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Freek J. Beekman PIDSC Young Investigator Award

Overview

SNMMI symposium and competition, in association with the Computer and Instrumentation Council, for the best scientific abstracts on computer and instrumentation nuclear medicine. The objectives of the award are to identify promising young investigators working in computer and instrumentation nuclear medicine. These awards are made possible by a grant from the Education and Research Foundation (ERF).

Only abstracts submitted to categories within the Instrumentation & Data Analysis track will be considered for the ERF PIDSC Young Investigator Award Symposium.

  • All applicants must be currently enrolled or within five (5) years of a completed certified training program.
  • All former first prize winners are ineligible.
  • Abstracts must be submitted to one of the instrumentation & data analysis track.
  • All applicants must choose "Oral" as the Presentation Type.

Past Recipients

2025

First Place: Tianyi Zeng

“Evaluation of motion correction methods in ultra-high performance brain PET: A multi-tracer human study”

Second Place: Gunjan Kayal

“Introducing MIRDrpt: A freely Accessible Worksheet for Standardized Dosimetry and Bioeffect Metrics – 177Lu DOTATATE Implementation”

Third Place: DAVID HABERL 

GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENABLED MEDICAL IMAGE GENERATION FOR IMPROVED GENERALIZATION OF DEEP LEARNING MODELS IN DATA-CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENTS

Honorable Mention: YUJIN OH

“DEVELOPING A PET/CT FOUNDATION MODEL FOR CROSS-MODAL ANATOMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL IMAGING”

Honorable Mention: MINSEOK YI

“IMPACT OF CHERENKOV EMISSION DIRECTIONALITY ON TIMING PERFORMANCE IN BGO-BASED TIME-OF-FLIGHT (TOF) PET DETECTORS”

Honorable Mention: LUKE POLSON

“QUANTITATIVE AC-225 SPECT IMAGING AND RECONSTRUCTION: WHAT PHOTOPEAK SHOULD WE USE?”

2024

First Place: Huidong Xie
"Dose-aware diffusion model for 3D low-dose PET denoising: A multi-institutional validation with reader study and real low-dose data."

Second Place: Nu Ri Choi
"PRESPECT: A method to personalize myocardial perfusion SPECT acquisition protocols to improve performance on defect detection tasks."

Third Place: Julian Leube
"A proposal to shorten the acquisition duration of 177Lu SPECT/CT imaging by using synthetic intermediate projections."

Honorable Mention: Tommaso Volpi
 
"Image-Derived Input Functions and Ultra-High Performance Brain PET scanners: have we finally made it?"

Xingchun Zheng
"A Clinical Self-collimating Gamma Camera for nuclear medicine planar imaging with 1-millimeter resolution"

Yifei Jin
"Experimental Evaluation of DE-SPECT: A Hyperspectral SPECT System for in Vivo 3-D Gamma-Ray Spectrometry of Multifunctional Molecular Imaging and Theragnostic"

2023

First Place: Tiantian Li
High resolution image reconstruction and resolution modeling: first human scan with the NeuroEXPLORER

Second Place: Vibha Balaji
Graph-based explanations of tau forecasting for Alzheimer’s disease using graph neural networks

Third Place: Zitong Yu
Task-based evaluation of a scatter projection and deep learning-based transmission-less attenuation-compensation method with clinical data

Honorable Mention
Zhonghua Kuang
Performance Evaluation of SIAT bPET: an MRI Compatible Brain PET Insert

Sangjin Bae
Generalizing Emission Image Denoising Neural Networks through Score-based Approach

Tzu-An Song
Self-supervised PET image denoising using a neighbor-to-neighbor network
First Author:

2022

First Place: Thibault Escobar
Radiomic decision maps reveal patterns discriminating between glioma progression and radiation-induced necrosis in static and dual time [18F]-FDOPA PET

Second Place: Xinjie Zeng
High Resolution TOF-DOI Prism-PET Brain Scanner: Experimental Results From The First Prototype Scanner

Third Place: Xiongchao Chen
DuDoSS: Deep-Learning-Based Dual-Domain Sinogram Synthesis from Sparsely Sampled Projections of Cardiac SPECT

2021

First Place: Elena Maria Zannoni
Design study of a high-resolution and ultrahigh-sensitivity brain SPECT system for imaging medically intractable epilepsy 

Second Place: Lalith K. Shiyam Sundar
Data-driven motion compensation using cGAN for total-body [18F]FDG-PET imaging 

Third Place: Andy LaBella
36-to-1 Multiplexing with Prism-PET for High Resolution TOF-DOI PET 

Honorable Mention
Yanis Chemli
Super-resolution in brain PET Using a Real Time Motion Capture System

Ivan S. Klyuzhin
Unsupervised background removal by dual-modality PET/CT guidance: application to PSMA imaging of metastases 

Da-ano Ronrick
Pre-selecting radiomic features based on their robustness to changes in imaging properties of multicentre data: impact on predictive modelling performance compared to ComBat harmonization of all available features 

Si Young Yie
Self-supervised Bone Scan Denoising

2020

1st place: Zhaoheng Xie
"Anatomy-guided PET image reconstruction with deep neural network""

2nd place: Martin Lyngby Lassen
"Aortic valve imaging using 18F-Sodium Fluoride: implications of triple motion correction on test-retest reproducibility"

3rd place: Haewook Park
"NEMA Performance Evaluation of Long Axial Field-of-View Brain PET Insert with 7T MRI Compatibility"

Honorable Mention
Ziping Liu - "A physics-guided and learning-based estimation method for segmenting 3D DAT-Scan SPECT images"

Tiantian Li - "Deep Learning Based Joint PET Image Reconstruction and Motion Estimation"

Yiran Wang
“Effect of dual-input function and dispersion on lung FDG-PET kinetic quantification using the EXPLORER total-body PET/CT scanner”

2019

1st place: Varsha Viswanath
"Lesion detectability in long axial field of view TOF PET scanners"

2nd place: Kuang Gong
"Attenuation Correction of PET/MR Using Cycle-Consistent Adversarial Network"

3rd place: Joyce van Sluis
"Performance characteristics and quantitative clinical evaluation of the digital Siemens biography Vision PET/CT"

Honorable Mention: Martin Lyngby Lassen
Honorable Mention: Jing Wu
Honorable Mention: Hui LIu
Honorable Mention: Bao Yang

2018

1st Place – Yihuan Lu
"Data-driven motion detection and event-by-event correction for brain PET."

2nd Place –Jeffrey P. Schmall
"Deep learning based attenuation correction for whole-body PET studies."

3rd Place – Jason M. Bini
"PET Imaging of Pancreatic β-Cell Mass with 11C-(+)-PHNO: Determination of the appropriate approach for quantitative analysis."

Honorable Mention
Bao Yang - "Brain PET dose reduction using a shallow artificial neural network."

Alvin Ihsani - "A Novel Penalized Joint Image Reconstruction Method for Tau-PET Imaging."

Donhwl Hwang - "Deep learning-based attenuation correction for whole-body PET studies."

Saeed Ashrafinia - "Application of Texture and Radiomics Analysis to Clinical Myocardial Perfusion SPECT Imaging."

Jun Yeon Won - "Development and initial results of a prototype brain PET scanner using a time-based digitizer and an FPGA-based real-time coincidence processor."

2017

1st Place – Emilie Gaudin
"Initial results of a truly pixelated APD-based PET scanner for high-resolution preclinical imaging."

2nd Place –Tao Feng
"Improved Image Quality with Locally Adaptive Gating in 4D PET Image Reconstruction."

3rd Place – Tiantian Li
"Software for 3D Personalized Targeted Radionuclide Therapy Dosimetry."

Honorable Mention
David FC Hsu - "Abstract Title: Studies of a Next Generation Silicon-Photomultiplier-Based Time-of-Flight PET/CT System."

Andrew Groll - "Abstract Title: Ultrahigh Resolution Coplanar PET Imaging of Microfluidic Devices for Synthesizing PET Radiopharmaceuticals."

Joseph G. Meier - "Abstract Title: Impact of elastic motion correction on quantitation and image quality of whole-body PET/CT."

Bao Yang - "Abstract Title: Artificial neural network based regularization for brain PET image reconstruction."

2016

1st Place – Sandra Van Der Velden
"Simultaneous fluoroscopy and nuclear imaging: Impact of collimator choice on nuclear image quality."

2nd Place – Catriona Wimberly
"Optimisation of quantification for 18F-DPA-714 in the healthy human."

3rd Place – Srilalan Krishnamoorthy
"Proton beam range verification with a dedicated in-situ partial-ring time-of-flight PET scanner."

Honorable Mention
Qian Wang - “A Systematic Evaluation of 18F Positron Imaging Using Radioluminescence Microscopy by Computational Simulation”

Elena Maria Zannoni - "Design Study for MRC-SPECT-II: A new generation of MR-Compatible SPECT System bioinspired by superposition compound eyes for ultrahigh resolution SPECT Imaging."

Wentao Zhu- "Ultra-Low dose brain FDG PET imaging with an iterative all-TOF MLAA algorithm."

Wentao Zhu - "Accurate quantification for delayed FDG PET/CT imaging without secondary CT exposure."

2015

1st Place – Chen-Ming Chang
"Preliminary PET performance evaluation of an RF field-penetrable brain-sized PET insert for simultaneous PET/MR imaging"

2nd Place – Nicholas Guehl - "A combined PET-fMRI model for mapping neurotransmission: simulation and initial demonstration"

3rd Place – Richard Manber - "MR Image-based PET Respiratory Motion Correction in PET/MR"

Honorable Mention
Hyun Joon An - "Quantitative evaluation of improved MR-based attenuation correction for brain PET/MRI studies"

Vikram Adhikarla - "Modeling of [11C]MeNET binding to the norepinephrine transporter (NET) in healthy humans"

Jonathan George - "Evaluation of X-ray Fluorescence Emission Tomography for Real-time Assessment of Photodynamic Therapy Effect"

Andrew Groll - "Evaluation of Hybrid Pixel-Waveform (HPWF) CdTe and CZT Detectors for Sub-500 µm Resolution PET Imaging for Mouse Brain Studies"

2014

1st Place – Guillem Pratx
"A novel radioluminescence microscope for imaging radiotracers at the single-cell level"

2nd Place – Dustin Osborne
“Whole-body clinical dynamic imaging and Patlak modeling using continuous bed motion techniques"

3rd Place – Kuangyu Shi
"Hierarchical pharmacokinetic modeling for the analysis of dynamic F-18 FET PET/MR"

Honorable Mention
Mary Germino - "Generation of parametric images from time-of-flight 82Rb and 15O-water cardiac PET with ICA-derived input functions"

Will Hutchcroft - "Anatomical-image aided PET reconstruction by the kernel method"

Chuan Huang - "Fast tagged MR acquisition for PET motion correction in simultaneous cardiac PET-MR"

Auranuch Lorsakul - "A numerical observer for task-based assessment on kinetic parametric imaging"

2013

1st Place – Moses Wilks
"Quantitative in vivo imaging of slowly diffusing radiotracers"

2nd Place – Joyita Dutta
"Respiratory motion compensated pulmonary imaging using simultaneous PET-MR"

3rd Place – Hao Li – "Direct MAP estimation of attenuation sinogram using TOF PET emission data"

Honorable Mention
Guen Bae Ko – "New high performance SiPM PET insert to 9.4-T MR scanner for simultaneous PET/MRI studies"

Jongmin Cho – "Proton beam range verification using PET: Comparison of polycarbonate and copper activation"

Chuan Huang – "Real-time 3D motion tracking using MR micro-coils for PET imaging"

Matteo Tonietto – "Plasma metabolite correction: Improvements of current parent plasma models"

2012

1st Place
Yoann Petibon– "MR-based motion compensation in simultaneous cardiac PET-MR "

2nd Place – Mattijs Elschot
"Quantitative comparison of PET and SPECT for imaging the yttrium-90 microsphere distribution after liver radioembolization"

3rd Place – Si Chen
"Four-dimensional PET image reconstruction with respiratory and cardiac motion compensation from list-mode data"

Honorable Mention
Chung Chan– "Improved image reconstruction for dedicated cardiac SPECT with truncated projections"

Arda Konik – "Comparison of three different methods of acquiring attenuation maps for SPECT in the presence of respiratory motion"

Ida A. Nissen – "Impact of partial volume corrections on quantitative brain PET studies"

Mike Sattarivand– "Symmetric geometric transfer matrix partial volume correction for PET imaging"