Clinical Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine Working Group

Management

Dr. med. Johanna Diekmann

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Contact
Clinical Department of Nuclear Medicine
Hannover Medical School
Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1
30625 Hannover
Germany

Phone: +49 511 532 2577
Email: diekmann.johanna@mh-hannover.de

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Main areas of research

The "Clinical Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine" working group focuses on the molecular imaging of cardiovascular diseases. The aim is to detect pathophysiological processes such as inflammation, fibrosis, perfusion disorders and immune cell activation early and non-invasively in order to identify approaches for personalized diagnostics and therapeutic approaches.

The research areas include:

  • Molecular imaging in heart failure, ischemic and inflammatory myocardial diseases using PET tracers such as 18F-FDG, 68Ga-FAPI, 68Ga-Pentixafor (CXCR4) and 68Ga-DOTA-ECL1i (CCR2).
  • Characterization of inflammatory and fibrotic processes for risk stratification and therapy planning
  • Myocardial perfusion imaging using PET with 18F-Flurpiridaz and SPECT (CZT camera technology)
  • Multimodal imaging (e.g. with supplementary cardio-MRI) for combined functional and molecular characterization of the myocardium
  • Translation and clinical validation of new biomarkers as part of national and international studies

Cooperations / Collaborations

 

Internal partners (MHH):

  • Clinical Department of Cardiology and Angiology (Prof. Dr. Johann Bauersachs)
  • Clinical Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery (Prof. Dr. Arjang Ruhparwar)

National cooperation partners:

  • PD Dr. Manuel Röhrich and Prof. Dr. Uwe Haberkorn, Clinical Department of Nuclear Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital

International cooperation partners:

  • Simon Cherry, PhD - Explorer Imaging Center + Cherry Lab, University of California, Davis
  • Glenn Wells, PhD - University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada

Transatlantic ImmunoFib-HF Network


Funded by the Leducq Foundation

  • North American Coordinator: Dr. Robert Gropler, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA
  • European Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Dr. Florian Leuschner, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany
  • Other centers:
    • University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
    • The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, USA
    • Hannover Medical School
    • Heidelberg University
    • RWTH Aachen University
    • Imperial College London

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Members of the working group

 

Head

Dr. med. Johanna Diekmann

Consultant

Prof. Dr. med. Frank M. Bengel, Prof. James T. Thackeray, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ziegler

 

PhD students

Wiebke Wieting

Helena Liebich

Constanzia Schumacher

Daniel Walther

 

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Selected recent publications:

  1. Wieting W, Bengel FM, Diekmann J. Comparison of global and regional myocardial blood flow quantification using dynamic solid-state detector SPECT and Tc-99 m-sestamibi or Tc-99 m-tetrofosmin in a routine clinical setting. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2025;41(3):537-548. doi:10.1007/s10554-025-03339-4
  2. Wells RG, Bengel FM, Camoni L, Cerudelli E, Cuddy-Walsh SG, Diekmann J et al. Clinical Implementation of SPECT Myocardial Blood Flow Measurement: Intersite Variability and Imaging Time. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2023 Oct;16(10).
  3. Diekmann J, Neuser J, Röhrich M, et al. Molecular Imaging of Myocardial Fibroblast Activation in Patients with Advanced Aortic Stenosis Before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: A Pilot Study. J Nucl Med. 2023 Aug;64(8):1279-1286.
  4. Diekmann J, Koenig T, Thackeray JT, et al. Cardiac Fibroblast Activation in Patients Early After Acute Myocardial Infarction: Integration with MR Tissue Characterization and Subsequent Functional Outcome. J Nucl Med. 2022 Sep;63(9):1415-1423.
  5. Werner RA, Koenig T, Diekmann J, et al. CXCR4-Targeted Imaging of Post-Infarct Myocardial Tissue Inflammation: Prognostic Value After Reperfused Myocardial Infarction. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2022 Feb;15(2):372-374.
  6. Werner RA, Hess A, Koenig T, Diekmann J. et al. Molecular Imaging of Inflammation Crosstalk Along the Cardio-Renal Axis Following Acute Myocardial Infarction. Theranostics. 2021 Jul 6;11(16):7984-7994.
  7. Diekmann J, Koenig T, Zwadlo C, et al. Molecular Imaging Identifies Fibroblast Activation Beyond the Infarct Region After Acute Myocardial Infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021 Apr 13;77(14):1835-1837.
  8. Hess A, Derlin T, Koenig T, Diekmann J et al. Molecular Imaging-Guided Repair After Acute Myocardial Infarction by Targeting the Chemokine Receptor CXCR4. Eur Heart J. 2020 Oct 1;41(37):3564-3575.

Selected review articles:

  1. Bengel FM, Diekmann J, Hess A, et al. Myocardial Fibrosis: Emerging Target for Cardiac Molecular Imaging and Opportunity for Image-Guided Therapy. J Nucl Med. 2023 Nov;64(Suppl 2):49S-58S. IF 11.082
  2. Cherry SR, Diekmann J, Bengel FM. Total-Body Positron Emission Tomography: Adding New Perspectives to Cardiovascular Research. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2023 Oct;16(10):1335-1347. IF 16.051
  3. Diekmann J, Bengel FM. Cardiac Applications of Fibroblast Activation Protein Imaging. PET Clin. 2023 Jul;18(3):389-396. IF 1.936
  4. Heo GS, Diekmann J, Thackeray JT, et al. Nuclear Methods for Immune Cell Imaging: Bridging Molecular Imaging and Individualized Medicine. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2023 Jan;16(1). IF 8.589
  5. Werner RA, Thackeray JT, Diekmann J, et al. The Changing Face of Nuclear Cardiology: Guiding Cardiovascular Care Toward Molecular Medicine. J Nucl Med. 2020 Jul;61(7):951-961. IF 10.057