Reston, Va. - The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016-2018 SNMMI Wagner-Torizuka Fellowship. This two-year fellowship, founded in 2008 by the late Henry N. Wagner, Jr., MD, and the late Kanji Torizuka, MD, PhD, is designed to provide extensive training and experience in the fields of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging for Japanese physicians in the early stages of their careers.

“SNMMI is proud to sponsor the Wagner-Torizuka Fellowship. Each year, the program provides three outstanding Japanese scientists in the field of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging with two years of funding to further their research in the United States under the guidance of current leaders in the field.” said Gary L. Dillehay, MD, SNMMI past president and 2014-16 chair of the SNMMI Awards Committee.

The 2016-2018 fellows, each receiving an annual stipend of $24,000 (US), are:
Kimiteru Ito, MD, PhD, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan – His research focuses on the association between the therapeutic efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors and F-18-FDG PET/CT findings, as well as the interim F-18-FDG PET/CT and prognosis in patients with T-cell lymphoma. Ito is currently a visiting researcher in the molecular imaging and therapy service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y., under the supervision of Wolfgang Weber, MD.
Akira Toriihara, MD, PhD, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan – His research interests include the development of semi-quantitative assessments of SPECT/CT using Ga-67 citrate and I-123 ioflupane. Toriihara is studying at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Radiology’s Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Division under the supervision of Andrei Iagaru, MD, FACNM.
Takuya Toyonaga, MD, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan – He is researching C-11-UCB-J as a radioligand for imaging synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A and its potential application to Alzheimer’s Disease. Toyonaga is studying at the Yale School of Medicine PET Center under the supervision of Richard Carson, PhD.
The SNMMI Wagner-Torizuka Fellowship program, sponsored by Nihon Medi-Physics Co., Ltd., in Japan, has successfully graduated 24 fellows since its inauguration in 2008; currently, five fellows are studying at host institutions across the United States.

Applications and further information about requirements for the 2017-2019 SNMMI Wagner-Torizuka Fellowship are available online at www.snmmi.org/grants. Applications are due by January 20, 2017. For more information about these and other scholarships, visit www.snmmi.org/grants or contact the SNMMI Development Department at (703) 652-6780 or at tellmer@snmmi.org.

###

About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to raising public awareness about nuclear medicine and 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 and helping provide patients with the best health care possible.

SNMMI’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.snmmi.org.

Association Viewpoints Homepage