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James W. Brodack is a pioneering figure in the automation of radiopharmaceutical synthesis, whose work laid the foundation for modern, reproducible production of positron emission tomography (PET) tracers. His primary research areas include robotic chemistry, fluorine-18 radiochemistry, and the development of automated systems for clinical radiopharmaceutical preparation. Brodack’s major contribution was demonstrating that a commercially available laboratory robot—the Zymark Zymate—could reliably perform the multi-step synthesis of complex PET agents, such as 16α-[18F]fluoroestradiol-17β, a key tracer for imaging estrogen receptors. This breakthrough, detailed in his 1986 paper (49 citations), revolutionized the field by replacing manual, radiation-exposed procedures with precise, remote-controlled automation. He further advanced clinical PET by developing a routine robotic method for producing 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) (35 citations) and by solving a critical quality-control issue: eliminating contaminant Kryptofix 2.2.2 from FDG preparations (29 citations). His 1988 work on automated production of multiple radiopharmaceuticals using a single robot (26 citations) showcased the scalability and versatility of his approach. Brodack’s innovations dramatically improved the safety, consistency, and throughput of radiopharmaceutical manufacturing, directly enabling the widespread clinical adoption of PET imaging.