Reston, Va. -- Gina Kolata, award-winning science and medicine reporter of The New York Times, will serve as a keynote speaker for the Society of Nuclear Medicine's (SNM) symposium on breast cancer. Titled, "Breast Cancer Imaging: State of the Art 2011," the symposium will take place April 21-22, at the Natcher Conference Center on the National Institutes of Health campus.

For over 30 years, Kolata's reporting has influenced public policy and upended conventional wisdom. She has received many awards, including the prestigious Susan G. Komen Foundation's media award for reporting on women's issues and breast cancer. At the symposium, she will speak on the complex history of mammographic screening for breast cancer.

"We are thrilled that Gina will be joining us for the breast cancer symposium," said Maxine Jochelson, MD, chair of the symposium program committee. "As a journalist with a background in basic science and molecular biology, she will bring a unique perspective to breast cancer imaging."

The two-day meeting will bring together multiple clinical and scientific disciplines to discuss the current state of imaging in breast cancer--from the screening mammography controversy and advanced screening technology to local and distant staging and response to treatment. In addition to Kolata, speakers at the symposium include expert diagnostic radiologists, nuclear medicine and molecular imaging physicians and scientists, medical oncologists, surgeons, economists and radiation oncologists.

Supporters of "Breast Cancer Imaging: State of the Art 2011" include the Academy of Molecular Imaging, Society of Radiological Sciences, The Society for Molecular Imaging, Radiological Society of North America, Society for Women's Health Research, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and SNM's Center for Molecular Imaging Innovation and Translation.

For more information on the symposium or to register, visit www.snm.org/breast2011.

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About SNM: Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy

SNM is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to raising public awareness about what molecular imaging is and how it can help provide patients with the best health care possible. SNM members specialize in molecular imaging, a vital element of today's medical practice that adds an additional dimension to diagnosis, changing the way common and devastating diseases are understood and treated.

SNM's more than 17,000 members set the standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and practice. For more information, visit www.snm.org.