-cell mass and function. Dr. Sun's work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, and the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas.