Stephen C. Dragotakes, RPh, NPh, BCNP, FAPhA

Stephen C. Dragotakes, RPh, BCNP, FAPhA is a PET Specialist and Operations Manager for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Molecular Cancer Imaging Facility, a PET radiopharmaceutical research and development facility located in the Seaport District of Boston.

Mr. Dragotakes has been a practicing nuclear pharmacist since 1979. His nuclear pharmacy career has included practice in commercial nuclear pharmacy, clinical nuclear pharmacy, and PET nuclear pharmacy. Mr. Dragotakes obtained his Bachelor of Science Pharmacy degree at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston in 1979. He obtained his radiopharmacy training via a bionucleonics certificate training program during his undergraduate work at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.

His initial practice in nuclear pharmacy was at the Pharmaco-Nuclear commercial Nuclear Pharmacy in Cleveland, OH. His experience in clinical nuclear pharmacy was as a nuclear pharmacist in the Division of Nuclear Medicine of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. As part of his clinical nuclear pharmacy practice, Mr. Dragotakes provided radiopharmaceutical preparation and handling training for the MGH Nuclear Medicine Resident Physician training program. Appointed as adjunct faculty at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, he provided radiopharmaceutical training for Nuclear Pharmacist and Nuclear Medicine Technologists. During a 30-year career at MGH, Mr. Dragotakes was an integral and active member in radiopharmaceutical research where his expertise was in translation; the development and formulation of research compounds as radiopharmaceuticals for human use. His career at MGH paralleled the exponential growth of PET with his early involvement with the MGH Cyclotron group, creation of the MGH PET Nuclear Pharmacy and the establishment of the MGH PET GMP production facility as managing director. In addition to radiopharmaceuticals, Mr. Dragotakes was involved in development of optical imaging agents and the establishment of an aseptic fill finish lyophilization facility at the Translational Cancer Imaging Facility of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His expertise in aseptic processing, sterile compounding, and development of radiopharmaceuticals has been applied in his activities as a consultant to a variety of radio pharmacy manufacturing organizations.

Mr. Dragotakes has been active participant and contributor in the advancement of the science of radiopharmaceuticals as a long-standing member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine Molecular Imaging, Nuclear Pharmacy Section within the American Pharmacists Association and the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties. He served as chair of the BPS Nuclear Pharmacy Specialty Council in 2002, chair of the APHA Nuclear Pharmacy Section in 2005, and as a member of the SNMMI Radiopharmaceuticals Board of Directors in 2007. He was active in the early evolution of the sterile radiopharmaceutical compounding guidelines as an appointed expert member to the Radiopharmaceuticals in General Chapter <797> Ad hoc Advisory Panel to Expert Committee on Sterile Compounding United States Pharmacopeia in 2007. Since 2007, Mr. Dragotakes has been active in the development of radiopharmaceutical compounding and PET drug manufacturing regulation serving on multiple SNMMI committees including the Committee on Compounding, Clinical Trial Network Committee, and the Committee on Radiopharmaceuticals where he currently serves as chair of COR, being appointed in 2022.

His work in radiopharmaceutical development and the advancement of nuclear pharmacy practice has been recognized with many awards; 1992 Mass College of Pharmacy Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, 2007 Fellow of American Pharmacist Association, 2023 SNMMI Presidential Distinguished Service Award, and the 2024 SNMMI Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Council Sally Schwarz Award for outstanding contributions to the field of radiopharmacy. Mr. Dragotakes’ current focus is in theranostic radiopharmaceutical research and development at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute Molecular Cancer Imaging Facility located in Boston. He currently resides in Medfield, MA, with his wife Donna M Dragotakes.