RESTON, Va.-SNM and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO) will co-sponsor a symposium this fall examining the impact of translational advances on radiation oncology and cancer imaging. The two-day meeting, which takes place October 17-18, will bring together some of the world's leading experts and young investigators in the emerging field of molecular imaging.

"Collaborative forums, such as this meeting exploring intersections of molecular imaging and oncology, are critical to advancing our understanding of the underlying causes of disease," said SNM President Robert W. Atcher, Ph.D., M.B.A., emerging medical technology team leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and UNM/LANL Professor of Pharmacy at the University of New Mexico. "Continuing education and opportunities for colleagues to share research are essential to advancing the practice of molecular imaging-and to helping patients and their care givers gain the vital information they need in order to effectively treat disease as early as possible."

SNM's support of ASTRO's translational symposium is part of the society's broader initiative to partner with other organizations to bring the latest in molecular imaging research to patients. In SNM's initial inter-societal collaboration, SNM and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) developed a joint seminar on optimizing clinical trials, which was presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting, held in early June in Chicago, Ill., as well as at the SNM Annual Meeting in New Orleans, La., a few weeks later.
"As organizations whose missions focus on advancing health care, we must work together to meet the continual challenges that patients face in order to bring breakthrough technologies and treatments to the patient," said Chaitanya Divgi, M.D., chief of nuclear medicine and professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, who co-organized this symposium. "Molecular imaging is an integral step toward achieving the goal of personalized medicine, which promises to deliver specifically targeted treatments to individuals."

The ASTRO symposium, Translational Advances in Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Va. and will bring medical professionals and scientists together to explore and share research on the uses of molecular imaging in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Additional supporters of this meeting include the Radiological Society of North America and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group.

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