Multimodality Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging Symposium

Society Of Nuclear Medicine, Reston VA

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed two-day symposium will bring together individuals from multiple scientific disciplines;including chemistry, engineering, physics, molecular biology, cardiovascular physiology, and imaging sciences with the goal of promoting the nascent field of cardiovascular molecular imaging. This meeting builds on a similar conference held at NIH in 2004. The previous conference was eminently successful, attracting over 215 participants and 10 poster presentations and serving as the basis for the first textbook dedicated to the field of cardiovascular molecular imaging. The proposed meeting will continue this momentum and stimulate further growth in the field. We anticipate similar or greater success, attracting individuals from both basic science and clinical communities;with a special emphasis on encouraging the participation by junior scientists the meeting will include didactic, focused lectures by experts in the field, panel discussions on selected key areas, and an abstract poster session. A key focus will be on advances in targeted multimodality imaging of the cardiovascular system. There will be discussion of imaging of cardiovascular receptors, stem cell therapy, vascular biology, myocardial metabolism, and other biological processes relevant to the cardiovascular system. There will be an emphasis on interactions amongst speakers and registrants to stimulate further interest in this field and foster collaborations. All invited speakers will provide a 2-3 page summary of their presentations prior to the meeting. The proceedings of the symposium will be posted on the SNM website. Abstracts from the poster session will be published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. SNM plans to publish a book, which will be comprised of sections and chapters corresponding to the invited talks. The objectives of the meeting are to: (1) educate the scientific community about the potential of targeted multimodality cardiovascular molecular imaging;(2) provide an overview of critical issues related to development of targeted labeled tracers;(3) provide an overview of various imaging technologies for both small animal imaging as well as clinical molecular imaging;(4) review the approaches and implications for imaging of stem cells;(5) define the potential of imaging of cardiovascular receptors and metabolism;(6) provide overview of the potential of molecular imaging for improving our understanding and management of critical cardiovascular pathophysiological processes, such as atherosclerosis, angiogenesis, cardiomyopathies, ischemia, and infarction;(7) promote cardiovascular molecular imaging basic science research and clinical applications;(8) foster potential collaborations between scientists working in various related fields;and (9) stimulate interactions between junior scientists and more established investigators in the field. (End of Abstract)