# Vraka Lab — Full Content


---

## About

Source: https://vrakalab.science/about/


![Chrysoula Vraka presenting](/images/speaking_chrysoula_vraka.jpg "Chrysoula Vraka presenting her research")

## Research interests

My research focuses on understanding the pharmacokinetic properties of radiotracers to accelerate and improve drug development in neuroscience and cancer, from bench to bedside, with a particular focus on the [Blood–Brain Barrier (BBB)](/pubs/blood_brain_prediction/).

Building on this background, my current work centers on whole-body tracer imaging of the organ axes linking lymphoid organs and disease sites under chronic mental stress:

- We have established several mouse stress models to investigate how chronic stress contributes to poor immune surveillance, patient outcome, prognosis, and immunotherapy response.
- Within an international consortium (**[EPILUCAFS](https://radiologie-nuklearmedizin.meduniwien.ac.at/en/our-departments/division-of-nuclear-medicine/science-and-research/experimentelle-nuklearmedizin/)**), we are investigating epigenetic drivers of cancer-associated fibroblasts in chronic stress and immunosuppression in lung cancer over the next three years.
- We perform image-based metabolic phenotyping of KRAS-driven lung cancer mouse models using positron emission tomography (PET).
- To overcome the limited spatial resolution of PET, we established **[RadioFlow](/pubs/radioflo_cytometry/)**, a radioactive cell-sorting technique, to understand immune cell metabolism and metabolite competition within the tumour microenvironment and lymphoid organs.
- Combining total-body PET with molecular biology techniques, we aim to identify new biomarkers and understand the mechanisms underlying chronic stress disorders and tissue microenvironments.

In 2023–2024 and again in 2025, I was a visiting scientist at the [CRUK Scotland Institute](https://www.crukscotlandinstitute.ac.uk/) (Glasgow, UK), affiliated with the [University of Glasgow's Molecular Imaging Group](https://www.crukscotlandinstitute.ac.uk/cruk-si-research/cruk-si-research-groups/david-lewis-molecular-imaging.html) led by David Y. Lewis, to deepen my expertise in immune-metabolism and molecular techniques and to build international collaboration.

## Techniques, methods & infrastructure

**Radiotracer development & imaging**
- Radiolabeling (PET, SPECT, Therapeutics)
- Preclinical imaging (µPET/µCT)
- Metabolic, cancer, and neuro imaging
- Imaging organ-axis / organ-crosstalk

**Drug development & pharmacokinetics**
- In vitro ADME techniques: [lipophilicity](/pubs/logp/), permeability, plasma protein binding, distribution, and metabolism
- Cell culture: co-culture models, real-time kinetic assays, binding studies
- Autoradiography and ex vivo/in vitro metabolism and biodistribution studies
- In vivo radio-metabolite analysis and plasma protein binding for kinetic modeling (human and animal studies)

**In vivo models & molecular biology**
- Stress mouse models
- RadioFlow
- Molecular biology techniques (wetlab)

## Grants

**[Chronic stress and immunosuppression in lung cancer: focus on epigenetic drivers in cancer-associated fibroblasts (EPILUCAFS)](https://transcan.eu/output-results/funded-projects/epilucafs.kl)** (2024)
Funding: EU, [TRANSCAN-3](https://transcan.eu)
Role: Principal Investigator

## Join the lab

> We welcome inquiries from motivated Master's students, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral researchers interested in radiotracer development, PET/SPECT imaging, or the biology of chronic stress in cancer. If our research resonates with your interests, get in touch to discuss opportunities.

## Contact

**Dr.rer.nat. Chrysoula Vraka, MSc**
Principal Investigator (PI), Vraka Lab
Research Associate (Postdoc), Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy (Clinical Division of Nuclear Medicine)
Core team member, [Experimental Nuclear Medicine](https://radiologie-nuklearmedizin.meduniwien.ac.at/en/our-departments/division-of-nuclear-medicine/science-and-research/experimentelle-nuklearmedizin/) (Head: Prof. Cécile Philippe)

[Medical University of Vienna (MUW)](https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/en/) — Spitalgasse 23, 1090 Wien, Österreich

T: +43 1 40400 58720
E: [chrysoula.vraka@meduniwien.ac.at](mailto:chrysoula.vraka@meduniwien.ac.at)
LinkedIn: [chrysoula-vraka-452235173](https://linkedin.com/in/chrysoula-vraka-452235173)


---

## Meet Us

Source: https://vrakalab.science/meet-us/


Conferences and academic meetings where lab members have given talks or
posters, or were otherwise present.

## 2027

### 5. grpw Tagung 2027
Location and dates TBD

- **Role:** Co-organizer, together with Prof. Cécile Philippe — Chrysoula is also a board member (Vorstand) of the Gesellschaft für Radiopharmazeutische Wissenschaften (grpw e.V.)

## 2026

### [37th International Austrian Nuclear Medicine Congress (OGNT Winter Symposium)](https://congress.ognt.at/)
Bad Ischl, Austria — 16–19 September 2026

- **Poster/Talk:** *title and presenting lab member TBD*

### [TOPIM 2026 – Imaging Metabolism Across Scales](https://e-smi.eu/meetings/topim/metabolism/)
Certosa di Pontignano, Siena, Italy — 24–28 August 2026

- **Poster/Talk:** *title and presenting lab member TBD*

### [4. grpw Tagung 2026](https://grpw-tagung.de/)
Königswinter, Germany — 24–26 September 2026

- **Role:** Board member (Vorstand), Gesellschaft für Radiopharmazeutische Wissenschaften (grpw e.V.)

<!--
TBD: add further entries as they become available (source: lab members' CVs /
conference records). Don't invent conference names, dates, or titles.

Format per conference:

### [Conference name](https://conference-website)
City, Country — DD–DD Month YYYY

- **Poster:** "Poster title" — Presenting Author, Co-Author, et al.
- **Talk:** "Talk title" — Presenting Author
-->


---

## People

Source: https://vrakalab.science/people/


![Vraka lab 2025](vraka_lab_half.jpg "Vraka lab 2025")

## Lab Members

### Maximilian Krisch, MSc
PhD student. Investigates the stress response and its effects on metabolism and health, using preclinical stress protocols combined with µPET/CT imaging, immunoassays, omics, and FACS, as part of the Translational Chronic Mental Stress group.

### Öykü Özer, MSc
PhD student. Studies the interplay between chronic stress, immune dynamics, and cachexia in lung cancer progression, combining clinical data with genetically engineered mouse models and total-body PET imaging to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

### Clara Mertel, MSc
PhD student. Researches chronic mental stress as a risk factor for metabolic and inflammatory disease, developing a bidirectional mouse-human translational pipeline within the Translational Chronic Mental Stress (Vraka Group) line of research.

### Hanka Vrban, MSc
Biologist, Technical Assistant. Works on FAPI (Fibroblast Activation Protein Inhibitor) radiotracers, radiolabelling, and in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo radiotracer evaluation.

- Immune regulation and T cell signaling in health and disease
- Translational immunology bridging basic mechanisms with therapeutic applications
- Crosstalk between immune signaling, cancer survival strategies, and chronic mental stress
- High-resolution imaging and systems-level approaches to study cell-cell interactions
- GPCR signaling and molecular pathways in CD8⁺ T cell activation, exhaustion, and memory

## Master Students

- Blendi Shala
- Poulami Goswami


---

## Publications

Source: https://vrakalab.science/pubs/


For the complete publication record, see [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2065-6093), [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WP9TgSQAAAAJ), or [ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chrysoula-Vraka).

### Adaptation of a Commercially Available Module for the Production of alpha-[11C]methyl-L-tryptophan ([11C]AMT) for Human Use
Bamminger, K., et al., Chrysoula Vraka
*Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Volumes 146–147, 109020.* — DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2025.109020

### Enhancing Blood–Brain Barrier Penetration Prediction by Machine Learning-Based Integration of Novel and Existing, In Silico and Experimental Molecular Parameters from a Standardized Database
Spielvogel, C.P., et al., Chrysoula Vraka
*Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 65(6), pp. 2773–2784.* — DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.4c02212

### RadioFlow Cytometry Reveals That [18F]FDG Uptake in K-RAS Lung Cancer Is Driven by Immune Cells: An Analysis on a Single-Cell Level
Chrysoula Vraka, et al.
*Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 66(2), pp. 215–222.* — DOI: https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.124.268799

### Systemic Metabolic and Volumetric Assessment via Whole-Body [18F]FDG-PET/CT: Pancreas Size Predicts Cachexia in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Yu, J., et al., Chrysoula Vraka
*Cancers, 16(19), p. 3352.* — DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16193352

### Rapid, High-Yield Enzymatic Synthesis of n.c.a. 6-[18F]Fluorodopamine (6-[18F]FDA) for In Vivo Application
Bamminger, K., et al., Chrysoula Vraka
*Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Volume 114-115, pp. 189–197.* — DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2022.07.001

### First-in-Humans Brain PET Imaging of the GluN2B-Containing N-methyl-d-aspartate Receptor with (R)-11C-Me-NB1
Lukas Rischka and Chrysoula Vraka, et al.
*Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Volume 63(6), pp. 936–941.* — DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.121.262427

### Simultaneous radiomethylation of [11C]harmine and [11C]DASB and kinetic modeling approach for serotonergic brain imaging in the same individual
Chrysoula Vraka, et al.
*Scientific Reports, 12(1)* — DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06906-0

### LogP, a yesterday's value?
[Chrysoula Vraka](https://meduniwien.ac.at), Lukas Nics, Karl-Heinz Wagner, Marcus Hacker, Wolfgang Wadsak, Markus Mitterhauser
*Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Volume 50* — DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2017.03.003

---

## Teaching

Source: https://vrakalab.science/teaching/


## Courses & seminars

Lectures and seminars at the [Medical University of Vienna (MUW)](https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/en/), the [University of Vienna (UniVie)](https://www.univie.ac.at/en/), and [Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt (FHWN)](https://www.fhwn.ac.at/en), since 2020:

- <span lang="de">Hands-On Nuklearmedizin: Einblick in endokrinologische/onkologische reale Fälle und die tägliche Routine im [AKH](https://www.akhwien.at/)</span> (771.401)
- Basic Seminar: Imaging Probes (861.037)
- Thesis Seminar: Imaging Probes (861.038)
- Journal Club: Round Table Imaging Technologies (861.039)
- Medicinal Radiochemistry II (270041)
- Radiopharmacy (B.RTEC.V.22)
- SSM1: <span lang="de">Von der Idee bis zur Umsetzung – Radiopharmaka-Entwicklung, ein Einblick in die Nuklearmedizin</span> (803043)
- SSM2: <span lang="de">Wie schnell metabolisiert ein Arzneistoff?</span> (806118)
- SSM3: <span lang="de">Projektstudie</span> (<span lang="de">Wahlpflichtteil</span>, 808004)
- <span lang="de">Research Club der Nuklearmedizin und Freunde</span> (771009)
- Basic and Thesis Seminar: Insights into Radiotracer Development (861911 & 861912)

## Supervision & mentoring

**PhD students**
- Maximilian Krisch (Medical Imaging) — senior supervisor: Prof. Marcus Hacker
- Öykü Özer (Immunology) — senior supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Thomas Weichhart
- Clara Mertel — supervisor: Chrysoula Vraka

**Diploma students**
- Ralitsa Tervelova Zhivova, Theresa Patsch (Medicine, clinical)

Plus more than 20 Bachelor's and Master's thesis supervisions in Biology, Chemistry, Biomedical Imaging, and radiotechnology at the [University of Vienna](https://www.univie.ac.at/en/) and [FH Wiener Neustadt](https://www.fhwn.ac.at/en).


---

## Imprint

Source: https://vrakalab.science/imprint/


## Service provider / editorially responsible (§ 5 ECG, § 25 Mediengesetz)

**Dr.rer.nat. Chrysoula Vraka, MSc**
Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy
Clinical Division of Nuclear Medicine
Medical University of Vienna (MUW)

Spitalgasse 23, 1090 Wien, Österreich

E: [chrysoula.vraka@meduniwien.ac.at](mailto:chrysoula.vraka@meduniwien.ac.at)
T: +43 1 40400 58720

## Employer

Medizinische Universität Wien (Medical University of Vienna)
Spitalgasse 23, 1090 Wien, Österreich
A public university under public law (Universität öffentlichen Rechts), established under the Austrian Universities Act 2002 (Universitätsgesetz 2002 — UG).

## Purpose of this website

This is the personal research/lab website of Dr. Chrysoula Vraka, presenting the activities, publications, and team of the Vraka Lab. It is maintained independently of, and is not an official communication channel of, the Medical University of Vienna.

## Liability for content and links

The content of this website has been compiled with care; no liability is assumed for its accuracy, completeness, or currency. This website may link to external sites over whose content the operator has no influence and for which no liability is assumed; responsibility for linked content lies solely with its respective operator.