SNMTS PRESENTS AWARDS, ELECTS NEW OFFICERS AT SNM'S 56TH ANNUAL MEETING
More than 5,700 technologists, physicians, researchers, and other nuclear medicine professionals gathered at SNM's 56th annual meeting, held June 13–17 in Toronto. SNM leadership and researchers made international headlines and raised awareness about the importance of ensuring that critical nuclear medicine tests and procedures continue in light of the medical isotope crisis. As always, the 2009 annual meeting presented the latest cutting-edge research in advancing molecular imaging and provided opportunities for continuing education. During the meeting, the SNMTS inducted new officers, who will serve through June 2010. The SNMTS also recognized several technologists for their outstanding contributions to molecular imaging, nuclear medicine, and SNMTS.
SNMTS OFFICERS FOR 2009–2010
Cybil Nielsen, MBA, CNMT, of Louisville, KY, was invested as president of SNMTS during SNM's Annual Meeting in Toronto. Nielsen is the nuclear medicine technology program coordinator for Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville.

Cybil Nielsen
Prior to her current position, Nielsen—who has been a certified nuclear medicine technologist for more than a decade—also served as nuclear medicine manager at Norton Healthcare Inc., nuclear medicine supervisor at Norton Audubon Hospital, and nuclear medicine technologist at both Norton Southwest Hospital and Cardiovascular Consultants.
As president of SNMTS, Nielsen is leading efforts to encourage educational institutions to adopt the recently updated SNMTS-recommended curriculum for nuclear medicine technology. In addition, Nielsen is spearheading the implementation of SNMTS's new strategic plan, which strives to reach out to member and nonmember technologists in order to strengthen both the society and the profession.
Also during the annual meeting, SNMTS announced Kathy Hunt, MS, CNMT, of Memphis, TN, as president-elect. Hunt is assistant professor and program chair of nuclear medicine technology, Division of Allied Health, at Baptist College of Health Sciences (BCHS) in Memphis.

Kathy Hunt
Hunt has served at BCHS since 1998. Prior to joining the college, Hunt helped to develop its baccalaureate degree in radiologic sciences while employed at Baptist Memorial Hospital (BMH) in Memphis. From 1990 to 1998, Hunt directed and was primary instructor for the hospital's nuclear medicine technology certificate program. She was also a faculty member for BMH's School of Nuclear Medicine Technology from 1979 to 1990, teaching courses on radioimmunoassay, bioassay, nuclear medicine instrumentation, and counting statistics.
In the 2009 elections, SNMTS selected LeRoy H. Stecker III, CNMT, of Fleming Island, FL, to serve as secretary. Karen Martin, RT(N), CNMT, of Columbus, OH, was elected as SNMTS treasurer. Brenda J. King, CNMT, FSNMTS, of Carson, CA, was chosen as speaker of the National Council of Representatives. Lauren Cabral, BS, CNMT, RT(N)(CT), of Watertown, MA, Aaron Scott of Buford, GA, and Peggy Squires, BS, CNMT, NCT, of St. Charles, MO, are serving as board members.
PRESIDENTIAL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS
Kathy S. Thomas, MHA, CNMT, PET, FSNMTS, of Battle Ground, WA, was awarded the 2009 President's Distinguished Service Award for significant contributions to the SNMTS. Mark Wallenmeyer, MBA, CNMT, RT(N), and 2008–2009 SMTS president, presented the award in honor of her outstanding service to SNMTS and the nuclear medicine profession.

Kathy Thomas receiving award from Mark Wallenmeyer
Since 2005, Thomas has served as chair of the Education Committee, spearheading recommendations for Verification of Involvement of Continuing Education (VOICE) guidelines. Under her leadership, SNMTS won Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism A+ status from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, which enables SNMTS to offer A+ credits for future nuclear medicine advanced associates (NMAA) and radiology associates (RA). With Thomas's leadership, the Education Committee also reviewed more than 600 VOICE applications last year and clarified guidelines for reviewing and approving credits.
Over the years, Thomas has held numerous leadership positions within SNMTS. She was president and secretary-historian and has chaired various committees, such as the scientific teaching committee. She is past president of the Pacific Southwest Technologist Chapter and also served as a national council delegate.
Thomas, regional manager for applications and technical support for Capintec, Inc., has been active in nuclear medicine for more than 30 years. Prior to joining Capintec in 2006, she was a senior nuclear medicine technologist at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA. She received a Masters of Health Administration from LaVerne University and a BS from California Polytechnic State University.
In addition to SNM, Thomas' professional affiliations include serving as a board member of the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board and a member of the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Susan C. Weiss, CNMT, FSNMTS, received the SNMTS Lifetime Achievement Award at SNM's annual meeting in Toronto. 2008–2009 SNMTS President Mark Wallenmeyer presented the special award to Weiss, who was battling pancreatic cancer. Weiss died on July 19 in her hometown of Forest Lake, MN.

Sue Weiss receiving award from Mark Wallenmeyer
“Sue was an invaluable asset to SNMTS and to the profession of nuclear medicine,” said Wallenmeyer. “This award honors a great leader, educator, mentor, and friend whose entire career was dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine. She will be greatly missed.”
Weiss' professional career included many pioneering contributions to pediatric nuclear medicine. For more than 2 decades, she served as chief of nuclear medicine technology (NMT) at Children's Medical Hospital (CMH) in Chicago. She was responsible for adapting the first Anger gamma camera dedicated to a pediatric hospital for use with children. Her methods of preparing and sedating children for nuclear medicine procedures won a scientific exhibit award, and one of her first publications was a booklet on pediatric techniques. She also helped perfect a technique of direct radionuclide cystography that has been adopted around the world, and she participated in the first prospective pediatric dosimetry determinations for 99mTc-MAG3. She was instrumental in numerous other investigations and pediatric adaptations, including thallium SPECT imaging of the heart for Kawasaki disease and portable brain scintigraphic angiography for brain death, among many others. Weiss published 21 scientific abstracts and 20 scientific papers in prestigious journals.
Weiss was also a renowned NMT educator and mentor. She coached and taught technologist students from Triton and DuPage Colleges, as well as nuclear medicine residents from Northwestern University Medical School, Hines Veteran's Administration Hospital, Cook County Hospital, and the U.S. Armed Forces nuclear medicine training programs at CMH. Weiss presented more than 100 lectures in countries around the world, including Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Chile.
Weiss held many leadership positions at SNM and broke barriers for women and technologists. She was the first woman to be elected as president of SNMTS, and the first woman and technologist to be elected president of SNM's Education Research Foundation (ERF). She eventually became ERF's executive director. Due in part to her leadership, ERF now contributes more than $250,000 each year to nuclear medicine education and research. Weiss was also the first woman and technologist to be elected president of SNM's largest chapter, the Central Chapter, serving on its board of directors for 24 years. She held numerous terms on the SNM Board of Trustees, House of Delegates, and SNM and SNMTS committees, as well as the National Council of the SNMTS.
SNMTS FELLOWS
Mary Beth Farrell, MS, CNMT, NCT, FSNMTS, of Columbia, MD; David Gilmore, MS, CNMT, NCT, RT(R)(N), FSNMTS, of Boston; Mary Ann Owen, MHE, RT(N), FSNMTS, of Augusta, GA; and Harish Vaidya, BSC, CNM, NCT, FSNMTS, of Burtonsville, MD, were named 2009 SNMTS fellows. Established by the SNMTS National Council in 1995, the honor recognizes professional excellence and highlights significant contributions by technologists to the practice of nuclear medicine.
Mary Beth Farrell, technical director for the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories in Columbia, MD, has more than 20 years of experience in the field of nuclear medicine. She has worked in a full range of clinical settings, including hospital, research institution, private practice, and industry. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, she is board-certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board. In addition, she has achieved the advanced Nuclear Cardiology Technology certification. She is an active member of SNMTS, serving on the advocacy and publications committees. Her other affiliations include the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists.

Mary Beth Farrell receiving award from Mark Wallenmeyer
David Gilmore is program director for the School of Nuclear Medicine Technology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School in Boston. After receiving his nuclear medicine technology certification from Roanoke Memorial Hospitals in Virginia, Gilmore became active in several professional societies. He served as president of SNMTS from 2007 to 2008 and has taken on many leadership roles at the chapter and state levels for SNMTS and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. A member of the society's New England chapter, Gilmore has served on many SNMTS committees.

David Gilmore receiving award from Mark Wallenmeyer
Mary Anne (Mimi) Owen is an assistant professor and the program director of nuclear medicine technology in the Department of Biomedical and Radiological Technologies at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. A longtime active SNMTS member, Owen is certified as a registered technologist by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. She has received numerous awards, including the SNMTS Outstanding Educator award in 2007, a Bristol-Myers Squibb educational teaching grant, and a teaching and technology grant from the Medical College of Georgia.

Mimi Owen
Harish Vaidya is chief technologist at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, MD. A member of SNM and SNMTS for more than 25 years, Vaidya has served on numerous committees, including the Advanced Practice and Advocacy committees, and was elected to the National House of Delegates. Vaidya is also an active member and past president of SNM's Mideastern Chapter. Vaidya has been an active proponent of the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility, and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (CARE) bill for almost a decade, representing SNMTS, the Mideastern Chapter, and the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board.

Harish Vaidya receiving award from Mark Wallenmeyer
OUTSTANDING TECHNOLOGIST
Aaron T. Scott, BS, CNMT, of Buford, GA, was selected as the 2009 SNMTS Outstanding Technologist in recognition of his significant service and dedication to the field of nuclear medicine technology.
“Aaron Scott's achievements and commitment to the nuclear medicine profession exemplify the qualities that all technologists should cultivate as we work to advance our profession,” said Mark Wallenmeyer, 2008–2009 SNMTS president. “His dedication to providing the highest level of patient care and to improving the practice of nuclear medicine technology is what we strive for as professionals and as a society.”
Since 2004, Scott has served as chief nuclear medicine technologist at Rockdale Medical Center in Conyers, GA. He is responsible for overseeing a department of 7 technologists and 2 cameras, including all contracts, inspections, supplies, scans, treatments, scheduling, and teaching programs. He is also a general and cardiac nuclear medicine technologist for Emory University Hospital, where he oversees technologist student training and developed an observation program for prospective nuclear medicine students.
Scott is an active member of SNMTS and was 2008–2009 president of the Southeastern SNMTS. He is a past president of the Georgia Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologists.

Aaron Scott
Scott, a veteran of the U.S. Army, served as armored reconnaissance specialist, an Army ROTC cadet at Clark Atlanta University, and an officer of the Medical Service Corps. He received numerous awards during his years of service, including the National Defense Medical and Junior Officer of the Year awards.
OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR
William L. Hubble, MA, CNMT, RT(R)(N)(CT), FSNMTS, of St. Louis, MO, was chosen as the 2009 SNMTS Outstanding Educator.
“Throughout his career, William Hubble's efforts to educate and inspire both new technologists and those well established in their fields have significantly contributed to the advancement and promotion of nuclear medicine technology,” said SNMTS 2008–2009 President Mark Wallenmeyer. “His selfless dedication as a mentor and his willingness to share knowledge and ideas with colleagues and students have provided a much-needed spark for so many professionals.”
Hubble is academic chairperson in the department of medical imaging and radiation therapeutics at St. Louis University, MO. He has been an extremely active member of SNMTS, serving on numerous committees, including the Education Committee since 2000. Hubble was also elected as a representative of the National Council and the National House of Delegates. On the regional and local levels, Hubble is a member and past president of the SNMTS Missouri Valley Chapter, and he is past president of the SNMTS Greater St. Louis Society of Nuclear Medicine. He is an active member of several other professional organizations, including the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and the St. Louis Cancer Center.
Hubble has made numerous presentations and is the author of many publications, abstracts, and peer-reviewed journal articles.
JNMT AWARDS
The authors of 3 papers selected as the most outstanding contributions to Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology in 2008 received awards from JNMT Editor-in-Chief Frances Neagley, CNMT, FSNMTS, during SNM's 56th annual meeting. The lead authors and their colleagues were recognized at a ceremony held during SNMTS's annual business meeting.
“These papers represent the broad range of investigative endeavors—across the spectrum of clinical, radiopharmaceutical, technological, and basic sciences—in which nuclear medicine technologists are involved today,” said Neagley. “We congratulate this year's awardees and all those whose contributions continue to make JNMT a vital resource that is constantly evolving to meet the changing scientific and professional needs of our readers.”
First Place
Susan McQuattie, “Pediatric PET/CT imaging: tips and techniques,” J Nucl Med Technol. 36:171–178.

Susan McQuattie
Second Place
Lena Johansson, Milan Lomsky, Peter Gjertsson, Maria Sallerup-Reid, Johanna Johansson, Nils Göran Ahlin, and Lars Edenbrandt, “Can nuclear medicine technologists assess whether a myocardial perfusion rest study is required?” J Nucl Med Technol. 36:181–185.

Lena Johansson
Third Place
Martha V. Mar, Renee L. Dickinson, William D. Erwin, and Richard E. Wendt III, “Optimal 57Co flood source activity and acquisition time for lymphoscintigraphy localization images,” J Nucl Med Technol. 36:82–87.

Martha Mar
SCIENTIFIC AWARDS
During the annual meeting, more than 200 scientific research abstracts and papers were presented by members of the SNMTS. Researchers and students with outstanding oral presentations and posters were recognized with awards. The technologist abstracts presented at the SNM 2009 annual meeting were printed in the June issue of JNMT and may be accessed online at http://tech.snmjournals.org.
Technologist Paper Abstract Awards
First Place
Christopher Breault, “Dose reduction in cardiac imaging.”
Second Place
L. Constantinescu, “Rapid interactive smartphone access to PET-CT data for improved patient care.”
Third Place
Douglass Vines, “A constancy test to monitor cross-calibration factors for a small animal SPECT-CT scanner.”
Technologist Poster Abstract Awards
First Place
Russell Folks, “The effect of spatial and temporal filtering on automatic parameter definition in gated myocardial perfusion SPECT.”
Second Place
Andrea Perez, “Effect on quantitative ROI Striatal Binding ratios (SBR) due to external point sources used as fiducial markers for brain imaging.”
Third Place
Tricia Locascio, “FDG-PET and its potential impact on scan evaluation and clinical trial eligibility.”
Technologist Student Abstract Awards
First Place
Chris Nation, “Impact of head holder in reducing misregistration in the area of the head and neck on PET/CT.”
Second Place
Stephanie Chacko, “Shielding calculations for a positron emission mammography facility.”
Third Place
Abigail Rosenthal, “Impact of PET/CT on ovarian cancer diagnosis, staging, and management care.”