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SNMMI Announces Mars Shot Research Fund Award Winners

More than $500,000 Granted for Infection and Inflammation Research


Reston, Virginia (June 10, 2026)—The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is pleased to announce the recipients of five Drs. Jane & Abass Alavi Mars Shot Research Awards from SNMMI’s 2026 Mars Shot Fund. With a focus on advancing imaging research in infection and inflammation, the awards will support studies on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), artery inflammation, diabetic bone infections, prosthetic joint infections, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Winners of the Alavi Mars Shot Research Awards include:

  • Gad Abikhzer, DEC, MDCM, FRCPC: Abikhzer, associate professor in the Department of Radiology at McGill University; chief of nuclear medicine at Jewish General Hospital; and investigator at Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, based in Montreal, has been awarded $110,000 for his proposal “18F-FDG PET/CT for Diagnosis of Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis: A Prospective Multicenter Study of Diagnostic Accuracy.” In the study, he will evaluate the diagnostic performance and possible prognostic role of digital 18F-FDG PET/CT for diabetic foot osteomyelitis using standardized acquisition protocols and interpretation criteria. He will also examine less well-explored factors such as hyperglycemia or antibiotic use on its accuracy.
  • Lorenzo Nardo, MD, PhD: Nardo, professor and Nuclear Medicine Division chief in the Department of Radiology at the University of California Davis, received a $110,000 award for his proposal “Zirconium-89 Certolizumab PET Imaging in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.” His research will focus on developing a robust methodology to safely and non-invasively assess TNFα upregulation in vivo in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and provide biomarkers that, in the long term, could guide clinical management by assessing disease extent and response to therapy.
  • Koenraad Van Laere, MD, PhD, DSc, and Lennert Boeckxstaens, MD: Van Laere, professor and head of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium, and Boeckxstaens, staff member in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging at KU Leuven, received a $110,000 grant for their proposal “Ultra-high resolution FAPI and FDG PET imaging for in vivo assessment of giant cell arteritis and prediction of complications.” The team will identify and quantify pathological FDG and FAPI uptake in the ophthalmic artery using whole-body PET/CT with the goal of establishing FAPI PET/CT as a novel biomarker of active inflammation in giant cell arteritis.
  • Nerissa Viola, PhD: An associate professor from Wayne State University in Detroit, Viola has received a $100,000 grant for her proposal “A Comparative Imaging Study between 18F-FDG and an IL23-Targeted PET Agent for Monitoring Chronic IBD.” The research aims to validate the ability of the novel 89Zr-labeled IL23p40 tracer to track disease progression and severity in chronic inflammation models and compare its uptake against 18F-FDG via sequential imaging.
  • David Wilson, MD, PhD: Wilson, professor and associate director of the Clinical Scientists T32 Training Program at the University of California San Francisco, received a $100,000 grant for his proposal “Cell wall-derived PET radiotracer, 18F-NAM  for specific imaging of bacteria in prosthetic joint infections.” He will conduct essential studies needed to translate 18F-NAM in patients with suspected prosthetic joint infections to differentiate active infection from sterile inflammation.

 

Left to right, from top: Nerissa Viola, PhD; Gad Abikhzer, DEC, MDCM, FRCPC; Lorenzo Nardo, MD, PhD; David Wilson, MD, PhD; Koenraad Van Laere, MD, PhD, DSc, and Lennert Boeckxstaens, MD

“This year’s Alavi Mars Shot Research Awards reflect the extraordinary breadth and real-world urgency of prompt nuclear medicine imaging of infection and inflammation,” said Mars Shot Fund Chair Richard Wahl, MD, professor at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “By accelerating innovative imaging science across these diverse conditions, we’re expanding what nuclear medicine potentially can offer so clinicians can make better-informed decisions.”

“These awards ultimately have the power to transform patient care,” said Mars Shot Fund Co-Chair Munir Ghesani, associate professor of radiology and neurosurgery at Mount Sinai in New York.

The SNMMI Mars Shot Research Fund, established in 2023, is helping build the innovation that drives the future of nuclear medicine. It provides resources that potentially can translate visionary nuclear medicine imaging, radiopharmaceutical therapy, and data science research or projects into tools or treatments that will help improve the lives of patients.

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About the SNMMI Mars Shot Research Fund
The MarsShot for Nuclear Medicine, Molecular Imaging, and Molecularly TargetedRadiopharmaceutical Therapy is a forward-looking glimpse into the future of nuclear medicine. Its goal is to provide resources for the translation of visionary nuclear medicine imaging, radiopharmaceutical therapy, and data science research or projects into tools or treatments helping improve the lives of patients.

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 www.snmmi.org.