June 10, 2024
Toronto, Ontario—Cathy Sue Cutler, PhD, FSNMMI, chair of the Isotope Research and Production Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, has been named as president for the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). SNMMI introduced a new slate of officers during its 2024 Annual Meeting, held June 8-11 in Toronto.
“While the nuclear medicine field is making substantial progress in improving patient outcomes, we are handicapped by an inadequate reimbursement system that limits patient access to these innovative imaging tools,” said Cutler. “As president, I will continue to work to support the Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics (FIND) Act of 2023, which will ensure equitable access to care and treatment for patients.”
In her role as president, Cutler will continue the Society’s work to ameliorate the workforce shortage among radiochemists, medical physicists, radiopharmacists, nuclear technologists and physicians and ensure that potential entrants understand pathways into the field. She also intends to create training and education opportunities in theranostics and to educate the public on nuclear medicine and the value it holds for patients.
Cutler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she also completed a post-doctorate in analytical chemistry. She spent 17 years, first as a research scientist and then as a professor, at the Missouri University Research Reactor center. During this time Cutler also served as a faculty member at the university’s Nuclear Sciences and Engineering Institute.
Cutler has served SNMMI in many capacities. In addition to serving as president-elect and vice president-elect, Cutler has served as SNMMI secretary/treasurer and as president of the SNMMI Center for Molecular Imaging Innovation and Translation. She has chaired the Advocacy Domain within SNMMI’s Value Initiative, the Committee on Government Relations, and the Committee on Radiopharmaceuticals and has participated in many other committees, such as the Committee on Ethics, the Women in Nuclear Medicine Committee, and the Scientific Program Committee. During her time in Missouri, Cutler was an active participant in the Missouri Valley Chapter of SNMMI.
Cutler is a member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine, the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, and the American Chemical Association. She served on the Executive Board of Directors for the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences and was previously a member of the Executive Committee for the Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute, a member of the Executive Committee of International Association of Radiopharmacology, and a member of the Steering Committee for the American Association of Cancer Research Chemistry in Cancer Research Group. Cutler also served as an expert on the United States Pharmacopeia panel to rewrite monographs 821, 1821 and 1823.
In 2024 Cutler was part of the team that was awarded the Department of Energy Secretarial Honors Award for its work on Ac-225; this is the highest form of employee recognition for achievements from the DOE. In 2022 she received the Pinnacle Award in Science and Technology from Brookhaven National Laboratory to recognize distinguished contributions to the laboratory’s science and technology mission. In 2019, Cutler received the Brookhaven 33rd Annual Women’s Recognition Award for Achievements in Science, and in 2014, she received the Mizzou Advantage Entrepreneurial Award. Cutler holds 12 patents and has published 95 peer-reviewed journal articles and eight book chapters. She has given more than 100 invited speaker presentations.
Other SNMMI officers elected for 2024-25 are Jean-Luc C. Urbain, MD, PhD, FASNC, Buffalo, New York, as president-elect and Heather Jacene, MD, Boston, Massachusetts, as vice president-elect. SNMMI Technologist Section officers for 2024-25 are Julie Dawn Bolin, MS, CNMT, Phoenix, Arizona, as president, and Cybil Nielsen, MBA, CNMT, FSNMMI-TS, Long Beach, Mississippi, as president-elect.
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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 and molecular imaging—vital elements of precision medicine that allow diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.
SNMMI’s members set the standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and practice. For more information, visit www.snmmi.org.