This award honors researchers committed to advancing radiopharmaceutical science
Wiesbaden, Germany – June 27, 2025 – The ICPO Foundation is proud to announce that Dr. Nadine Holzleitner, a researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has been awarded the Maurits W. Geerlings Next Generation Award 2025 for groundbreaking research in Actinium-225 radiopharmaceutical science and her pioneering work "Preclinical evaluation of 225Ac-labeled minigastrin analog DOTA-CCK-66 for Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT)". TAT is a promising form of cancer treatment using alpha-emitting radionuclides to destroy tumor cells precisely. The collaborative project between TUM and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was designed for two types of aggressive cancer, such as medullary thyroid carcinoma and small cell lung cancer, with limited current treatment options. Dr. Elcin Zan, Chair of the Division of Nuclear Medicine Cleveland Clinic, USA, and Chair of the evaluation committee, together with Oliver Buck, Trustee of the ICPO Foundation, presented the award during the ICPO Forum for Theranostics in Precision Oncology 2025 in Munich.
Dr. Nadine Holzleitner is an exceptional young scientist currently a second-year postdoctoral researcher in the research group "Imaging and Biomarkers in Oncology" of Prof. Susanne Kossatz, from the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the TUM University Hospital and Deputy Director of the Center for Translational Cancer Research at Technical University of Munich (TranslaTUM).
Dr. Nadine Holzleitner was delighted to have been selected for the award and said: "I am deeply honored to have received the Maurits W. Geerlings Award. It is a privilege to contribute to the dynamic and rapidly advancing field of Actinium-225 research, with the aim of enabling cancer patients to access the powerful tool of targeted alpha therapy. This research was made possible through the guidance of dedicated mentors and the collaboration of my colleagues."
Odile Jaume, CEO of the ICPO Foundation, stated: "Dr. Nadine Holzleitner's work is an outstanding example of translational science. Her contributions not only advanced the field of nuclear medicine but also bring us one step closer to more effective and targeted cancer therapies in radiotheranostics for patients worldwide."
Her study resulted in the following publication: Nadine Holzleitner, Meryl Vilangattil, Abir Swaidan, Clara Diaz Garcia-Prada, Marco F. Taddio, Pauline Jeanjean, Christine E. Mona, Constantin Lapa, Angela Casini, Thomas Günther, Giuseppe Carlucci. Preclinical evaluation of 225Ac-labeled minigastrin analog DOTA-CCK-66 for Targeted Alpha Therapy. EJNMMI (2025) 52:458-468.
About the Maurits W. Geerings Award
The International Centers for Precision Oncology (ICPO) Foundation is awarding the Maurits W. Geerlings Next Generation Award for outstanding research and contributions to actinium-225 radiopharmaceuticals. The award is named after the great Dutch scientist and visionary Dr. Maurits W. Geerlings, who initiated and advanced research into actinium-225, an alpha emitter, for cancer therapy three decades ago.
About the ICPO Forum
The ICPO Forum for Theranostics in Precision Oncology is an international conference uniting leading scientists, clinicians, and industry partners to share breakthroughs in radiopharmaceutical research and clinical applications. More info: www.icpo-forum.org
About ICPO Foundation
The International Centers for Precision Oncology Foundation (ICPO) is a non-profit organization established in 2019 under German law by leading international medical practitioners and life sciences entrepreneurs. Recognizing a paradigm shift in cancer care from one size fits all to a personalized approach, the ICPO Foundation is helping to build momentum to scale global patient access to Radiomolecular Precision Oncology to support this shift. Therefore, the ICPO Foundation aims to develop an international network of physical diagnostic and therapeutic Centers for Precision Oncology based on a model of shared know-how, certified education through the ICPO Academy for Theranostics, and design and process standardization that enables best clinical practice globally. Furthermore, it is the ICPO Foundation's objective to empower its centers by embedding them in a highly inclusive community that spearheads its model and lives up to the precision oncology promise by making it available to all patients in need, irrespective of country or social status.
Learn more about the ICPO Foundation at www.icpo.foundation and the ICPO Academy for Theranostics at www.theranostics.academy
Media contact ICPO Foundation
Susanne Simon, Head of Communication & Community
Email: susanne.simon@icpo.foundation
Phone: + 49 172 8666093, Website:
www.icpo.foundation