The CCSNMMI Fall Education Symposium, which was hosted by Scott Perlman and Derrick Fuerbringer of UW Health, at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, October 13 and 14, had something for everyone! This exceptional event featured a variety of educational presentations from world class Nuclear Medicine physicians, referring physicians, pharmacists, and technologists.
Session one included talks on molecular imaging of dementia and movement disorders and PET/MR by Scott Perlman, MD, including information on the IDEAS Trial. Steve Cho, MD discussed where prostate cancer therapy is headed. And, it looks like there might be a theranostic to diagnose and treat prostate cancer on the horizon! Scott Kniska, RPh, BCNP discussed some of the new PET agents and related therapies, the big discussion being about Lutathera.
Session two featured Ictal /Interictal Brain imaging from the perspective of the interpreter, by Lance Hall, MD and the referring physician, by David Hsu, MD,PhD. They shared great information on where Nuclear Medicine best adds value to patients suffering from medication refractory epilepsy.
Session three led us on a wonderful explanation of what Cardiac Sarcoid is and how it is imaged by Mary Zasadil, MD and how best to prep patients for a Cardiac Sarcoid PET procedure by Christine Jaskowiak, CNMT. With a final presentation on advances and updates about PET Cardiac Perfusion by Charles Stone, MD who was filling us in the on Brewers playoff game throughout the talk!
Our final session on Sunday was well attended with attendees hungry for updates on PET Reconstruction by Tyler J. Bradshaw, MD and Quantitative PET in Treatment Response Assessment by Robert Jeraj, MD. These talks featured explanations on OSEM, SUV Max, Time of Flight and attenuation correction pitfalls, as well as QIB (Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers), to assist in measurement of treatment response more accurately with more reproducibility.
Alan MacMillan, MD gave an interesting talk on ways in which machine learning on PET/CT and PET/MR could assist in developing a new way to do attenuation correction more accurately.
Finally, the last part of the session was discussing mIBG therapy advances by Kenneth DeSantes, MD, and an update on other Targeted Radio-Molecular Therapy by David Bushnell, MD from the University of Iowa. And, a radiation refresher, which we can all use by Jon Haas, MPH.
We want to thank all of our speakers for taking the time out of their busy schedules to help advance the education of all of our colleagues who attended. We hope all enjoyed their weekend at the Fall Education Symposium!
Additionally, we would like to thank all of our vendors, for which meeting like this could not be possible. Astellas Pharma US, Inc., Cardinal Health, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC, PETNET Solutions/ Siemens Healthcare, PRogenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Shared Medical Services, Spectrum Dynamics, Universal Medical Imaging.