Pomper is a professor and chair of radiology at UT
Southwestern Medical Center, where he holds the Effie and Wofford Cain
Distinguished Chair of Diagnostic Imaging and serves in both the neuroradiology
and nuclear medicine divisions. Before joining UT Southwestern in 2023, he
served on the faculty of the Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and
Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins University as director of the division of
nuclear medicine. He was the inaugural William R. Brody Chair of Radiology and
later the Henry N. Wagner, Jr., MD, Chair of Nuclear
Medicine at Johns Hopkins, where he also served as the associate dean for entrepreneurship
and technology development.
Pomper's research focuses on molecular imaging and therapy
for cancer and central nervous system disorders. His greatest scientific
contribution has been the discovery and development of small molecules
targeting PSMA. He created the first small molecules for imaging PSMA and the
first commercial PSMA-targeted PET agent (Pylarify).
His group also created the first PSMA-targeted imaging and therapeutic (theranostic) agents incorporating a
radiometal. Compounds of the same chemical class have been approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are used worldwide to help manage
patients with prostate cancer.
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Pomper received both his
PhD and MD degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He then
completed an internship with the Osler Medical Service, residency training in
diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine, and a fellowship in neuroradiology,
all at Johns Hopkins University. His work has resulted in nearly 500
peer-reviewed publications and a number of patents. He
has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institutes of
Health, the Scientific Review Committee of the Cancer Prevention and Research
Institute of Texas, and the World Molecular Imaging Society, among other
bodies.
Within SNMMI, Pomper has served in numerous leadership
capacities, including as president of the Molecular Imaging Center of
Excellence Board of Directors, member of the Education Committee, and member of
the Theranostics Leadership and Operations Group, the
Molecular Imaging Grants & Awards Task Force, and the International Task
Force, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Sam
Gambhir Innovation Prize from the International Society for Strategic Studies
in Radiology (2023), the Gold Medal from the World Molecular Imaging Society
(2021), the Paul C. Aebersold Award from SNMMI (2017), the Distinguished
Service Award from SNMMI (2008), and the Berson-Yalow Award from SNMMI (multiple
years), among others. He was elected a Fellow of SNMMI in 2023.
The Cassen Prize honors Benedict Cassen, whose invention of
the rectilinear radioisotope scanner -- the first
instrument capable of making an image of radiotracer distribution in body
organs of living patients -- was seminal to the
development of clinical nuclear medicine. Pomper is the 18th individual to
receive this prestigious $25,000 award from the Education and Research
Foundation for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging since 1994.
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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
(SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to
advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and theranostics -- precision
medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual
patients in order to achieve the best possible
outcomes. For more information, visit snmmi.org.