Sally Barrington is Professor of PET Imaging at the KCL and Guy’s & St Thomas’ PET Centre, with experience in oncological and non-oncological imaging. She is internationally known for her work in lymphoma. Her research interests focus on the standardisation of PET for multicentre trials and response-adapted treatment including chemotherapy and radiotherapy planning guided by PET.

Sally is first author of international imaging guidelines for staging and response assessment in lymphoma (2014). She is senior author of two New England Journal of Medicine practice-changing publications reporting clinical trials using PET for response-adapted treatment in Hodgkin lymphoma, to improve outcomes for patients while reducing side-effects.

She is lecturer for the European School of Oncology (2012 -), on the Scientific Board for international workshops on PET in lymphoma (2010 - ), member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine Oncology Committee (2013 - ) and the Editorial Board for the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2013 -).

Nationally, she is co-lead of the UK PET Research Network, with the Core Imaging Lab at St Thomas’. She is author of UK Evidence-based indications for PET/CT used for commissioning of NHS Scans. She is member of the Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee (ARSAC), an advisory body to Government. She has authored a well-known Atlas on Clinical PET, 4 book chapters and ~ 150 publications.

Michael Hofman is a nuclear medicine physician at the Centre for Molecular Imaging, Cancer Imaging at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia's only public hospital dedicated to cancer treatment, research and education. He has a co-appointment as Associate Professor of Medicine at the Univeristy of Melbourne and previously completed a fellowship at Guy's & St Thomas' in London. He has particular interest in novel F-18 and Ga-68 PET radiotracers, and theranostic applications including neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer. He is currently the principal investigator of a multi-centre ranodmised clinical trials of PSMA PET and also Lu-177 PSMA therapy. He serves as a scientific member for the Australasian Radiopharmaceutical Trials Network (ARTnet) and an associate editor for several journals including Cancer Imaging, Leukaemia & Lymphoma, and the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology (JMIRO).

Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Past President, American College of Nuclear Medicine (ACNM)
Immediate Past President, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)
Dr. Hossein Jadvar is a tenured associate professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) with hospital appointments at the USC Keck Medical Center, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. Dedicated to lifelong learning, Dr. Jadvar received his BS in chemical engineering from Iowa State University in Ames, IA, in 1982, followed by a MS in biomedical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI, in 1984, and a MS in computer engineering, as well as a PhD in bioengineering, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, in 1986 and 1988, respectively. He then attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, IL, for his MD degree (1993). He received his master’s in public health (MPH) degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, in 2005 and an Executive master’s in business administration (MBA) from USC in 2007. He was a clinical fellow in positron emission tomography with the Harvard Medical School Joint Program in Nuclear Medicine, in Boston, MA, during 1998-99, a diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine resident at Stanford University, in Stanford, CA, during 1994-98, and an intern in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), CA, during 1993-94. He has also completed a number of executive educational certificate programs at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the UK, and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. He has served as a visiting associate in bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA. Dr. Jadvar is on the leadership editorial boards of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Molecular Imaging and Biology, Radiology (Associate Editor and Consultant to the Editor), American Journal of Roengenology (Assistant Editor), and Clinical Nuclear Medicine (Deputy Editor), and is on the editorial board of many other journals. He is a fellow and past president of the American College of Nuclear Medicine (ACNM) as well as immediate past president and fellow of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and molecular imaging (SNMMI). He is the past recipient of the SNMMI Mark Tetalman Young Investigator Award, the Western Regional SNMMI Distinguished Scientist Award, the Academy of Radiology Research Distinguished Investigator Award and the inaugural World Association of Radiopharmaceutical and Molecular Therapy (WARMTH) Professor Ajit Padhy Memorial Oration Award in 2016. He is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded investigator and serves on multiple NIH review panels (with one term as a chartered member on the medical imaging, MEDI, panel), the Department of Defense, and the Imaging Technology and Informatics Peer Review Panel of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). He is an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert in the nuclear medicine panel. He has written more than 120 journal articles, has published 4 books, 28 book chapters, 9 patents, numerous conference abstracts and full articles, and has given more than 250 invited speaker presentations at national and international venues. His research interests include applications of PET in clinical outcome research and in translational molecular imaging research with particular current interest in prostate cancer. (http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~jadvar)

Sara G. Johnson, MBA, CNMT, NCT, FSNMMI-TS, is the chief technologist/administrative officer and research coordinator for nuclear medicine with the VA San Diego Healthcare System in San Diego, Calif. She is the 2016-17 president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Technologist Section (SNMMI-TS). Johnson has nearly 30 years of nuclear medicine experience. She started her career while on active duty with the U.S. Navy. During nearly eight years of service, she had the opportunity to practice nuclear medicine in Okinawa, Japan, and at bases throughout the United States.

After leaving the Navy, Johnson served as chief technologist at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center and was also the founder and first program director of the UCSD Nuclear Medicine Technologist Program. She later worked in the commercial sector as a clinical specialist for DuPont and Bristol Myers Squibb, specializing in nuclear cardiology.

She holds the NCT certificate and is one of the authors of the Nuclear Cardiology Technology Study Guide. On the 2nd Edition of this book Johnson served as author and chief editor. She is a frequently invited speaker on all subject related to nuclear medicine. Johnson has been involved with the SNMMI-TS at the local, regional and national level for many years and became an SNMMI-TS Fellow in 2012.

Sally Schwarz is a Professor of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is a Board Certified Nuclear Pharmacist. She has developed and managed the PET Production of PET Radiopharmaceuticals for clinical and clinical research use for over 20 years, established the first PET Nuclear Pharmacy at Washington University in St. Louis, and has been involved in training pharmacy students as part of the PharmD program at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and the University of New Mexico. She served on the USP Expert Committee for 10 years, and was involved in writing the revised USP Chapter <823> which defined the GMP PET production and quality control requirements for PET radiopharmaceuticals for research use. She is the Secretary of the Radioactive Research Committee at Washington University Medical School. She has recognized expertise in preparation of the Chemistry Manufacturing and Control documents, including production and quality control for Investigational New Drugs (INDs and RDRC Applications. She is a member of the American Pharmacist Association (APhA), and the APhA Nuclear Pharmacy SIG. Sally became an APhA fellow in 2009, and received the William H. Briner Distinguished Achievement Award at the APhA meeting in March 2016. She served as the Nuclear Pharmacy advocate on the NRC Advisory Committee for the Medical Use of Isotopes (ACMUI) for 6 years. She also served on the Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology for 6 years. Sally has been a member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging for 30 years, and is currently the President of the SNMMI. Sally and is the first pharmacist, and 4th woman of 64 SNMMI Presidents to hold this position

Meera Venkatesh, is the Director of Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences in the Department of Nuclear Applications, at the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2011. She is responsible for the programs on radioisotope production & applications, radiation technology and nuclear sciences.

After graduating in Chemistry and an additional year of training in Nuclear & Reactor Sciences, Meera joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in India as a researcher in the area of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, where she worked for 34 years before joining the IAEA. During this tenure, she was engaged as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Missouri, USA, from 1992-94 and served as a visiting professor at the same University later in 1999.

Meera held senior managerial roles at BARC and the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology, India. She has authored over 200 papers in International Journals, several book chapters and is an editor in 2 International Journals. She guides PhD students and is passionate about promoting peaceful applications of nuclear technologies.

For her outstanding contributions in radiation and radioisotopes related technologies she received awards of excellence from the Indian Nuclear Society and from the Department of Atomic Energy, India.

John Younger

John Younger is a consultant cardiologist at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and at St Andrews War Memorial Hospital, and a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland. He graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast in 1996 before coming to Australia in 1997, returning to the UK in 2002 for 4 years of additional training focusing on cardiac imaging. This included a 2 year fellowship in cardiac MRI at the British Heart Foundation MRI research centre, at Leeds University, UK, coordinating the CEMARC trial. He returned to Australia in 2007 to establish the cardiac CT and cardiac MRI programs at RBWH (in conjunction with the Medical Imaging Dept.) and the cardiology led CTCA program at St Andrews Hospital.

John specialises in cardiac imaging, particularly MRI, CT, but also transthoracic, transoesophageal and stress echocardiography. He has lectured at both national and international meetings, such as SCMR in Nice, and SCCT in Orlando and Baltimore. He acted as a scientific coordinator or program chair for many national meetings on cardiac imaging and organised Australia’s first training course on CT coronary angiography for radiographers. In addition to running teaching courses on cardiac CT through out Australia and in Singapore, he is the cardiology representative on the ANZ-CTCA Conjoint committee for accreditation in CTCA and he is the Vice-President of ANZ-CMR. He has published in a variety medical journals including The Lancet, The BMJ and Heart.

Lowenthal Lecture

Professor Vijay Kumar has been appointed as a Member of Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Australia Day Honours, for significant service to medical research in the disciplines of nuclear medicine & Biology, to professional organisations and to the community. He is the Principal Scientist and Head of the Radiopharmaceutical Research at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Westmead Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. He is a Clinical Professor at Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney.

His major research focus is on 68Ga-radiopharmaceuticals and their applications in the management of Cancer and infectious diseases. He has published many book chapters, reviews and peer-reviewed publications. He is an editorial board member of World J Nuclear Med and Biology. He has been invited to deliver many lectures at international conferences and at prestigious Universities around the world.

Professor Kumar worked as Consultant Scientific Expert at International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna in 2010 and continued to be actively engaged with Co-ordinated Research Projects (CRP). He developed many teaching modules and scientific documents through IAEA projects. He has an active involvement with IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Projects and Expert Missions and offered training in Radiopharmaceutical Science for many developing countries. Many candidates from developing countries visited Westmead & The Children’s hospitals, under IAEA Fellowship program.

Professor Kumar has been the immediate past President of ANZSNM (2014-2016) and also served the society as member of Scientific Advisory Panel, International Relations Committee, and as the Chair of Radiopharmaceutical Science SIG. He is the Treasurer of World Federation of Nuclear Medicine & Biology (2014-2018). He serves as a member of Board of Directors with International Society of Radiolabelled Blood Elements (ISORBE). He also serves as a member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Task Force for new Clinical Trial Regulation.

Pioneer Lecture

After undertaking her training in Nuclear Medicine in Australia in Sydney and in Perth, she undertook further training at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Her special areas of interest in Nuclear Medicine are paediatric Nuclear Medicine in particular nephro-urological applications. She is the author of 90 scientific papers and 6 book chapters. She has served on the national committee of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM) on two separate occasions for a total of 10 years culminating in the role of Vice President which she undertook twice. She was actively involved in the New South Wales Branch of the ANZSNM for 12 years serving as President on 2 occasions. She has been on the board of the Australasian Association of Nuclear Medicine Specialists (AANMS) since 2012 in the role of Honorary Treasurer and is the current Chair of the Training Site Accreditation Committee of the AANMS. She was the convener of the 39th ASM of the ANZSNM held in Sydney, on the organizing committee of the 41st ASM of the ANZSNM held in Darwin and was the Scientific Program Director of the AANMS Masterclass in Thyroid and Parathyroid Diseases in 2014 and the AANMS Thyroid Cancer Symposium in 2015. She is a regular attendee of overseas conferences and has been invited to give a number of lectures at national meetings as well as international conferences including the Society of Nuclear Medicine, The Asia and Oceania Congress of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, The World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, The International Scientific Committee on Radionuclides in Nephrology and the European Symposium on Paediatric Nuclear Medicine.