2014 SNMMI Annual Meeting highlights research and looks to future

Premier nuclear and molecular imaging conference draws thousands from across the globe

Reston, Va. (June 30, 2014) — Top research from around the world and the latest advances in technology were brought together for the 2014 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Mo., June 7-11. The meeting welcomed more than 5,700 physicians, technologists, physicists, scientists and exhibitors for an in-depth review of molecular imaging technologies, clinical applications, and translational and advanced research topics. 

This year's meeting offered more than 100 scientific sessions, close to 750 oral presentations and more than 1,155 posters displayed in the poster hall. Educational courses covered topics including dose optimization, multimodality imaging, targeted radioisotope therapies, imaging in infection and inflammation and the status of DOTA agents. In the exhibit hall, more than150 companies showcased the latest in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging technology.

A highlight of the meeting was the SNMMI plenary session on Sunday, June 8, where lymphoma survivor, award-winning author and NBC news correspondent Jonathan Alter presented the Henry N. Wagner, Jr. Lectureship on "The Future of Patient-Centered Medicine." On Monday, June 9, Barry A. Siegel, MD, professor of radiology and medicine and chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received the 2014 Benedict Cassen Prize for research in nuclear medicine and presented a lecture titled, "What Have We Learned from the National Oncologic PET Registry?"

SNMMI's 2014 Image of the Year was chosen from an abstract presented by Nobuyuki Okamura, MD, PhD, of Tohoku University School of Medicine and his colleagues. The image—a PET image using a novel tracer, F-18 THK5117—demonstrated differential distributions of amyloid tracer versus tau/neurofibrillary tangle tracer in Alzheimer patients. This research sheds critical light on the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, which could help develop better diagnostic methods and effective treatments.

Also at the meeting, SNMMI held its fourth annual Patient Program, where more than 100 patients and caregivers attended sessions on advances in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. Topics featured included colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.

The 2015 SNMMI Annual Meeting heads to Baltimore, Md., June 6-10, 2015. For more information, visit http://www.snmmi.org. 

Link original: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/sonm-2sa063014.php