New Officers for SNMMI and SNMMI-TS

During the 2022 SNMMI Annual Meeting, from June 11 to 14, both the SNMMI and SNMMI Technologist Section (SNMMI-TS) welcomed new officers. Elected by the members of the 2 organizations, the new officers will serve in these positions through June 2023.

SNMMI President

Munir Ghesani, MD, associate professor of radiology at Mount Sinai Hospital and chief of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging at Mount Sinai Health System (New York, NY), assumed the office of SNMMI President. He reported that his goals in this position include continuing to increase consumer outreach and medical community awareness of the benefits of nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and radionuclide therapy; expanding efforts to provide educational offerings to referring and specialty physicians; working closely with U.S. regulators to streamline the approval of promising new diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals; maintaining reliable access to radiopharmaceuticals, particularly new and cutting-edge therapies; and ensuring that SNMMI remains a leading global nuclear medicine organization through its publications, clinical guidelines, quality initiatives, and international representation.

Munir Ghesani, MD

Ghesani earned his medical degree from Gujarat University, NHL Medical College (Ahmedabad, India), in 1984. He completed a diagnostic radiology residency in 1988 at the KM School of Postgraduate Medicine and Research, followed by a diagnostic ultrasound fellowship in 1989 at LG Hospital and KM School of Postgraduate Medicine and Research, also in Ahmedabad. In 1993, he completed an internal medicine residency at Jersey City Medical Center (NJ) and, in 1996, a nuclear medicine residency and fellowship at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center (New York, NY), where he also went on to radiology residency. He has held academic appointments at the New York University School of Medicine, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Columbia University (all in New York, NY).

Within SNMMI, Ghesani has been an active member of the society’s governance, with a strong focus on advocacy. He has served as chair of the Government Relations Committee and the SNMMI/U.S. Food and Drug Administration Task Force, as well as Advocacy Domain chair for the SNMMI Value Initiative. He was a cochair of the SNMMI Membership Task Force and a member of the SNMMI Board of Directors. He has also held multiple leadership positions in the Greater New York Chapter of SNMMI, most recently as president.

In the larger nuclear medicine community, Ghesani has served as chair and director of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM) and as president of the American College of Nuclear Medicine (ACNM). He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and a text, Nuclear Medicine: A Case-Based Approach. Ghesani is certified by the American Board of Radiology, ABNM, and the American Board of Internal Medicine.

“SNMMI is a unique organization that brings together diverse nuclear medicine and molecular imaging professionals,” said Ghesani. “It is my pleasure to work on behalf of each of the SNMMI members to improve our field. I look forward to collaborating with the society’s dedicated leadership, volunteers, and staff over the next year in our mission to improve patient care.”

SNMMI President-Elect

Helen Nadel, MD, director of pediatric nuclear medicine at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford (CA) and clinical professor of radiology at the Stanford School of Medicine, was named as SNMMI president-elect. She has set goals for her tenure that reflect lessons learned from the collective nuclear medicine COVID-19 experience. To accomplish these goals, Nadel proposes creation of an ongoing working group to address preparedness issues, education of members on potential risks, and development of rapid global communication and mobilization plans. She encourages SNMMI’s continued cooperation with government and industry to develop and quickly approve diagnostic and theranostic molecular agents, as well as associated technologies. She also supports SNMMI’s diversity initiatives to ensure an inclusive working environment and deliver quality health care to all patients regardless of ethnicity or gender.

Helen Nadel, MD

Nadel earned her medical degree from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg (Canada) in 1977. She completed a diagnostic radiology residency in 1982 at the University of Toronto (Canada), followed by a fellowship in pediatric radiology at the Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto. She then completed a nuclear medicine residency in 1989 at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). She held multiple academic appointments at the University of British Columbia between 1983 and 2018 and was head of the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Department of Radiology at British Columbia Children’s Hospital before taking on her current roles at Stanford.

An active SNMMI member for more than 30 years, Nadel has served as a member of the House of Delegates, as president and member of the board of directors of the Pediatric Imaging Council, and as member of the PET Center of Excellence board of directors, Scientific Program Committee, Membership Committee, and The Journal of Nuclear Medicine editorial board, among other posts. She was president of the SNMMI Pacific Northwest Chapter for many years and currently plays an active role in the Northern California chapter. In the greater nuclear medicine community, she has served in multiple positions for the ACNM, the ABNM, and the Children’s Oncology Group. In 2019, Nadel received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Society of Pediatric Nuclear Medicine for ongoing contributions to pediatric nuclear medicine. She has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and 24 text chapters and has been an invited speaker for 180 presentations.

SNMMI Vice President–Elect

Cathy Sue Cutler, PhD, Director of the Medical Isotope Research and Production Program (MIRP) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, NY), was named as the 2022 SNMMI Vice-President Elect. A high-priority goal during her term will be to work with SNMMI on efforts to secure appropriate funding for nuclear medicine services and providers. This goal also includes securing adequate funding for researchers developing life-saving radiopharmaceuticals. She will work with SNMMI to encourage the U.S. Congress to pass the FIND Act to guarantee access to high-value radiopharmaceuticals. A third goal is to generate training and education opportunities in theranostics for personalized medicine.

Cathy Cutler, PhD

Cutler began her career as a research associate at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology/Washington University at St. Louis (MO), and as a research scientist at the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR; Columbia) at the University of Missouri. At the University of Missouri she also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Nuclear Engineering Program and a Joint Faculty Member in the Nuclear Sciences and Engineering Institute. She became a Research Professor at MURR in 2010. In 2015 she accepted her current position at BNL, where she was named a Tenured Scientist in 2018. In 2019 she received the BNL 33rd Annual Women’s Recognition Award for Achievements in Science.

For more than 20 years Dr. Cutler has actively participated and served in leadership positions on SNMMI councils, committees, and task forces, including those of the Radiopharmaceutical Council, the Committee on Radiopharmaceuticals (as chair), the Center for Molecular Imaging Innovation and Translation (as president), the Committee on Ethics, the Women in Nuclear Medicine Committee, the Committee on Education, the Committee on Government Relations (chair), the SNMMI Advocacy Domain–Value Initiative (chair), and others. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and participated in national and international radiopharmaceutical leadership activities.

SNMMI-TS President

Krystle W. Glasgow, MIS, CNMT, NMTCB(CT), NMAA, instructor and clinical coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, became the 2022–2023 SNMMI-TS president. Her focus as president will continue to be on SNMMI-TS membership. Her goals include engaging young nuclear medicine technologists (both students and early career professionals) and strengthening support for all nuclear medicine technologists. Other goals include making SNMMI a 1-stop shop for nuclear medicine needs, enhancing communication between the society and its members, increasing and diversifying educational offerings, and promoting advocacy endeavors.

Krystle W. Glasgow, MIS, CNMT, NMTCB(CT), NMAA

Glasgow received her bachelor of science degree in nuclear medicine technology with a concentration in CT in 2010 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She completed a master’s degree in imaging sciences and was certified as a Nuclear Medicine Advanced Associate at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock). She is pursuing a doctoral degree in health services administration with a concentration in health informatics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

SNMMI-TS President-Elect

Dmitry Beyder, CNMT, MPA, was named as SNMMI-TS President-Elect. His goals for his time in office include guiding technologists and the professional organization as a whole out of the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening the nuclear medicine technologist workforce and professional pipeline, and growing the nuclear medicine technologist’s role in theranostic practice.

Dmitry Beyder, CNMT, MPA

Beyder received his bachelor of science degree in nuclear medicine technology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master of public administration in health policy, management, and international healthcare from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University (NY). He began his career as a nuclear medicine technology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY), followed by 6 years as clinical supervisor of nuclear medicine and PET at Oregon Health and Science University (Portland). He assumed the position of Radiology Program Manager of Nuclear Medicine, PET, CT, and Patient Transport at Barnes–Jewish Hospital/Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (St. Louis, MO) in 2014. He has served in numerous SNMMI-TS leadership roles, including as chair of the Scope of Practice Task Force, cochair of the Advocacy Committee, member of the Executive Board, and others.