About Us

Our Mission

Actinia’s mission is to increase the resolution and decrease the dose used in radiological imaging techniques such as SPECT, CT, and even plain X-rays. Actinia develops cutting-edge radiation detector materials that allow for a halving of the dose, or doubling of the resolution, of common imaging techniques used in medicine and security.

History of Discovery

We initiated our research on CsPbBr3 (CLB) and related materials in the late 2000s as potential hard radiation detector materials. Our first report in 2013 identified CLB as a very promising inorganic semiconductor detector with good X-ray response.

In 2018 we demonstrated that CLB can reach <4% energy resolution for γ-ray detection using CsPbBr3 detectors. Specifically, our planar perovskite detector resolved the 59.5 keV (241Am γ-ray), 122 and 136 keV (57Co γ-ray), 511 keV (22Na γ-ray) and 662 keV (137Cs γ-ray) lines. For 57Co γ-ray spectra, a planar perovskite detector achieved energy resolution (ER) of 3.8%.

In 2020, our CLB detector resolved 137Cs 662 keV γ rays with 1.4% energy resolution, as well as other X-rays and γ-rays with energies ranging from tens of keV to over 1 MeV.

Actinia Figure 1. Energy-resolved gamma ray spectra by CPB devices. The energy resolution obtained is 3.2% at 122 keV and 1.4% at 662 keV.

Our Partners

Northwestern University - Actinia Partner

Northwestern University

Actinia brings a rich history of innovation to bear, commercializing technology that was first developed by a team of scientists and engineers led by Professor Mercouri Kanatzidis at Northwestern University. Northwestern University is one of the country’s leading private research and teaching universities, located in Evanston, IL. Northwestern University’s chemistry department, where Actinia’s innovations were first discovered and explored, has a rich and storied history of successful technology transfer, having birthed companies such as Exicure, Questek, NuMat, and many more. Northwestern is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.

Kairos Ventures - Actinia partner

Kairos Ventures

Kairos Ventures has supplied early capital to Actinia to help the company grow more rapidly and satisfy the needs of early customers and partners. Kairos Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles, CA that works closely with the world’s leading universities and research institutions to identify and support the commercialization of transformative technologies. Kairos invests in patented scientific advances in life sciences and engineering that have the potential to deliver substantial impact for our world, and remarkable returns for our Investors. In addition to providing capital, Kairos supports our portfolio of companies with the professional business and scientific expertise to maximize their potential from early seed through incubation and growth.

Meet the Team

Actinia has a world-class leadership team with deep experience in chemistry and materials science.

Mercouri Kanatzidis
Co-Founder

Mercouri Kanatzidis is the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. His research areas include halide perovskites… Read More

Duck Young Chung
Co-Founder

Duck Young Chung is a scientist in solid state chemistry and materials science with primary research interest in thermoelectrics, superconductor, topological insulators… Read More

Josh Palmer
Acting Chief Executive Officer

Josh became involved with Actinia through his work at the science-focused venture capital firm Kairos Ventures. He began his career in the startup world as… Read More

Indra Pandey
Dr. Indra Pandey
Senior Scientist

Dr. Indra Pandey is a Senior Scientist at Actinia with a Ph.D. in Solid State Physics from Kyungpook National University in South Korea… Read More

Dr. Govinda Adhikari - Senior Scientist - Actinia
Dr. Govinda Adhikari
Senior Scientist

Dr. Govinda Adhikari is a Senior Scientist at Actinia, with a Ph.D. in Particle Physics from Sejong University in Daejeon, South Korea… Read More

George Lauro
George Lauro
Senior Advisor

George Lauro has spent the last 25 years as a Venture Capitalist, Investment Banker and operating executive, including Board Director positions at 7 public… Read More