George did his Biomedical Sciences undergraduate and postgraduate Master’s at the University of Hull. In 2017, he began his doctoral studies at King’s College London under the supervision of Professor Phil Blower where he pioneered novel approaches for the non-invasive imaging of metal trafficking in vivo. He has extensive experience with preclinical imaging and biological validation of novel radiotracers, and has worked on a variety of diseases including cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders of metal overload. George has received several prestigious awards, including the Nutritional Society Prize and the Heinz-Zumkley prize, both recognising exceptional achievements and publications in the field of minerals and trace element research. In large part due to his contributions, KCL has established itself as a world leader in in vivo metal imaging.
Research Associate at King’s College London
Honorary Research Associate at University College London
Email: george.firth@kcl.ac.uk
Professional appointments and Education
Dec 21 – present University College London, London, UK. Honorary research associate in the Genetics & Genomic Medicine Department.
May 22 – present King’s College London, London, UK. Research associate in the Imaging Chemistry and Biology Department.
Oct 21 – April 22 King’s College London, London, UK. Research assistant in the Imaging Chemistry and Biology Department.
2018 – 2021 King’s College London, London, UK. PhD in Medical Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. Thesis: In vivo trafficking of essential trace metals in health and disease using PET imaging. Supervisors: Prof. P.J. Blower and Prof. E. Aboagye.
2017 – 2018 King’s College London, London, UK. Master of Research in Medical Imaging Sciences (Distinction).
2016 – 2017 University of Hull, Hull, UK. Master of Science in Biological Sciences. Project: The Development of Multimodal PET/Fluorescence Zinc Sensors as Potential Imaging Agents for Prostate Cancer. Supervisors: Dr. G. Stasiuk and Dr. J. Sturge.
2013 – 2016 University of Hull, Hull, UK. Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences (First class honors).
Awards and Prizes
Heinz-Zumkley Prize
Awarded by the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements at the International Conference for Trace Elements and Minerals (ICTEM) 2022 in Aachen, Germany. This award recognises exceptional achievements and publications in the field of mineral and trace element research, ICTEM 2022.
Awarded by the Nutritional Society at the STEM for Britain 2020 event held at the Houses of Parliament.
- Radiopharmacy prize sponsored by Alliance Medical, British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS) Annual Meeting 2021.
- Poster prizes, European Molecular Imaging Meeting, EMIM 2017, Cologne, Germany; EMIM 2019, Glasgow, UK; KCL MITHRAS symposiums 2022 and 2023, London, UK; Preclinical Nuclear Imaging Meeting, PNI 2023, Hull.
- Travel grants for World Molecular Imaging Congress, WMIC 2019, Montreal, Canada; EMIM 2020, Thessaloniki, Greece; Gordon Research Conference – Cell Biology of Metals 2023, Vermont, US.
Research Profile
Unique research focussed on the non-invasive imaging of metal trafficking in health and disease. International collaborations and reputation for PET metallomics and its application within biomedical sciences.
Publications: 15 peer reviewed research publications in the fields of Metallomics, nuclear imaging, inorganic chemistry, bioconjugate chemistry; 2 publications as corresponding author; 4 publications currently under peer review, 1 literature review; 2 Front covers. 95 citations, h-index of 5.
Conferences: >25 conference contributions, 10 as invited speaker. Conferences include: International Symposium of Metallomics (Poland), European Molecular Imaging Meeting (EMIM, Germany, Scotland, Greece, Austria), World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC, Canada), Gordon Research Conference (GRC, USA),International Conference of Trace Elements and Minerals (ICTEM, Germany).
Funding:
- Imaging manganese overload across scales in mouse models of neurodegeneration, Elemental Bioimaging Call (KCL), 2023-24, £5k, (Firth, Tuschl);
- Gene silencing as a treatment strategy to alleviate manganese overload, Therapeutics Innovation Network Pilot Data Scheme (TIN, Wellcome), £10k, (Firth, Tuschl);
- Studying zinc homeostasis in vivo in mouse models of breast cancer and diabetes, Centre for Medical Imaging (CME, Wellcome, EPSRC), WT203148/Z/16/Z, 2020-21, £17,490, (Firth, Blower);
- Medical Imaging Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) PhD studentship, King’s College London and Imperial, 2017-21, £101,297.
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