Matthias Brendel

Matthias Brendel is a Professor at the Department of Nuclear Medicine within the Medical Faculty of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich). He is a full member of the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN) and acts as Director of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at University Hospital, LMU Munich.

His research focuses on translational molecular neuroimaging using PET, particularly examining associations between protein aggregation (amyloid, tau) and neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. His group employs methodologies such as PET autoradiography, scRadiotracing, immunohistochemistry, and SPECT to analyze cellular sources of PET signals and validate novel radiotracers. Current efforts involve multi-center studies integrating ATN biomarkers with neuroinflammation PET biomarkers in frameworks like progressive supranuclear palsy.

The research group comprises 2 physicians, 1 PhD student (Tim Bathe), 2 veterinarians, 2 technicians, and 15 doctoral students (7 clinical, 8 preclinical). Key publications highlight advancements in

• TREM2-targeted therapies for Alzheimer’s disease
• Tau-PET connectivity patterns in tauopathies
• Microglial activation FDG-PET correlations
• Tau-biomarker validation in PSP
• Amyloid-PET therapeutic monitoring