Genevieve Hedland 
September 14, 2023Dear Colleagues,
I can’t believe how fast this year has gone! Many of you already know me, but for those that don’t, I’m Shelli Kritzman, the President of the CCSNMMI for 2023-2024. This is my second time serving as President of the organization. I have been in nuclear medicine for 30 years – 28 in my current position as a consulting Nuclear Medical Physicist based out of Michigan and 2 years in the beginning of my career as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist. This has been an exciting year so far and I would like to highlight some of the events.
The CCSNMMI annual meeting was in Oak Brook, IL on March 11-12. It started this year off with a bang! We had an amazing line up of speakers, presenters and Student Quiz Bowl teams! Each year there are abstract presentations from Residents/Scientists in training, Nuclear Medicine Technologists, and students. This is a great way to present the research that is done within your facility.
Congratulations to our winners:
- H. Beierwaltes Award: Mallika Modak, PhD. Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- Renae Henkin Best Technologist Paper-CCSNMMI-TS: Alberto J. Arroyo, FSNMMI-TS, Mercy Heath St. Vincent Medical Center
- Best Student Paper for Research awarded by the CCSNMMI-Technologist Section: Sony Thomas, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- Quiz bowl team: Phroedtert Photons
The SNMMI annual meeting was held on June 24-27 in Chicago. During the governance meetings, we were able to bring up issues that were important to our members at the national level. This included discussions from all chapters to increase awareness of local meetings, outreach ideas for physicians/residents, reports from the President of the SNMMI and SNMMI-TS, and updates on the new strategic plan that has been implemented. At the House of Delegates, our chapter was awarded $1000 for the membership recruitment competition. Thank you to all our members for making this possible! In 2022, the Central Chapter was composed of 2,032 members, making us the largest chapter in the SNMMI.
Looking at upcoming events, we will be hosting our Fall Education Program in Noblesville, IN on October 20-22. Registration is now open for this event. The program has something for everyone! Continuing Medical Education credits for Physician (AMA-PRA Category 1 Credits™), CAMPEP credits for physicists and VOICE credits for nuclear medicine technologist will be offered (exact credits TBD). Friday October 19 is the Governance day. This is the time that all of our committees meet to discuss the important issues within our chapter, such as programs, roadshows, membership and finance. At the end of the day, the Board of Governors receives reports from each committee and resolves any issues that have been brought forward for a vote. Our chapter works hard to follow our Mission Statement by hosting two meeting per year, roadshow for the technologist, webinars for students and dedicated, hardworking members! In case you have not read our mission statement, I wanted to include it:
“The mission of the Central Chapter Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging is to serve as the premier source of information for all members of the Nuclear Medicine community. Our focus is to provide information on the state of the art technology in Nuclear Medicine, dedicated especially to PET, SPECT, and Molecular Imaging. Our goal will be to provide multiple opportunities, both on-line and at regional and local meetings, for continuing education and discourse in the science and advancement of nuclear medicine. This approach fulfills our public mission by serving to assure that high quality and the most appropriate techniques are available in our members’ institutions for patient care.”
Looking ahead to 2024, two important emails will be sent out. The first will be a call for nominations to the Board of Governors. This is a great way to get involved within the chapter. The second is the call for abstracts. Residents/Scientists in Training, NMTs and Students are encouraged to present research and new ideas to other members within the chapter. The presentations will occur during the annual meeting on March 9 and 10, 2024 in Columbus, OH.
I hope to see you at the Fall meeting.
Michelle L. Kritzman, M.S.
Nuclear Medical Physics, DABR