The 53rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, held June 3–7, 2006, in San Diego, CA, brought together technologists, physicians, and scientists from around the world for five days of information exchange, professional recognition, and camaraderie. During the meeting, the Technologist Section inducted new officers for the coming year, and a number of technologists were recognized for their contributions to nuclear medicine and the Technologist Section.
SNMTS OFFICERS FOR 2006–7
D. Scott Holbrook, BS, CNMT, RT(N), assumed the office of president during the business meeting of the SNMTS. “SNMTS recognizes the importance of developing the imaging specialists of the future,” said Holbrook, vice president of Clinical Pharmacy Services, an independent nuclear pharmacy in Gray, TN. “As president, I will focus on providing the necessary education and developing the highest standards in providing quality patient care.”
His tasks as SNMTS president will include stewardship of two initiatives supported by the Technologist Section: a baccalaureate degree entry-level requirement for technologists and the development of a master's degree–level nuclear medicine practitioner career path. “As SNMTS carries these two initiatives forward, we will continue to fight for the Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence and RadCARE bills, which support federal minimum standards for nuclear medicine and radiologic technologists and radiation therapists,” he said. In addition, the SNMTS will continue to lobby on insurance coverage and reimbursement issues and for increased funding for key medical radioisotope production and basic science research at the Department of Energy.
Holbrook previously served as market development manager and territory manager for PETNET Pharmaceuticals (Knoxville, TN). A member of SNM's Mideastern Chapter, he is a founder of the SNMTS PET Learning Center and one of the original authors of the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board's PET exam, the Society's PET/CT consensus paper, and the SNM PET/CT guideline. He is the current vice chair of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology—Technologist Section. He is the author of more than 50 articles and has made more than 100 presentations.
Holbrook received a bachelor of science degree in nuclear medicine technology from Wheeling Jesuit University (WV) and was named an SNMTS Fellow during the SNM 2005 Annual Meeting.
David Gilmore, MS, CNMT, an assistant professor and clinical coordinator for the nuclear medicine technology program at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Boston, MA), was named as SNMTS president- elect at the San Diego meeting. “As an SNM Technologist Section leader, I will continue to work for licensure, ensure that high-quality educational offerings are available to all technologists in every part of the country, and push forward promoting high standards of professionalism,” he said. “This is especially important since we are working in a rapidly changing environment with numerous challenges, including the use of PET with CT; state licensure conflicts; new regulations, radiopharmaceuticals, and continuing education requirements; the dawn of the PET/MR imaging age; and a shortage/oversupply seesaw.” Gilmore previously served as associate director of clinical operations for Bracco Diagnostics (Princeton, NJ).
David Gilmore
Outgoing SNMTS President Valerie Cronin clips “-elect” from incoming SNMTS President Scott Holbrook's “President-elect” ribbon at the Technologist Section business meeting, officially initiating his term as president.
Gilmore holds a master of science degree in education from Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) and a bachelor's degree in health sciences from Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA). The American Society of Radiologic Technologists member received his nuclear medicine technology certificate from Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia and has also earned a certificate in project management from Boston University. He serves on the board of directors for the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board. He joined SNMTS in 1994 and has also served on the Finance, Emerging Technologies, Education, Advocacy, and Nominating committees.
In the 2006 elections, the SNMTS membership selected Mary Beth Farrell, CNMT (Pittsburgh, PA), as SNMTS secretary and elected Mark Wallenmeyer, CNMT (Springfield, MO), to the Finance Committee.
OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD
Daniel T. Guarasci of Lancaster, NY, a clinical assistant professor of nuclear medicine with the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo for nearly 10 years, was named the 2006 SNM Technologist Section Outstanding Educator.
“Daniel Guarasci has a special talent that sets him apart from other educators,” said Valerie R. Cronin, CNMT, SNMTS outgoing president. “He translates complex information into the understandable, whether he's teaching nuclear medicine technology students or residents or pharmacy students,” she added.
“It is quite gratifying to be recognized by the SNMTS, and I appreciate the support and acknowledgement,” said Guarasci, a certified nuclear medicine technologist and a licensed pharmacist who also serves as a clinical instructor for the Department of Medical Technology with the School of Health Related Professions at SUNY at Buffalo.
Valerie Cronin presents Daniel Guarasci with the SNMTS Outstanding Educator Award.
A licensed medical/health physicist, Guarasci earned a doctorate of pharmacy, a master of science degree in radiation biology and bachelor of science degrees in pharmacy and in nuclear medicine, all from SUNY at Buffalo. He is certified by the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine, the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties, and the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board. An SNMTS member since 1987, he is vice president of the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS
As outgoing SNMTS president, Cronin selected William Hubble, MA, CNMT, RT(R)(N)(C), and Martha Pickett, CNMT, FSNMTS, as the 2006 recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Service Awards. Pickett is chair of Nuclear Medicine Technology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock), and has been a leader in the Technologist Section's efforts to design the nuclear medicine practitioner program. Hubble is assistant professor, chair and program director of the Nuclear Medicine Technology Program, at St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO.
Valerie Cronin presents Bill Hubble with his Presidential Distinguished Service Award.
“Martha and Bill are hard working, goal-oriented individuals with a breadth of experience in their specific areas,” Cronin commented. “Their accomplishments throughout the year made them an easy choice for my award. They kept the momentum and progress moving forward.”
Martha Pickett, left, accepts her Presidential Distinguished Service Award from Valerie Cronin.
JNMT AWARDS
Beth A. Harkness, CNMT, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology (JNMT), presented awards to the authors of 3 articles chosen as outstanding contributions to JNMT in 2005. The lead authors or their representatives received plaques and honoraria in a ceremony held during the annual business meeting of the SNMTS on June 6. The Education and Research Foundation for SNM funded prizes of $500 and $100 for the first and second place awards.
First Place
Fiona O. Roberts, Dishan H. Gunawardana, Kunthi Pathmaraj, Anthony Wallace, Paul L. U, Tian Mi, Sam U. Berlangieri, Graeme J. O'Keefe, Chris C. Rowe, and Andrew M. Scott received the first-place award ($500 and a plaque) for “Radiation Dose to PET Technologists and Strategies to Lower Occupational Exposure” (J Nucl Med Technol. 2005;33:44–47).
Leisl Anderson, right, accepted the first place JNMT award on behalf of Fiona Roberts from Beth Harkness.
Second Place
Waheeda Sureshbabu and Osama Mawlawi for “PET/CT Imaging Artifacts” (J Nucl Med Technol. 2005;33:156–181).
Third-place
Claude Wastiel, Jean-François Valley, Angelika Bischof Delaloye, Michel Leresche, Reto Linder, Manfred Sassowsky, and François O. Bochud for “Intercomparison of Activity Measurements for ß-Emitters in Swiss Nuclear Medicine Laboratories” (J Nucl Med Technol. 2005;33:238–242).
Beth Harkness, left, presented Waheeda Sureshbabu with the second place award for an outstanding contribution to JNMT.
SCIENTIFIC AWARDS
The outstanding scientific research presented at the meeting by technologists was recognized with a series of awards for oral presentations, posters, and student presentations. The abstracts below may be accessed through the JNMT Web site at http://tech.snmjournals.org.
Scientific Abstracts
First Place
Danny Basso, Gregory G. Passmore, Michael Holman, Ward Rogers, and Leslie Walters for “A Clinical Evaluation of a Wide Beam Reconstruction Method for Shortening Scan Time of Gated Cardiac Rest/Stress SPECT,” abstract 2013.
Second Place
Severine Orio, Juliette Feuardent, Marc Froissart, and Marc Faraggi for “Estimation of the Radiation Exposure of Technologists Working With a PET/CT,” abstract 2028.
Third Place
Scott F. Huston, Crystal Botkin, Penny Yost, and Medhat M. Osman for “Warm Blanket: A Simple Common Sense Solution to the Problem of FDG Uptake in Brown Adipose Tissue,” abstract 2022.
Scientific Posters
First Place
Iwase Mikio, Shibamoto Yuta, Kojima Akihiro, Tomita Yoya, Yamashita Eiji, Kobayashi Toshiki, Nishio Masami, Iwata Hiroshi, and Tamaki Tsuneo for “Influence of the Gaussian Filter Used for CT Attenuation Correction on PET Images,” abstract 2081.
Second Place
Hideaki Kitamura, Takashi Sato, Kazumasa Inoue, Hideo Kurosawa, Takashi Tanaka, Shigeru Nawano, Masahiro Fukushi, and Akira Hirayama for “Measurement of SUV Difference Applying With Different CT Number for Attenuation Correction,” abstract 2084.
Third Place
Katsuyuki Tanimoto, Kyosan Yoshikawa, Talajorp Shiraishi, Akira Ando, Toshio Miyamoto, Shigeru Yamada, Kazuhiro Watanabe, and Hirohiko Tsujii for “Comparison of SUV and Brain Reference Index for Response Evaluation in Carbon Ion Radiotherapy Using FDG-PET,” abstract 2082.
Cardiovascular Council Awards
First Place
Danny Basso, Gregory G. Passmore, Michael Holman, Ward Rogers, and Leslie Walters for “A Clinical Evaluation of a Wide Beam Reconstruction Method for Shortening Scan Time of Gated Cardiac Rest/Stress SPECT,” abstract 2013.
Second Place
Suzanne Z. Karzoun, Asit K. Paul, Pamela Anderson, Deborah Erb, Bruce L. Platt, and Hani A. Nabi, “Effects of Reconstruction on the Electrocardiographic Gated Blood Pool SPECT Measurements,” abstract 2015.
Third Place
Dmitry Beyder, Abhishek Chatterjee, and Jean Aime for “A Comparison of the Manual and Automatic Method When Calculating Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction From SPECT MUGA Imaging,” abstract 2014.
Student Abstracts
First Place
Meghan Blase, Dana Oliver, and Medhat M. Osman for “Patterns of Uptake in the Subareolar Plexus as Detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT: Does Gender or Bra Use Matter?” abstract 2140.
Second Place
Nicole E. Boyd, Michael Zimmer, Peter Cutrera, Nancy McDonald, and Stewart Spies for “Evaluation of Radiation Levels of Various Syringe Shields Containing Sm-153 Lexidronam,” abstract 2114.
Third Place
Ash Rafique, Steven Parmett, Dana Rausch, Ping Lu, Nazar Golewale, Melissa Quispe, Chun K. Kim, Josef Machac, Richard Stern, and Borys R. Krynyckyi for “Improved Breast and Axillary Lesion Detection on PET Imaging Through the Novel Use of a Breast Holding Device,” abstract 2134.
Student Travel Awards
SNMTS offered $500 awards to cover travel expenses for 10 technologist students who presented abstracts at the 53rd SNM Annual Meeting. Funds for these awards were provided by the SNMTS Professional Development and Education Fund (PDEF) with support from these PDEF Corporate Friends: Biogen Idec, Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, Capintec Inc., GE Healthcare, Mallinckrodt Inc., and MDS Nordion.
The 10 travel award recipients ware Kristen Knerzer, St. Joseph's Hospital, Marshfield, WS; Jared Thatcher, Kathryn Leonard, and Isaac Tran, all Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; Chanh Vu, Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA; Alice Hall, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN; and Jerlin Jacob, Jamie Mathews, Urvi Patel, and Jennifer Tordai, all Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL.
