WMIS highlights from World Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Week
Saturday marked the final day of the 2014 Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Week and, to celebrate, the World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) announced highlights of the recent 7th World Molecular Imaging Congress held in Seoul, Korea.
“WMIS is based on innovation, imagination and integration,” said WMIS President Jason Lewis, PhD, the Emily Tow Jackson Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in an official statement. “Our members are inventing and combining strategies that drive scientific investigation and we are creating paradigm shifts in the understanding of biological systems.”
Top research studies presented include a hybrid optical and ultrasound imaging study assessing blood oxygenation within the brain, which could have a significant impact on monitoring treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers Vasilis Ntziachristos, PhD; Daniel Razansky, PhD; and colleagues spearheaded the study at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tubingen, Germany.
The WMIC put a spotlight on the use of bundled fiber optics for non-invasive detection of microscopic fungi in the lungs that can cause infection. This study was conducted by Uwe Himmelreich, PhD, et al from the University of Leuven in Belgium.
Yet another presented study showed just how far nanoparticle drug delivery has come in the realm of targeted therapy and optical imaging theranostics. Novel agents are being specialized to only become active in the presence of light, which can significantly reduce collateral damage. This study was conducted by Xing Bengang and colleagues at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
And finally, the WMIS 2014 Young Investigator Award was given to young scientists showing exceptional dedication and innovation in their field. This year, the award went to Florian C. Maier, a PhD candidate from the Werner Siemens Imaging Center, department of preclinical imaging and radiopharmacy at the Eberhard Karls University Tubingen. His research focuses on preclinical PET/MR quantification of cerebral beta-amyloidosis using 7T and 16.4T scanning technology.
Stay tuned as we continue covering these and other new research studies from the WMIS.