A wide-ranging introduction to the SNMMI 2023 Annual Meeting which took place in Chicago. Topics include what to expect during the meeting, an overview of a patient success story featuring a partnership between nuclear medicine and medical oncology, a salute to highlight country India, an overview of the meeting section dedicated to technologists, an initiative to reimagine the annual meeting to make it more productive for participants, and a Bhangra dance demonstration.
Chapters (Click to go to chapter start)
Opening Remarks by Munir Ghesani, MD, Chief of Nuclear Medicine for Mount Sinai Health System and Associate Professor of Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Story of patient treated with Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT), a highly targeted and effective form of radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) with minimal side effects for treating NETs, featuring Edward M. Wolin, MD, Director of the Center for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumors at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai and Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) at the Icahn School Introduction of the Indian Society of Nuclear Medicine “Everything Dope About America Comes from Chicago,” a talk by Chicago Historian Dilla Thomas SNMMI-TS President’s Welcoming Address featuring Krystle M. Glasgow, MIS, CNET, NMTCB (CT), NMAA, FSNMMI-TS, about the rich history of Nuclear Medicine in Chicago SNMMI Technologist Section Overview Reimaging the Annual Meeting Address by Deputy Counsel General of India Address by the President of the Indian Nuclear Medicine Society Bhangra Dance Demonstration
Featured Faculty
Munir Ghesani, MD
View full profile
Edward M. Wolin, M Director of the Center for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumors
View full profile
Good evening, everyone and welcome, beautiful evening in Chicago. Welcome to Chicago. And I'm delighted to welcome you to the 2023 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging annual meeting. We have hundreds of attendees here in person in Chicago and hundreds more attending the meeting virtually. So whether you are here in front of me or viewing from your computer. Welcome. I'm fortunate to have my family here with me and I'm very grateful for all their support that has always been there in the forefront of my mind. 60 years ago. Yes, I agree. 60 years ago, a research team right here in Chicago is credited with so much work that has gone on to the field of nuclear medicine in advancing it. And I'll talk about that in a moment. Uh The first ever annual meeting is happening in Chicago in the 70 year history. So it's quite remarkable. This is a place where uh we have first time coming in. There are so many other places that SNMM I meeting has taken place. So this is a historic first, coincidentally, there's another historic first, which is that there's a first ever SNMM I annual meeting in Chicago, but also the very first NASCAR race car, street car street race car going on in Chicago. Fortunately, we are just a few days apart because initially, we had received some notice that we might in fact not have some of the roads available for our attendees to travel to mccormick Center. Fortunately, we have put that behind, but I'm happy to report that NASCAR is following the suit of SNMM. I, So as I mentioned about the professional contributions in the field of uh nuclear medicine, this group led by Robert back uh who unfortunately passed away in 2008, had done some pioneering work along with Paul Harper, Catherine Lathrop and Don Charleston, one of the first teams to investigate the tools of modern nuclear medicine. They're best known for their introduction of technician 19 NM into clinical practice all the way back in 19 sixties. And now as we visit the Chicago, the site of those very early efforts, Technician 19 NM is used more than 20 million times a year worldwide to identify tumors and cardiac and neurologic and other disease processes. We do have come a long way. The discipline of nuclear medicine is stronger than ever. And some of the work that has been uh pioneered by Paul Harper and his team is described here and he went on to receive uh the Paul Ebersol Award for his outstanding contributions. Not only he worked on the use of technician 19 9 M in the introduction, but he was the pioneer who refined optimizing our columns to get the best image quality from technician 19 9 M imaging. So credit to him and his group. So as now the discipline is getting stronger than ever, the future is exceptionally bright as you know, radio pharmaceutical therapies and thos are at the forefront of the field. New imaging techniques now provide extraordinary photon sensitivity with very low levels of radioactivity. And we are minimizing the time for all imaging procedures that we do, whether it's spec or pet or planar imaging and artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping the research and development of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. Our SNMM I annual meeting echoes the growth and development of the field, presenting it skillfully curated selection of top research in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. Many thanks to the members of the SNMM I scientific program committee chaired by Heather Jaine and let's give them a big round of applause. A lot of work has gone into so many tracks that are being offered in this meeting and that includes not only the work by the S PC, led by Dr Jaine, but also enormous work by an Latham and Amy Scholl that have been really busy over several months in preparing for this meeting. The theme for this. And this is by the way, the entire uh committee that I would like to acknowledge their effort and the theme of this year's meeting is eye on the patient because ultimately the point of all innovative research development, education and practice we do is to provide the highest quality patient care for our patients and achieve improved outcomes. While reducing the downstream cost to the health care, we must continue to do everything we can to support the field and to fight for access for our patients. To illustrate that point, I would like to introduce Doctor Edward Wallen, a world renowned physician and the director of Center of Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine tumors at Mount Sinai along with a patient that we shared Marie Redwood uh to come to the stage. Hi, everybody. I'd like to. Uh First of all, thank Snmm I and Doctor GSI for allowing me to speak to this group today. It's a real honor and a privilege. I'll be discussing integrating PR RT in the multimodality treatment of neuro integra tumors. A case discussion. Our case involves a 48 year old lady who developed abdominal pain in august of 2021 had AC T scan showing a large pancreatic mass and innumerable liver metastases. A core biopsy was performed which demonstrated a well differentiated neuroendocrine tumor grade two with a K 67 to 5%. She had a go gallium 68 dot Ta Pet C that showed that all of her tumor masses were strongly positive for some metalstat receptors. Crying score four. She was started on an aggressive chemotherapy program in an effort to reduce the size of the tumors. Uh using capecitabine temozolomide and lanreotide. Unfortunately, this only worked for a short period of time. And in June of 2022 tumors began growing and she developed massive watery diarrhea. Her tumor was producing vasoactive intestinal polypeptide known as VIP. She had a level of 31,685 micrograms per milliliter with the upper limit of normal being 58.8. At that point, she was referred for PR RT in view of her strong somatostatin receptor expression and the diagnosis of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. It seemed the ideal therapy for her at that time. However, it couldn't be administered because she had intractable watery diarrhea, which just continued to worsen. And after going in and out of the emergency room was hospitalized for nearly five months straight. Beginning in November 2022. When she was in the hospital with severe watery diarrhea, she had complications of dehydration, severe electrolyte derangement, acidosis, acute kidney failure and heia analysis, bacteria was treated with um intravenous infusion of octreotide TPN inpatient chemotherapy regimens of multiple types and everything that was done did not improve the diarrhea a bit. Um Although the renal function uh fortunately recovered after um the multidisciplinary discussion, we um decided to go ahead and use PR RT despite the poor performance status that patient had at the time. And um the lack of other alternatives. And the lack of um any procedures in place at that moment for doing inpatient PR RT. It was nevertheless accomplished with the uh extraordinary efforts of Doctor Gasana. And two weeks later, that's all. Two weeks later, she was discharged from the hospital. No diarrhea, no pain, no nausea, no electrolyte abnormalities, eating normally no TPN creatine was normal at 0.4 and the plasma VIP level had fallen from over 31,000 to 108.9 picograms per milliliter. This is what her no to take pet looked like you could see not only massive disease but extraordinarily high. Um so metalstat receptor expression and I could tell you that it wasn't just advances in technology that led to her recovery but taking very seriously some of the lessons we learned from the wisdom of Ancient India. You know, the story of the 10 blind philosophers who were very brilliant in their um in their field. Each one trying to discover the nature of an elephant but being blind, they had to rely on palpation and one felt an ear and thought it was a fan, one felt a tail and thought it was a snake and so on. And so these men of Hindustan disputed loud and long each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong. Although each was partly in the right or in the wrong. It was only possible when they sat down at a table and talked to each other. It was possible to come up with the uh full nature of the problem and what to do about identifying an elephant. The universal symbol for a carcinoid patient is a zebra. So what we do is not have an elephant in the middle of the room, but a zebra in the middle of the room. And instead of having 10 blind philosophers sitting at the table, we have 10 medical specialists who brilliant in their own fields as they may be, are partially blind to the full capabilities of the other specialties, we have to sit down and talk to each other. And by doing that can create individualized, personalized treatment plans that can make all the difference. And in this case was life saving. So I'm really honored to turn the podium over to um Miss Marie Redwood, our esteemed patient who will tell about herself. I was critically ill next to death, but I did not give up on myself. I was introduced to the Pr Rt treatment. In spite of its side effects, I gladly accepted it within two weeks. My symptoms were all gone here. I am today. No more symptoms. I can walk over a mile. I can run. I can do just about everything. I'm so independent. Thanks to Doctor Wallen and his team for such an amazing job for yet another chance to live. Pr RT really works for me, Pr Rt. That's the way for me. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. It, thank you, Doctor Lin. And thank you, Miss Redwood. It reminds me of and first of all, this message of 10 blind men should resonate with us in more ways than one as we embark on our thess, we need to adapt our participation in the multidisciplinary format, whether it's on individual conferences or in between connecting to our clinicians in advancing the care and most importantly, advancing the outcome and improving the outcome of our patients. So I'll give you a couple of updates on how that materialize. As you just heard. Uh Miss Redwood was in the hospital for almost six months and uh we have been trying to see if there is any measure we can take to at least discharge her for a few days, so we can give her the outpatient therapy. Ultimately, it was very apparent that having 25 to 35 diarrhea in a day and having multiple electrolyte imbalances, multiple admissions back and forth between the floor and the IC U. It was almost impossible to have her discharged and give the therapy. Ultimately, we created this email group of 75 different participants from different divisions of the hospital that included the president, the CMO the Pathology Department, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, clinical oncology, and so on and so forth. And ultimately, the approval came through when uh we finally gave the treatment and I, when I went back to see her she was still having the effect of Pr RT over time. But I recall very clearly the third day when I went there, there was a full plate of breakfast in the morning on her table and I joked with her and I said, is this for one of the nurses? And she says, no, I'm going to have it all by myself. And that's when I realized that it was the impact of Pr Rt that led until then she had absolutely no appetite. She was not able to eat anything and was running back and forth between bathroom and her bed. And so that became very clear that if Apr RT can make a difference in those few days and you can see her. Now, Dr Wallen on the backstage was telling me that I think she should be featured on the cover page of Wellness magazine. And I said, I second that concept. So this is one illustration of our patient that goes a long way in uh emphasizing that we will have to work in a multidisciplinary care to advance the care of our patients and improve their outcomes. Before I move on, I have a few more notes. I'm especially pleased to welcome the delegation of Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging professionals from India. This year's annual meeting, highlight country. I'm pleased that Dr Matthew Tucker, the first SNMM I president of Indian origin will be joining the festivities. I would like to acknowledge the tireless work of uh her a bin rash, Amal and Chi efforts and remarkable supports also from Anne and Amy in making this happen. And I'm also grateful for the sponsorship support from Jubilant for the highlight country booth. We look forward to hearing from our peers at the Indian Society of Nuclear Medicine throughout the meeting about the practice, the research and contributions that will go on and these are some of the tracks that are listed here. Please take time to go attend and see how powerful work is happening in the forefront of both diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine in India. I had the fortune of attending their annual meeting in December last year and it was an eye opening experience of many frontiers in the next stage of thess are being developed in India. So you will hear more and more about that in the coming months and the years. The other thing you should be looking forward to is Indian food music and ban that will follow in a few minutes. And the culture of India will be featured throughout the sessions as well as at the highlight country booth. So please take time to go visit the booth immediately after the the opening session, the poster hall and the exhibit will be open and we'll kick off the meeting with the welcome reception. So all are invited and I hope to see you all there. I look forward to having a chance to interact with you at the reception as well as at various sessions throughout the meeting. I'm very excited to be part of the team scintillator at the Knowledge Ball tomorrow go scintillator tomorrow morning. And uh I would particularly like to express my sincere gratitude to remarkable and solid support we have received from our industry partners for their sponsorship and exhibits. We have 210 exhibits this year and we set a record for all time high square footage of the exhibit space beating the record that was set in Miami several years ago. So, thank you. Our exhibitors and our industry sponsors, the next four days will be filled with showcasing, cutting edge, research, education, collaboration, and networking. But we do hope that you get a chance to fit, fit in some fun while you are in this windy city. I can't wait for the next segment. A scoop from our well known Chicago Insider. Stay tuned. It's coming. Thank you all, ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome Chicago historian, Dilla Thomas. Thank you. Thank you very much. Truly honored to be here. Uh I told him I wasn't gonna stand behind this thing, so that's why they wired me. I also told them I'm gonna do my best to ignore that clock because I'm gonna run right over that stop sign. Uh But my name is Dill. I fancy myself a Chicago historian. I'm truly honored that you guys chose Chicago uh for your conference to come together to share ideas. A lot of times when I come somewhere when I, when I step on stage to present, uh people say, yo, that's a Chicago historian. Uh maybe because I don't have the cool tweed jacket with a, with a nice dope uh elbow pads. Right. I'm working on getting one of those, but I am truly indeed a Chicago historian. And I love the fact that despite what you may hear about Chicago, you decided to come here anyway and celebrate yourself. So round of applause for that, I'm probably preaching to the choir to tell you that Chicago is arguably the first city in the world to successfully perform an open heart surgery. Uh guy by the name of Doctor Daniel Hale Williams on the south side of Chicago at the All Black Providence Hospital in 18 93 performed the world's arguably uh first open heart surgery. Now again, historian, not a doctor, but as I understand it, our heart sits in a sack. Uh This guy James Cornish sadly was stabbed, the knife nicked that stack. And in 18 93 we didn't have x-rays, we didn't have anesthesiology. We didn't have that cool tool that the doctor uses to crack your chest to even get to your heart without all of that. On the south side of Chicago, 5 ft eight black dude, light skinned with a part down the middle of his head. He performed the world's first successful open heart surgery and I'm sure when people saw him, the perspective was a little bit different. Uh, well, I can tell you a lot of our perspectives is Chicago. In fact that, uh, when the homies in India were fighting for their independence, most American media ignored their fight. Chicago had a newspaper, the Chicago Defender. And that publication is the publication that, uh, starts to tell the world that our homies in India too are trying to get the red coats off their back. And we knew a little something about that. So uh we start to do our part and help that. But Chicago has so much more than just medical history to offer. In fact, you should know that we're the first city in the world to come up with sky skyscrapers. And our architectures has changed the way that people build buildings uh throughout the face of this globe. And it was a person who didn't present himself as a, a building builder who gives us a skyscraper. He was actually an engineer and he built bridges. And so when you build a bridge, actually, when he was building bridges, technology changes. So you put a bridge down and dudes are using like horses to cross your bridge or horses and horse carriages are only gonna bear a certain amount of weight. But then just in a few couple of years, horseless carriages are now crossing that same bridge and those horseless carriages can bear more weight So this dude by the name of William Baron Jenny, who was an engineer, a bridge maker, decided that he would uh try his hand at uh architecture. And so he decides to take that same theory he's building for weight. And instead of building a bridge horizontally, he builds it vertically that becomes the home insurance building located on Monroe and La Salle here in Chicago. And that's the first skyscraper first building to be taller than eight stories. And it comes from Chicago and now you go to Dubai, they got like buildings that touch the clouds, right? That concept comes from our city. And I'm sure when people saw William Le Baron Jenning, uh his perception, people's perception of him was a little bit different than a guy who would go on to change how we do architecture uh science here in our city. The number one engineering feat of the 18 hundreds is the reversal of the Chicago River. Formerly we were putting. So it's not, we didn't have any uh EPA in the 18 nineties. And so we were throwing everything in the Chi River. Chicago River flowed into lake Michigan. Lake Michigan was on drinking water. People were starting to get sick. The good doctor was just talking about diarrhea. Uh One third of Chicago died of cholera because we were drinking uh the bad water. So we dig a canal that's lower than the Chicago River. It forces gravity to pull the water back now that water flows into the Mississippi river. It goes down to Saint Louis, right. Saint Louis actually sued Chicago because of that. Um They lost in the Supreme Court. We had to start the Saint Louis Water reclamation district. So uh the same time we started the metropolitan water reclamation district. We started Saint Louis Water reclamation district. But don't feel bad for them, they get us back, they bottle that water, they sent it to Chicago and they call it Budweiser. They, they get us back but it's, it's Chicago that gave the world the chocolate brownie the first time that there was a blood bank ready for surgery. It was Chicago Cook County Hospital. The first time anyone was a medical intern. Chicago, right? Used to just be you hung around for a doctor a little while. And somebody said, yeah, he's a doctor too. And now you're cutting on folks, right? Chicago created medical interns. If you ever heard of the me the Mayo Clinic, right? Done by the Mayo brothers. They were trained by Christian finger. Christian finger has a high school here in Chicago named for him because he was a Chicagoan. But if you ask Christian finger who was his favorite teacher was doctor Daniel Hale Williams that filed for a black doctor with the part there in the middle of his head. So, hey, first of all, leave the downtown area, nobody's gonna carjack you. They're not gonna slap your waffle out your hand. It's gonna be totally fine. This is an American awesome city and I want you to celebrate it. But I do wanna thank you for all that you do for medicine. Thank you for the lives that you save. Thank you for waking up one day wanting to be a doctor. Uh The experience of my life was being able to speak at which is the International Holocaust Remembrance uh Museum in Jerusalem. And there I heard a grandma told her kid to stop vetting and then our um group elder was like, she can say to stop cave, but you can't tell anyone to stop cave. I was like, yeah, no problem. I ain't part of the trap but I am a history nerd. You guys are science nerds. So to a room full of nerds. Thank you for waking up and doing what you do. Hey, enjoy Chicago. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Snmm I technology section, President Crystal Glasgow. Hello, I am so excited to be here in Chicago. This city is a rich nuclear medicine history and the technologist section hopes to continue that long history of nuclear medicine. First, right here in Chicago with the first ever technologist, student Leadership Academy and Careers in nuclear medicine recruitment program. This time last year, we had just formed a new technologist pipeline task force focused on creating a comprehensive outreach strategy to promote nuclear medicine technology as an appealing and rewarding field for students. Now, just one year later, the S and MITS has launched two successful programs towards this goal, the nuclear medicine technologist, student Leadership Academy and the Nuclear medicine technologist recruitment program, the NMT recruitment program with over 55 students and parents registered was held earlier here. Today. The inaugural program provided high school students with an opportunity to learn about a career as a nuclear medicine technologist, they learned to understand the educational requirements and options, the exciting job market, post graduation and opportunities for growth. In addition, the S and MM I technologist section also arranged for a college recruitment specialist to join the event to provide several key sessions in which high schoolers were challenged with considering what their passion is, what they like to do and just what makes them happy. We were thrilled to welcome Doctor Brittany Avon mckelvey, a Papyri thyroid cancer survivor who was initially diagnosed when she was only 13 years old and she came to speak to the students about her journey, the volunteer work that she does. She also discussed that and she talked about her current position as the Director of Regulatory Affairs at Friends of Cancer Research. Finally, the event ended with a tour of the exhibit hall and a college fair with over 20 nuclear medicine technologist program directors. And they came to showcase their program and talk about available scholarships and outlining the admission plans that the students may need to have to say that we are excited about. This event would be a tremendous understatement. Today also marked the inaugural S and Mmits Leadership Student Academy building. On over 15 years of Leadership academy success, the technologist section knew that the time was right to provide a very unique opportunity for NMT students to learn key leadership skills and participate in team activities to reinforce and practice implementing what they learned here today. With over 70 students in attendance. The S and Mmits with sponsorship from the American Registry for Radiologic Technologists provided 10 scholarships to students and allowed each student to complete an online emotional intelligence assessment instrument, the emotional quotient inventory. Please join me in congratulating the first graduating class of the Snmmits Student Leadership Academy with the anticipation of our new pipeline programming. This past fall, the technologist section created a recruitment video showcasing career opportunities as a nuclear medicine technologist. The video took the title of the S and Mmis most watched Instagram reel ever with the total continuing to grow every day. During the 2023 midwinter meeting, the Smmits National Council of Representatives and the executive board approved the new strategic plan through the efforts that started last year. The new strategic plan truly embraces the future as we look at the drastic changes in the field and within the technologist section over the last three years, this new strategic plan was an emergent need. The S and Mmits Executive Board agreed that it was important to have one cohesive mission and vision for the S and MM I as a whole. And that the previous notion of having separate missions and visions was really no longer serving the need of the organization or the technologist section. The board also agreed that a major focus of the strategic plan was to synergize the efforts of the nuclear medicine community. In addition, the S and Mmits has spent the last year focusing on creating education for technologists related to therapy and developing new communication avenues such as therapy, Thursday, messaging these share therapy tips, tricks and information with the nuclear medicine, technologist community, nuclear medicine, molecular imaging and therapy are the future of personalized medicine. Our rich history has paved the way for our very clear future nuclear medicine and molecular imaging technologists are key members of the care team and the S and Mmits is working to ensure that these technologists are prepared. We have seen several local and state wins at the legislative level. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of the state tags across the United States. It has truly been a remarkable year and I am so proud of all that we've done and I know that with Dmitry Bader as president this coming year, we are going to move further than ever before. In closing. I would like to thank Kathleen Creak for all of her efforts in putting together this wonderful technologist program for the annual meeting. And you're going to hear more about that very shortly. I would also like to thank the S and mm I leadership, Doctor Gas, Doctor Nadel, and Doctor Cutler, as well as the Smmits leadership, Dmitri Dusty and Julie members of the National Council of Representatives, the Smmits committee chairs the executive board and the entire smmm I staff for all of your support, strategy and many efforts over this past year being, your president has truly been an honor and a privilege. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome technologist section program chair Kathleen Cris. On behalf of the technologist section program committee, I am delighted to welcome Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging technologist to the 2023 SNM I annual meeting. I would also like to give a special welcome to the over 70 student technologists who participated in the first ever student Leadership Academy and to our technologist, friends from the European Association of Nuclear Medicine in the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine, who will be speaking to the technologist program this year. What a fun and exciting year. The technologist section program committee chair, abstract submissions from technologists and technologist. Students were competitive and the continuing education sessions are going to be dynamic and engaging while many of us are here in Chicago this year, others will be joining us from their homes around the world. This year, we will be offering 22 ce sessions and eight scientific sessions specifically geared towards technologists as crystal noted, the Snmits was thrilled to launch our first recruitment program for individuals interested in learning about nuclear medicine technology. We hope that this program will grow and expand each year. In addition to our recruitment program, this year was also the first ever, we hosted the technologist student Leadership Academy after more than 15 years of the Snmits Leadership Academy which has fostered numerous technologist section leaders. In that time, we felt it was important to provide a leadership program that would also reach technologist students. Today, we graduated over 70 individuals from this academy. We will continue to work the remaining reimaging. The annual meeting, technologist section will combine the Snmits Awards Recognition and Business Meeting into one session held on Sunday, June 25th, just prior to the technologist plenary session. During this special session, we will recognize presidential award winners from this year and install our new Snmits president following the awards recognition and business meeting. The Snmits will welcome Doctor Brad Nadler known as a healthy humorist as a plenary speaker. We are confident that he will have you laughing all the way through the session on Monday. I invite you to join us in attending past President Dusty York's I on you talk short southern sassy and savage if you don't know dusty yet or even if you do, I encourage you all to come and be inspired, laugh a lot and remember why you are here. Finally, we invite everyone to join us for the announcement of the Abstract and Student Abstract Award winners on Monday, June 26th at the Education and Research Foundation for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Booth, located in the registration area. This truly is a banner year for Nuclear Medicine, molecular imaging and therapy. And the SNM I annual meeting is a celebration of all that we have accomplished. Whether you are here with us in Chicago are participating from home. We hope you have a great meeting and encourage you to explore all the the live experience or virtual platforms have to offer you. Thank you and enjoy the meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome scientific program chair, Dr Heather Jaine. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Chicago based on input from the members reimagining. The annual meeting is a major strategic goal of the SNMM I. This is going to be a multi-year project, but we've gotten started and this overview will highlight some of the new features at this year's meeting. First. The poster hall has been transformed into the Science Pavilion. When you walk into the science Pavilion, you are not going to see the usual poster boards. There are multiple pods with large screens to display electronic posters. All of the science remains at your fingertips easily searchable on those screens. The meet the author sessions are scattered throughout the meeting in the Science Pavilion. The new Clinical Trials corner is being piloted this year, we decided to highlight cancer cooperative Group clinical trials that are, that have imaging and therapy end points. These studies rely on both academic and community sites. So I encourage everybody to go and check it out and see if anything sparks your interest. New arena sessions are set up in a way to depart from the usual didactic lecture and really maximize audience participation and engagement if the moderators do their job well, of which I am one of them, they won't have to say anything. The sessions will focus on the future of their agnostics. The emerging role of A I in nuclear medicine and a debate on the prac practical aspects for routine implementation of dos imagery, nuclear medicine, molecular imaging and therapy is not practiced in a vacuum. It's important that we stay abreast of what's happening in other medical specialties. It's really hard though to attend multiple meetings, read all the journals that are out there. The best of sessions will provide the participants with a snapshot of recent science and advancements in some of the most common special specialties with which we interact. The new eye on you stage are TED style leg talks that will shift the focus to topics. We don't normally talk about well-being career and personal advancement. On Sunday afternoon, we will hear from Dr Marcelo. Dearly, the gifted guide. Are you meant to mentor? Why managing your mind manages your stress by Doctor Gail Gazel on Monday afternoon, we will hear from Doctor Catley Cathy Cutler, living and working with purpose. And as you already heard from Cathy Short, Southern Sas and Savage, by Dusty York, the anticipation, the excitement has been building up. We have 10 teams ready to duke it out for the title of knowledge bowl champion. We'll also feature the past presidents. This is a new society wide event that will take place right outside the plenary tomorrow morning at 9 45. So come test your knowledge and we'll see who's going to be on top while reimagining. Though many of the items at the heart of the annual meeting remain the same. There are 130 ce scientific young investigator and integrated sessions, the plenaries, basic science summary sessions and highlight symposium will all be held. There are a variety of industry led satellite symposium. The do Symmetry Open House is back. There are a number of nuclear women in nuclear medicine events, reader trainings, the poster mixer and poster reception, poster, oral presentations, meet the author sessions. There are over 200 leading companies in the exhibit hall and a variety of networking events in collaboration with IAE A. We are pleased to welcome 2000 international virtual participants from 100 and four countries to this year's meeting. We would like to thank the Society of Nuclear Medicine India for being this year's highlight country. And I want to thank everybody who makes this annual meeting a success. It really takes us a village. I hope everybody enjoys the meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Deputy Consul General of India, Mr TD. But uh ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guest, an esteemed member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Good evening. And Namaskar, it is indeed a great honor for me to represent the Consulate General of India and Chicago and to address this August gathering, especially when India has been declared as the highlight country for the annual conference of the SNMM I today. As I take part in this event in the United States of America, it gives me great pride to note that Indian Americans are excelling in almost every field. They are heading academic institutions, building and scaling up businesses and technological companies. They are engaged in cutting edge research. They have also gained ground in other areas such as real estate, transportation, construction, legal arena. Now the community is making a mark in new areas such as law enforcement, media, sports and more and more Indian Americans are now running for public office and about doctors. Indian doctors have left an indelible mark on the American health care landscape with their expertise, work ethics and have become an integral part of the health system in this country. It is said that one in seven patients in the US is treated by a doctor of Indian origin who are valued for their competence and services. The Society of Nuclear Medicine, India is participating in the annual meeting here and they have come a long way since their inception in 1967 the premier institutes of India like Ames New Delhi PGIM, er Chandigarh in Mass Drdo R MC Mumbai Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and many other both in public and private sectors are doing cutting edge research in the field of both diagnosis and treatment of many advanced stage cancers. The continuous presence and presentation of high quality research work by the Indian Nuclear Medicine. Scientists have been appreciated by their peers in the field and have earned India the status of highlight country of Snmm I 2023. I consider myself extremely fortunate to witness India being granted this honor. The Society of Nuclear Medicine India have now signed an mou with the Snmm I which will facilitate exchange of academic and research programs. Tonight's event is not merely a gathering of brilliant minds but a convergence of passion, innovation and the relentless pursuit of excellence. We are in the presence of some of the finest minds in the medical community. Your research, your clinical expertise and your tireless pursuit of knowledge, have propelled medical science to new heights and have granted new lease of life to countless patients patience. I thank you for your service as I end my short remark. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the Indian Society of Nuclear Medicine representing this year's highlight country, Doctor Harkat. Singh, ladies and gentlemen, number my state and greetings from India. I'm extremely delighted to be here today amongst you all on behalf of the entire Indian nuclear Medicine fraternity. First of all, I want to thank Snmm I USA and President Doctor Man GSI for having selected India as the highlight country for this year's annual meeting. We are honored to have with us, our Deputy Counsel General in Chicago, Mr TD. But thank you sir for being with us here on this momentous occasion. The recognition as a highlight country couldn't have come at a more opportune time than this year when India is already heading the G 20 presidency with the team was Kumu, which means one earth, one family, one future nuclear medicine practice can be imagined as a reinforcement of the same Indian philosophy as it exemplifies the most peaceful and responsible use of atomic energy for alleviation of human suffering. The famous Adams for peace speech by us, President Eisenhower in the UN General Assembly in 1953 set the tone for peaceful use of atomic energy and gave a much needed boost to the use of radio isotopes in medicine. I'll give you a brief overview of India's journey of nuclear medicine. And then what India is doing today, India embarked on its journey of harnessing the power of atoms. When eminent Indian physicist Dr Homi Jahangir Baba was assigned the responsibility of spearheading the India's nuclear program. He established the atomic energy establishment in Trobe in 1954 which was later renamed after him as Baba Atomic Research Center or BRC. The journey of radio pharmaceutic production started with research reactors. ABSA and Cyrus becoming critical in the late fifties. This led to easy availability of indigenously produced radi nucleates for medical applications. Currently indigenously developed low cost technician generators, various therapy isotopes like iodine 131 latium 177 samarium 153 and nutri 90 are being supplied by Baba Center to the nuclear medicine setups across the country. This has contributed immensely towards the expansion of nuclear medicine in India and has supported the economic viability of many stand alone centers. Dr Brigadier Majar is considered the father of nuclear medicine in India and he is credited with the first use of radioactive Adine treatment of thyroid disorders. In 1959 he established the first dedicated Nuclear medicine Research Center of India named Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences or in Mars in Delhi. In 1961 year, 1968 he started the first formal post graduate training program in in Mars and it was the world's first program of its kind. Parallel development took place in Western India where Radiation Medicine Center or R MC was established in the year 1963. R MC holds the distinction of acquiring India's first comma camera and the first spec camera. Dr Aie Lily pioneered nuclear medicine practice in the private set up by establishing a nuclear medicine department at just local hospital, Mumbai. Way back in 1974 the eighties and nineties saw steady growth of nuclear medicine with many gamma cameras installed countrywide year 2002 was a landmark year when India's first medical cyclone and pet scanner were installed again at RMC. Mumbai. Arrival of PC on the scene revolutionized cancer management and made a phenomenal impact leading to rapid growth of nuclear medicine practice in India. I'm happy to share ladies and gentlemen. As of today, India has 370 licensed nuclear mess and facilities with 24 cyclotrons, 230 pet cities and four pet MRI centers. Over the last decade, India has made tremendous contribution to the advanced advancement of nuclear medicine. Scientific work from India has been presented and highlighted at various international forums. The current annual meeting in Chicago has 132 accepted scientific abstracts from India that deserves an applause. India has made giant strides in radio nuclear therapies with multiple centers across the country carrying out targeted alpha and beta therapies benefiting thousands of patients. Our premier institutes include Aimes New Delhi where pioneering work in alpha therapies has been done by Professor CS Ball and his team in metastatic prostate cancer and paraganglioma. Doctor Rakesh Kumar has excelled in oncologic image ink and pioneered petit guided biopsies at aims. I'm happy to share that his citations in number are one of the maximum amongst the authors in India. Dr Ishita S at for Hospital Gurgaon recently introduced 202 lead alpha therapies for in India, which got an honorable mention in the in 2023 keynote address by Dr Chair Andreas at RMC Mumbai. Dr Sandi Basso and his team have delivered over 6000 therapies using indigenous reactor produced Luisi for treating metastatic en and prostate cancer Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. Under the leadership of Dr Rangarajan has recently set up India's largest Ranu Therapy Center with 45 inpatient beds at PG Chandigarh. Dr Balda Singh and his team were the first in Asia to do trials with Galiena for pet CT in various oncological applications. Dr BR Mitel, Dr Rajinder Kumar and team have perfected the technique of pet C guided biopsies at P with over 7000 cases done till date. Dr Sanjay Gambir at S GP J. Luck now has done pioneering work with copper 64 for imaging and therapy of gliomas at Amrita Institute Cochi Dr Shawn Mukund has excelled by performing more than 4000 sentinel lymph node imaging and biopsy procedures. Till date. Dr Keiji Kaur at HCG Hospital. Bangalore has pioneered the technique of intra arterial PRT for any and has conducted trials of therapies in various cancers with promising results to promote nuclear medicine in the country. Society of Nuclear Medicine. India was founded in 1967 with headquarters at Mumbai. Over the last five decades. S and M India has been regularly organizing annual conferences, cmes and thematic workshops across the country. Its flagship scientific publication, the Indian Journal of Nuclear Medicine was started in 1986. S and M. India has partnered with world bodies like Iaea smmemw and MB and Warmth for promotion of nuclear medicine worldwide. In India, nuclear medicine is recognized as an independent speciality separate from both radiology as well as internal medicine. Currently, we have 20 premier institutes offering 60 postgraduate seats for specialization in nuclear medicine with a three years dedicated course that provides a robust and comprehensive training in nuclear medicine. Our super specialization program in nuclear medicine therapies was started at Ames New Delhi in 2015 with three years, three seats per year for technologist training. We have 18 medical institutes offering 60 seats for a bachelor's degree and approximate 70 seats for a master's program. S and M India has signed with S and M and M for mutual cooperation and for achieving the common goal of advancing personalized and precision medicine. S and M. India is open to collaborations with other nuclear migrant societies for training and exchange programs and for promotion of best practices in nuclear medicine. We can join hands and come together to take the specialty of nuclear medicine to greater heights. Interim Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has just concluded a state visit to USA for strengthening bilateral ties and for enhancing cooperation in the field of science and technology, among others, with USA, I invite you all to attend the highlight country sea sessions and also to enjoy Indian food and music at the highlight country lounge during the opening reception, which is going to follow immediately after this ceremony. I wish the annual meeting 2023 a great success and hope that all of you will have a memorable experience, enjoying the academic celebrations as well as the social interaction during this meeting. It's truly a matter of great privilege for me to have had the opportunity to address this August gathering of physicians, physicists, radio, cameras, scientists, technologists, and eminent personalities from around the world who are looked upon as leaders in their respective fields. Thank you and don't forget to visit the India's highlight country booth number 6043 number. And we'll have the highlight country video playing. Now since the beginning of time, the elements fire water earth gave form to all life on earth, including man, a delicate balance of energies but bit cough, a harmonious amalgamation of body, mind and soul. India, one of the oldest civilizations, Caldron of centuries of wisdom, traditions and cultures. Over 5000 years ago, the Vader gave form to first healing system on earth. Are your Vader knowledge of life, grinding and pounding elements into nanoparticles to release healing energy. Ayurveda maintained the equilibrium of the human body. Rishi Shaak wrote the first text in medicines. So the father of surgery, a revealed planets emit radiation. Dr JC Bose made pioneering discoveries in plant physiology. Doctor Homi Baba presided over the first UN Conference of Atoms for Peace in 1955 which opened the doors for the use of radio isotopes for peaceful purposes to the world and gave birth to the field of nuclear medicine. India's first nuclear reactor came up in 1956 paved the way for developing radiation medicine for better health care in India. Brigadier Ki Mazal, father of nuclear medicine in India. In 1958 investigated the role of radio iodine for the effective management of thyroid cancer. He later established the first Nuclear Medicine Institute of the country in mass 1961. The Society of Nuclear Medicine India was established in 1967. India was on the move using cutting edge technology to heal India has now evolved into the era of Terrenos. The historical second world Terrenos Congress a decade ago was a landmark event and India eventually emerged world leader in radio terrenos. India is now a torch bearer to the world in not just beta but alpha therapy as well in prostate cancer, neuro endocrine tumors and several other refractory malignancies. The pioneering institute of the country are surging ahead with cutting edge technology using state of the art. Cyclo drones pe TCT scanner, automated robotic arm assisted pe TCT guided interventions, pushing the boundaries towards futuristic healing, exploring new horizons paving the way towards a sustainable future. Congratulations. Well done. Ok, that's it. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, we will now have a presentation of Bora dance. Bora is a traditional folk dance from the Punjab region of India, a high energy dance that is usually performed during harvest festivals and celebrations. Ban has become popular all over the world. There are many different styles of ban and it is often combined with non traditional styles of music. Please enjoy this celebration of India's vibrant culture. Even the mix mix mind but pumpin the Yeah but and there the mhm for about the to just to be put to I get an email to me can be but Coyote. Yeah. Are you question I no it ladies and gentlemen at this time, please remain seated until the entertainers and procession have exited the theater. Then please follow the procession to the welcome reception in the exhibit hall.
