RESTON, Va. Experts in the molecular imaging field interacted and explored questions about basic research, instrumentation, drug development, clinical issues and educational needs during SNM's recent "Shaping the Future" industry summit. Panel presenters and attendees addressed the possibilities of molecular imaging, and their findings will be presented in December's Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

"While filled with optimism, the future of molecular imaging is far from defined," said SNM President Martin P. Sandler. "SNMan international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 physician, technologist and scientist membershas traditionally represented all professionals involved in the practice of nuclear medicineand as the society within which molecular imaging originated, SNM is uniquely responsible for supporting the new field of molecular imaging and the scientists, clinicians and technologists involved in it," he added. "SNM sees the merging of nuclear medicine techniques, new technologies, hybrid imaging and advances in molecular biology as a defining moment and is asking the necessary questionsand initiating the appropriate strategiesto identify and take advantage of the potential of molecular imaging for enhancing patient care and improving patient outcomes," noted the associate vice chancellor for hospital affairs for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

"As summit organizer, SNM recognizes the critical role for molecular imaging in future patient care. We are working actively with the commercial sector to facilitate the movement of molecular discoveries from bench to bedside and with officials from the government and federal agencies to identify the needs and resources for advancing the nation's health care," explained SNM President-Elect Alexander J. McEwan. "The power of molecular imaging to integrate information about location, structure, function and biology will lead to a package of noninvasive, in vivo imaging tools that could have vast potential for improving both patient care and the utilization of health care resources," he said. "Molecular imaging will complement the diagnosis and staging of disease in the absence of anatomic findings, help determine biological response to specific therapeutic agents, lead to an understanding of the pharmacology of new drugs using labeled analogues and initiate exploration of the efficacy of new therapies," said the director of oncologic imaging at Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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