Johncy Mahapane is a lecturer in Nuclear Medicine Radiography at the University of Pretoria, where she coordinates and teaches in an Honours-level programme for nuclear medicine radiographers and technologists. She holds qualifications in diagnostic radiography and nuclear medicine, as well as a master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences.  

Her research experience focuses on radiolabelling optimisation, validation, quality control and the clinical application of radiopharmaceuticals. She has worked with several gallium-68-labelled radiopharmaceuticals, including PSMA, DOTATATE, pentixafor, FAPI and nitroimidazole-based tracers. She has also contributed to clinical research involving actinium-225 PSMA and DOTATATE therapy as part of the radiopharmacy team responsible for radiolabelling and preparation. Her PhD research builds on this experience and focuses on the development, formulation, quality control and stability assessment of actinium-225-labelled radiopharmaceuticals  and conducted in collaboration with NuMeRI . The project includes work with a peptide-based radiopharmaceutical and a monoclonal antibody, with the aim of supporting future preclinical and clinical applications of targeted alpha therapy.

Johncy’s professional development has been supported through several national and international opportunities. She completed an International Atomic Energy Agency fellowship at AZ Groeninge in Belgium, where she gained experience in gallium-68/germanium-68 generator technologies. Her doctoral studies have been supported through the University Staff Doctoral Programme grant and the University of Pretoria Staff Travel Abroad Programme grant. The latter enabled her to undertake specialised research training at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Germany.

Alongside her research, Johncy contributes to teaching, postgraduate supervision and research development. She has supervised three masters postgraduate students through to completion, including one as principal supervisor and two as co-supervisor, and is currently involved in further postgraduate supervision. 

Research interests

• Radiolabelling optimisation and validation

• Quality control and stability assessment of radiopharmaceuticals

• Targeted alpha therapy: Actinium-225-labelled peptides 

• Gallium-68-labelled molecular imaging agents

• Radiopharmacy support for clinical research

• Molecular imaging in oncology

• Preclinical and translational radiopharmaceutical research

• Postgraduate supervision in nuclear medicine, radiography and radiopharmacy