In Memoriam

Richard C. Reba, MD, 1932–2022

Richard C. Reba, MD, a past president of SNMMI, died in Frederick, MD, on December 30, 2022. He received his MD in 1957 from the University of Maryland College of Physicians and Surgeons. While serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he became a research fellow under Henry N. Wagner, Jr., MD, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and later a senior investigator in the Division of Nuclear Medicine and chief of the Department of Isotope Metabolism at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He served in 1965 and 1966 as chief of Medical Services at the 85th Evac Hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam.

During his long career, Dr. Reba held faculty positions at Johns Hopkins, Washington Hospital Center, George Washington University, the University of Chicago, and Georgetown University. His research foci included development and application of SPECT and PET radiopharmaceuticals, and, in the 1980s, he carried out pioneering SPECT imaging of neuroreceptors in humans. He provided expert advice to the National Institutes of Health, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and government advisory committees and was the author/coauthor of 330 scientific papers.

Dr. Reba was the 1993 president of what was then the Society of Nuclear Medicine and worked to identify practice guidelines and criteria for scientific assessment, educate nuclear medicine professionals, and advance health care reform.

Michel Meignan, MD, PhD, 1947–2022

Michel Meignan, MD, PhD, died on October 15, 2022, at the age of 75, after a long battle against cancer. He was head of the nuclear medicine department at Henri Mondor Hospital (Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris; Créteil, France) from 1997 to 2013. He was trained at the University of Paris, and his early work concentrated on respiratory physiopathology using ^81mKr ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy. From 2005 onward, he focused on PET/CT evaluation of treatment response in lymphoma. In particular, he set up a network for centralized review of PET/CT scans and led the imaging section of the Lymphoma Study Association, an international multidisciplinary cooperative group. His leadership led to harmonization of PET/CT interpretation criteria, implementation of PET/CT–guided therapeutic strategies, and development of new prognostic biomarkers. Professor Meignan initiated the pioneering workshops on PET in Lymphoma and Myeloma, a unique forum for researchers from around the world. His conviction and remarkable ability to unite international experts contributed considerably to dissemination of knowledge about metabolic imaging of lymphomas. He published more than 240 scientific articles.

A professor emeritus since 2016, he was until recently the imaging lead on the organizing committee for revision of the Lugano classification for management of patients with lymphoma. He remained committed to teaching and the clinic and inspired colleagues in multiple fields. He was an extraordinary mentor, keen to nurture new talent. Professor Meignan will be remembered as an attentive, inventive, rigorous, honest, and erudite man.

Sally Barrington

King’s College, London, UK

Irène Buvat

Institut Curie, Paris, France

Anne-Ségolène Cottereau

René Descartes University, Paris, France

Andrea Gallamini

Centre Antoine-Lacassagne, Nice, France

Catherine Thieblemont

Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France