RESTON, Va.--SNM is bringing a molecular imaging presence to the 9th World Congress of Nuclear Medicine and Biology that is being held Oct. 22-27 in Seoul, Korea. Members of the society, an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 physician, technologist and scientist members, have organized a molecular imaging categorical seminar on Oct. 22, and SNM and SNMTS members are assisting in developing and presenting other sessions.

"This categorical seminar directly reflects SNM's core mission `to advance health care by advancing molecular imaging and therapy,'" said SNM President-Elect Sandy McEwan, who will be presenting several sessions at the congress. "SNM has traditionally represented all professionals involved in the practice of nuclear medicine. It is the society within which molecular imaging originated. SNM now also supports the new field of molecular imaging and those scientists, clinicians and technologists involved in this emerging medical imaging contribution to improving patient care," added the director of oncologic imaging at Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

"SNM is determined to advance molecular imaging, " explained Mathew L. Thakur, SNM 2004-05 president and seminar organizer. "This categorical seminar is designed to share with the world nuclear medicine community the recent advances in molecular imaging made by some of the experts in the field. The seminar encompasses topics in basic, translational and clinical research and promises to be educational to everyone," noted the a professor of radiology and radiation oncology and the director of radiopharmaceutical and nuclear medicine research at Thomas Jefferson University Medical College in Philadelphia, Pa.

Participants in SNM's molecular imaging categorical seminar and their topics include McEwan, "Imaging of Cell Death and Signaling Networks"; Thakur, "Genomic and Proteomic Approaches to MI of Cancer"; SNM 2005-06 President Peter S. Conti, University Southern California, Los Angeles, "Translational MI With PET Tracers"; Xiaoyuan Chen, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., "The Evolving Role of Nanotechnology in MI of Cancer"; Juri Gelovani, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, "A Paradigm for the Development and Application of Optical-Nuclear, Dual-Labeled Imaging Agents"; Henry VanBrocklin, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, Berkeley, Calif., "Neuroimaging of Alzheimer's Disease"; and Michael Welch, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis, Mo., "Targeted Imaging and Drug Development."

D. Scott Holbrook, SNMTS president, is serving as vice chair for international affairs for the world congress; Valerie R. Cronin, SNMTS immediate past president, is chair of its International Scientific Committee--Technologist Section. The congress is sponsored by the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology.

"I look forward to meeting technologists from many different countries who share a vision and hope that crosses borders, time zones and political systems--providing high quality patient care," said Holbrook. "In addition, I look forward to encouraging collaboration and extending the society's learning opportunities and resources to others," added the vice president of Clinical Pharmacy Services in Gray, Tenn.

"At this meeting, the intention is to provide the latest research findings, explore mutual challenges and share practical strategies and approaches," noted Cronin. Sessions will cover current nuclear medicine techniques, recent advances in molecular and nuclear imaging techniques, an overview of global educational systems, and basic physics and instrumentation, said the vice president of imaging services in the Catholic Health System of Western New York in Buffalo.

Numerous SNM members are participating at the meeting, which carries the theme "Global Harmonization and New Horizon of Nuclear Medicine." The meeting will feature approximately 200 invited lectures and the presentation of 2,000 scientific papers. SNM is hosting an exhibit booth at the event that's expected to draw more than 3,000 participants.

About SNM--Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy
SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular and nuclear imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed journal in the field (the Journal of Nuclear Medicine); host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances. SNM members have introduced--and continue to explore--biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at www.snm.org