Meet SNMMI in St. Louis for the 2014 Annual Meeting

Saturday marks the first day of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging’s 2014 Annual Meeting being held June 7-11 at the St. Louis Convention Center. This year is the banner 60th anniversary of the SNMMI Annual Meeting, jam-packed with plenary and scientific sessions as well as an exhibition of technologies and services catered exclusively to professionals in the field of molecular imaging.

SNMMI expects 4,000 attendees at this year’s meeting and 150 exhibitors will be taking part in the technological trade show. The Annual Meeting will also engage attendees with more than 100 continuing education sessions.

Scientific sessions will feature all the newest developments in neuroscience, including PET/MR neuroimaging, amyloid and tau imaging; in oncology, including developments in theranostics and alpha-particle emitting therapies such as Ra-223, hypoxia imaging, as well as innovations in optical imaging and nanomedicine; and practice management, covering current regulatory issues and dose optimization.   

The current SNMMI president, Gary L. Dillehay, MD, will pass the torch to the 2014-2015 president, Peter Herscovitch, MD, a featured columnist in the summer issue of Molecular Imaging Insight.

“I’m really looking forward to SNMMI’s plenaries this year,” wrote Herscovitch. “The Sunday Henry N. Wagner, Jr. Lecture, will focus on ‘The Future of Patient-centered Medicine.’ It will be delivered by Jonathan Alter, an American journalist, award-winning book author and news correspondent. Alter is currently producing a new political comedy called ‘Alpha House’ with Gary Trudeau.”

Alter, a New York Times best-selling author and Journalist for such publications as Newsweek and Bloomberg View. Alter wrote “The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies" and will be speaking on the topics of Obamacare and the changing climate of nuclear medicine.

“Monday’s Cassen lectureship will be delivered by Barry A. Siegel, MD,” added Herscovitch. “Currently professor of radiology and medicine and chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in St. Louis, Siegel is a pioneer in clinical PET and co-chair of the National Oncologic PET Registry.”

This will be the SNMMI Business Meeting and Special Plenary Session and Siegel is scheduled to present a lecture titled “What Have We Learned from the National Oncologic PET Registry?”

The Henry N. Wagner, Jr., MD, Highlights Symposium on Wednesday will cover the year’s top research and officials will also be announcing the SNMMI Image of the Year and Abstract of the Year.

A number of awards for technologists will be presented during the meeting, including the SNMMI-TS President’s Award, SNMMI-TS Outstanding Technologist, SNMMI-TS Outstanding Educator, and new SNMMI-TS Fellows.

SNMMI offers a virtual meeting for registered attendees providing access to much of what is happening in person. The virtual meeting will include synchronized presenter slides and audio of the 70 most popular SNMMI Annual Meeting sessions and online access 24 hours after the session concludes.

Stay tuned for coverage of the SNMMI Annual Meeting press conference on Monday, as well as news from industry experts and technological exhibitors in the coming days.