June 10, 2024
Toronto, Ontario (Embargoed until 9:30 am EDT, Monday, June 10, 2024)—Heather Jacene, MD, assistant chief of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, clinical director of Nuclear Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and associate professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, has been named as vice president-elect 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.
“As vice president-elect, my primary goal will be to strengthen SNMMI as a valuable resource for all members, from advancing the field's underlying basic science to providing excellent evidence-based patient care,” stated Jacene. “I am committed to championing nuclear medicine’s future through active listening, creative thinking, and bringing people and industries together to achieve common goals.”
Jacene plans to create new opportunities for members to participate actively in SNMMI and conduct multidisciplinary collaborations. She will also raise awareness of nuclear medicine’s value to clinical colleagues and patients and will be laser-focused on breaking down barriers to radiopharmaceutical availability, reimbursement, affordability, and funding.
Jacene earned her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and completed her residency in nuclear medicine and fellowship in nuclear medicine/PET-CT at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
An active SNMMI member, Jacene has been involved in many aspects of the organization. She serves as Quality of Practice Domain Chair for the SNMMI Value Initiative, and she helped develop the successful Radiopharmaceutical Centers of Excellence Program, ensuring quality delivery of radiopharmaceutical therapy. As Scientific Program Committee Chair, she has spearheaded “reimagining” the Annual Meeting, resulting in increased participation, networking, and innovation. In addition to her service to SNMMI, Jacene also served as a director on the American Board of Nuclear Medicine.
Jacene’s research focuses on using FDG-PET/CT and other novel tracers for characterizing and monitoring response of cancer to therapy as well as the use of radiopharmaceutical therapy. She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, as well as reviews and book chapters.
Other SNMMI officers elected for 2024-25 are Cathy Sue Cutler, PhD, FSNMMI, Upton, New York, as president and Jean-Luc C. Urbain, MD, PhD, FASNC, Buffalo, New York, as 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.
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.