The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) heads north June 8 to June 12 to Vancouver for its annual meeting, dubbed as the premiere educational and networking event in molecular imaging and nuclear medicine. SNMMI is packing the meeting with the latest educational content, virtual learning opportunities, networking events and an exhibit hall burgeoning with the latest technology.

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SNMMI projects an estimated 5,000 nuclear medicine and molecular imaging professionals will gather at its 60th annual meeting. “Our first meeting was held in Seattle, in 1954, and was reported to have had 109 attendees who heard 13 scientific presentations and one panel discussion,” according to Peter Herscovitch, MD, chair of SNMMI’s Scientific Program Committee. This year, more than 110 expert-led continuing education sessions will be held on topics including emerging PET radiotracers, dementia, novel targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies and hybrid imaging. More than 1,600 scientific abstracts will be presented. A few highlights follow:

Saturday, June 8

• A Journey from PET/CT to PET/MRI: The Need for Introducing PET/MRI
  8:00 am – 4:15 pm
  This session, led by some of the world’s foremost PET/CT and PET/MRI experts, reviews emerging and potential applications for both hybrid modalities. Research and clinical leaders review the benefits and challenges of both systems, and staging and re-staging for oncologic, cardiac and neuro-degenerative applications.
• Moving Molecular Radiotherapy into the Mainstream: Have We Reached the Tipping Point?
  8:00 – 9:45 am
  In the Henry N. Wagner Jr. plenary session and formal opening, Val Lewington, MD, from King’s College, London, explores whether or not the profession has nudged molecular radiotherapy from novelty to mainstream.

Sunday June 9

• Emerging PET Radiotracers
  12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
  This session equips participants to identify the biological characteristics and potential clinical utility of emerging PET radiotracers. Experts also illustrate clinical case examples with new tracers with an emphasis on proliferation, lipogenesis and hypoxia.

Monday, June 10

• New Molecular Imaging Agent Validation for Research and Clinical Applications
  10:00 – 11:30 am
  An expert introduces process and regulatory requirements for the validation of a molecular imaging agents manufactured under various applications and also summarizes the process and regulatory requirements for submission of these applications for a molecular imaging agent.
• Nuclear Medicine, Archiving, and PACS
  12:30 – 2:00 pm
  Moderators discuss the nuclear medicine perspective on comparison shopping for PACS. They also identify technology options for archiving of nuclear medicine studies and recommend technology options for nuclear medicine add-ons for PACS.

Tuesday, June 11

• Vulnerable Plaque Imaging
  9:45 – 11:15 am
  This session introduces attendees to the determinants of plaque vulnerability, helps them to compare the features that differentiate stable from unstable atherosclerotic plaque and how they can be imaged and offers strategies to select the most appropriate imaging modalities for assessing atherosclerosis in specific patient populations. The session concludes with a panel discussion.
• Amyloid PET: SNMMI-AA Appropriate Use Criteria
  9:45 – 11:15 am
  Sponsored by the SNMMI and the Brain Imaging Council, this session begins with an introduction of the development of the appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET, reviews clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and approval for amyloid PET and shares requirements for imaging performance and interpretation. The session concludes with a panel discussion.