RESTON, VA. -- Tom R. Miller, professor of radiology in the Division of Nuclear Medicine at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., received SNM's Presidential Distinguished Service Award during the society's 54th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. SNM is the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

More than 4,000 doctors, scientists and technologists attended the June meeting during five days of scientific sessions and continuing education courses. In addition, the world's largest gathering of molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals featured a four-day exposition with exhibits from nearly 200 companies. A number of individuals received recognition and awards during SNM's 54th Annual Meeting June 2-6 in Washington, D.C. Recipients are listed below.

Tom R. Miller: Distinguished Service

"With this award, SNM recognizes Tom Miller's many significant contributions to the molecular imaging and nuclear medicine community. Dr. Miller has assisted in many areas for the society, including education, our Annual Meetings and publications," said 2006-07 SNM President Martin P. Sandler. "Dr. Miller has shown exemplary leadership throughout his career and has enhanced the society and our profession," he added.

"Dr. Miller is a visionary for education. As chair for the society's Committee on Education, he directed a strategic plan that has been successfully accomplished and is still a working document today," said Sandler. "He oversaw the complete turnaround of our education program from in-person activities to online activities; this alone was a major accomplishment," he added.

Miller, who is also a professor of biomedical engineering, served for several years as chair of the society's Scientific Program Committee. He is the former chair of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. Miller's research centers on tumor imaging by positron emission tomography (PET) and developing effective PET imaging agents for patients with prostate cancer. Board certified in nuclear medicine and diagnostic radiology, Miller has been listed several times in the "Best Doctors of America." A Fellow of the American College of Radiology, Miller is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Miller received his bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, and his doctorate in nuclear physics from Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. A Fulbright Fellow in physics, Miller was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral Fellow in radiology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and an NIH postdoctoral Fellow in physics at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas. He received his medical degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and completed his residency at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. He has written several books and book chapters and numerous journal articles.

Eva V. Dubovsky: Distinguished Educator

Eva V. Dubovsky, professor with the UAB Health System in Birmingham, Ala., received the SNM Presidential Distinguished Educator Award during SNM's Annual Meeting. Dubovsky directed the society's Nuclear Medicine Board Review course for many years and has been active in resident and fellow education.

Dubovsky received her medical degree from Charles University, Prague, Czechoslovakia, where she served her internship and residency. She served her fellowships at Charles University and UAB. Her clinical interests include general nuclear medicine, renal nuclear medicine and renal transplantation nuclear medicine. She is certified by the American Board of Nuclear Medicine and has Czech certifications in nuclear medicine and as a nuclear medicine specialist.

She has served as secretary and treasurer of SNM and as president of the society's Southeastern Chapter. She is a member of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine and chair of the nuclear medicine RCC.

R. Edward Coleman Delivers Hal O. Anger Lecture

R. Edward Coleman, director of the nuclear medicine division at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., was invited to present the Hal O. Anger Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the Academic Council.

Coleman, who is also a professor of radiology and vice chair of the Department of Radiology at Duke University Medical Center, was recognized for his efforts in advancing molecular imaging and clinical applications of positron emission tomography (PET), PET/computed tomography (CT) and radionuclide therapy. Before joining Duke University Medical Center, he held academic appointments at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

Coleman's research has been centered on the role of PET scanning in lung cancer, prostate cancer and brain tumors. He was the nuclear medicine physician involved with the first PET scans when the scanner was first developed at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in the early 1970s. He has shown the utility of PET in several indications and worked on obtaining reimbursement for clinical PET procedures. He has studied the use of radiopharmaceuticals-such as Food and Drug Administration-approved agents, investigational new drug agents (monoclonal antibodies for diagnosis and therapy, I-131 MIBG for therapy of neuroendocrine tumors), Radioactive Drug Research Committee-approved agents (0-15 water for tumor blood flow, F-18 labeled agents for PET imaging of tumors, etc.) and fluorodeoxyglucose or FDG-and what they reveal about the body's metabolism. Coleman was also awarded this year's Georg Charles de Hevesy Nuclear Pioneer Award for his contributions to the nuclear medicine profession.

Academic Council's Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Alan H. Maurer

Alan H. Maurer, professor of radiology and medicine and director of nuclear medicine at the School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa., was awarded the Academic Council's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Maurer's research interests include cardiac ventricular function and myocardial perfusion studies, gastrointestinal motility and PET/CT molecular imaging.

He holds bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and human studies from Brown University, Providence, R.I.; a master's degree in biomedical electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine.

Robert J. Lull Memorial Lecture Delivered by Martin P. Sandler

SNM 2006-07 President Martin P. Sandler presented the Robert J. Lull Memorial Lecture and addressed "Leadership in Building a Successful Nuclear Medicine Department." The society's Academic Council organized the lecture, which is presented in memory of the late Robert J. Lull, a physician and director of the nuclear medicine residency program at the University of California, San Francisco.

Sandler is the associate vice chancellor for hospital affairs for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He previously served as chair of its School of Medicine's radiology and radiological sciences department from 2000-06. Over the years, his various hospital appointments have included vice chair of the radiology and radiological sciences department, 1992-2000; director of the nuclear medicine/PET section, 1987-2000; director of the nuclear medicine residency training program, 1987-88; and director of clinical nuclear medicine, 1983-86, all at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; and consultant physician in the department of medicine at the University of Witwatersrand Teaching Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1979-80.

Sandler received his medical training at the Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was a resident physician at the Groote Schuur and Johannesburg General hospitals, training in internal medicine and endocrinology. A consultant physician in the department of medicine at the University of Witwatersrand, Sandler then completed fellowship training in the endocrinology and metabolism and nuclear medicine divisions at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Sandler, who is certified by the American Board of Nuclear Medicine and the South African Board of Internal Medicine, completed a five-year term in 2003 as editor in chief of SNM's Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Richard E. Carson Named Recipient of Kuhl-Lassen Lecture Award for Research in Brain Imaging

Richard E. Carson, professor of diagnostic radiology and biomedical engineering and co-director of the PET Center at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., is the recipient of the Kuhl-Lassen Lecture Award for Research in Brain Imaging. This award, presented by SNM's Brain Imaging Council, annually honors a scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of functional brain imaging using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and PET. Carson addressed "Quantitative Neuroreceptor Imaging With PET: Madness in the Methods or Method to the Madness."

Before coming to Yale, Carson served as senior scientist, 2004-05, and chief of the modeling and physics section, 1998-05, both with the PET department with the National Institutes of Health. He was a staff scientist with NIH's nuclear medicine/PET department from 1987-98 and a staff fellow with its nuclear medicine department from 1983-87. He received his doctorate from the Department of Biomathematics, School of Medicine, at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his bachelor's degree in applied mathematics/biology from Brown University.

Carson's research uses PET as a tool to noninvasively measure a wide range of in vivo physiology in human beings and laboratory animals, focusing on the development and applications of new tracer kinetic modeling methods and algorithms and on research in PET image reconstruction and image quantification. A primary focus of his biological applications is the measurement of dynamic changes in neurotransmitters.

Marcelo F. Di Carli Receives Herrmann Blumgart Award

The society's Cardiovascular Council recognized Marcelo F. Di Carli, chief of nuclear medicine and director of noninvasive cardiovascular imaging at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., with the Herrmann Blumgart Award for his pioneering work in cardiovascular radionuclide imaging and services. Di Carli is also an associate professor of radiology and medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Di Carli's research interests include PET, myocardial blood flow and metabolism and cardiac autonomic function. He received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and served his residency in internal medicine at the Institute Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Favaloro Foundation, Buenos Aires. The Blumgart recipient held a fellowship in cardiovascular disease with the Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Favaloro Foundation, Buenos Aires, and a research fellowship in cardiovascular nuclear medicine and a clinical fellowship in nuclear medicine with the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine.

Blumgart was a pioneer in nuclear medicine in the earlier part of the 20th century and is considered by many to be the father of nuclear cardiology.

Joel S. Karp Recognized as Edward Hoffman Memorial Award Recipient

Joel S. Karp, director of the Department of Radiology PET Center with the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pa., since 1992, has been named the recipient of the Edward Hoffman Memorial Award. This award, presented by SNM's Computer and Instrumentation Council, recognizes outstanding scientific contributions to the field of computers and instrumentation in nuclear medicine.

Karp has also served as director of the university's Nuclear Medicine, Physics and Instrumentation Group since 1988 and as professor in the radiology department since 1999. In addition, he was a research associate professor from 1989-93 and a research assistant professor, both with the radiology department at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1980-83, he was a postdoctoral research associate with the physics department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Karp received his doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his bachelor's degree in physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

The Edward Hoffman Memorial Award is presented annually in memory of the former president of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society.

Retired Director of ORAU Radiation Internal Dose Information Center Receives Loevinger-Berman Award

Evelyn E. Watson, who retired in 1994 as director of Oak Ridge Associated Universities' Radiation Internal Dose Information Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn., after 35 years of service, was named the recipient of the Loevinger-Berman Award. Presented by SNM's Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) Committee, this award honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to nuclear medicine in internal dosimetry through research and/or development, significant publication contributions or advancement of the understanding of internal dosimetry in relation to risk and therapeutic efficacy.

Specifically, Watson was recognized for her leadership role and contributions to the MIRD Committee and to RIDIC. During her ORAU career, Watson worked as research associate and laboratory technician in the Radiation Safety Office. She was named program manager of the RIDIC program in 1974, becoming its director in 1988. As director, Watson managed a staff dedicated to improving internal radiation dosimetry and ensuring the accessibility of information about radiation dose from radionuclides incorporated in the body.

Watson earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Kentucky in 1949, and after a career in education, joined ORAU in 1959 as a record clerk in purchasing. In 2000, Watson received the Marshall Brucer Award for Distinguished Service to the Nuclear Medicine Community, the highest award given by SNM's Southeastern Chapter. In 1994, Watson was the first recipient of the Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award from the East Tennessee Chapter of the Association for Women in Science. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from
the East Tennessee Chapter of the Health Physics Society in 1993.

John L. Joyal Accepts Berson-Yalow Award for Abstract that Contributes Significantly to Basic/Clinical Radioassay

The authors of "Molecular Targeting of Prostate Cancer With Small Molecule Inhibitors of Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)" were awarded the Berson-Yalow Award. SNM's Scientific Program Committee funds this award, which is presented to the investigators who have submitted the most original scientific abstracts and made the most significant contribution to basic or clinical radioassay.

John L. Joyal, who has been director of biology at Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, Mass., since 2005, accepted the award during the Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Council business meeting. Joyal has more than 20 years of oncology basic research and drug discovery experience with expertise in cell and molecular biology particularly in the areas of receptor biology, signal transduction pathways and in vitro assay development. Prior to joining Molecular Insight, he was director of discovery research at Phylogix Pharmaceuticals, Waltham, Mass., where he led a team evaluating the biology and mechanism of action of protein therapeutics for oncology supportive care.

Abstract co-authors include K.P. Maresca, S.M. Hillier, F.J. Femia, C. Barone, C.N. Zimmerman, J.A. Barrett, W.C. Eckelman and J. W. Babich, all with Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Mass., and C.A. Foss and M.G. Pomper, both with the Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Md.