Dr Rafael Rosales is a chemist specialised in medical imaging, working at the interface between chemistry and medicine. After graduating in chemistry (University of Granada, Spain), I moved to the UK for a PhD in Bioinorganic Chemistry (University of Edinburgh, Scotland), followed by three different postdoctoral positions (Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in Italy, Imperial College London, and King’s College London). During this period my interests transition from synthetic bioinorganic chemistry to the applications of inorganic chemistry in medical imaging. In 2011 I started my own research group at the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences. My group develops and exploits simple and clinically translatable inorganic chemistry tools to allow the in vivo tracking of drugs at the whole-body level using PET: from small molecules to nanomedicines and cells. This will allow more efficient drug development, as well as clinical theranostic tools for improving their therapeutic efficacy. We are particularly interested in using these tools to support the integration of PET imaging with innovative therapeutic modalities, such as those based on cell immunotherapies and drug delivery systems.