1. Background　Radioisotopes (RI) have been widely used in various research fields including pharmaceutical science as there is much advantage over other methods in sensitivity and quantification. In recent years, there has been a significant development on technologies using RI, especially related to molecular imaging and cancer treatment research. There is no doubt that RI has the potential especially for the development of pharmaceutical science.
However, the use of RI has decreased in recent years. Though the Japan Radioisotope Association is working to provide information to promote the use of RI, it has not yet led to an increase in the number of RI use. Our past survey shows that there are knowledge obstacles such as difficulties with choosing the appropriate experimental method and understanding of experiment outline when planning an experiment using RI for the first time. Accordingly, we conducted a questionnaire and interview survey to clarify the information needs of RI beginners.
2. Questionnaire / interview survey　We conducted a questionnaire survey of pharmaceutical researchers who are not currently using RI to find their desired information and services (80 valid responses, 33% response rate). The result shows there are the needs of the RI experimental protocols and we decided to provide RI experimental protocols for beginners available online and as a booklet. We also interviewed expert researchers to determine what to include as a content.
3. RI experiment protocols　Based on the comments from interviewees, we selected the experiments and composed the protocols which are easy to understand for those who use RI for the first time. We will introduce the outline of RI experimental protocols at the poster presentation.
4. Release Schedule　We are currently working on collecting and enhancing the necessary contents toward completion scheduled in March 2021. RI experimental protocols will be released as a booklet and on the website of the Japan Radioisotope Association "Radioactive Reagent Information Site J-RAM(https://j-ram.org/)".