June 10, 2024
Toronto, Ontario—Jean-Luc C. Urbain, MD, PhD, FASNC, professor of Radiology/Nuclear Medicine and Medicine, has been named president-elect of 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 SNMMI president-elect, I plan to focus on bringing and integrating radiopharmaceutical theranostics into the clinic to benefit as many patients as possible. This will require an emphasis on research, government approvals, education, training, quality and safety of practice issues, and reimbursement concerns,” stated Urbain. “I look forward to working with all SNMMI members, stakeholders, and patients ‘communities to achieve these goals.”
Urbain will also continue to bolster SNMMI’s outreach to the global nuclear medicine community by focusing on underrepresented professionals and communities, facilitating their participation in SNMMI activities and underserved patients’ communities. Promoting the SNMMI brand at the national and international level will be another top priority for Urbain as he works to increase the society’s visibility, membership, and financial support.
Urbain received his medical degree from the University of Louvain Medical School in Brussels, Belgium, where he also completed residencies in Medicine and Medical Imaging/Nuclear Medicine. Urbain was a fellow at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and earned a doctoral degree from the Temple University Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology. He is recognized as a Health Care Executive Management diplomate (Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio), an Academic Management diplomate (Harvard Macy, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Ivey Business School, London, Ontario, Canada), and an American College of Physicians Executive diplomate, Certified Physician Executive (Tampa, Florida).
Over his 35-plus year career, Urbain has held many academic appointments at the Catholic University of Louvain, Temple University, University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and most recently as Nuclear Radiology Fellowship Program Director at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His hospital appointments include positions at Catholic University of Louvain; CHGH University Affiliated Hospital in Hornu, Belgium; Temple University Hospital; Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; St. Joseph’s Health Care, London Health Sciences Centre & University of Western Ontario; the VA Medical Center - Milton Hershey Penn State Medical College in Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center; Roswell Park Cancer Center and Brantford General, Pembroke Regional, and Stratford General Hospitals in Ontario, where he currently serves as a staff physician in addition to his consulting activities to academic centers.
Within SNMMI Urbain has served in multiple roles in addition to his most recent post as vice president-elect. He was a member of the Nominating Committee and served as chair of the Global Initiative Committee. Urbain is currently a member of the Therapy Strategic Plan Task Force, Quality and Patient Safety Committee, Community Based Committee, Center of Excellence Task Force and Therapy Center of Excellence Task Force; he also serves as a Radiopharmaceuticals Center of Excellence reviewer. He was a member of the Eastern Great Lakes Chapter of SNMMI and served as its president from 2010-2011.
Additionally, Urbain is an active consultant for and participant in the Lancet Oncology Commission Report on Theranostics and International Atomic Energy Agency. In the past, he served as president of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine & Biology, vice president of the Canadian Neuro Endocrine Tumors Society, co-chair of the Waiting Time Alliance, president of the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine, and secretary of the Belgium Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Urbain is a member of the Radiological Society of North America, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and European Association of Nuclear Medicine. He received the Homi Jehangir Bhabba Award Honorary Degree in 2007 from the Society of Nuclear Medicine, India, and the GE Radiant Fund from the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine in 2006. Urbain has published about 100 journal articles and 15 book chapters and has given more than a thousand invited speaker presentations. He is co-editor of the international outreach ePatient magazine.
Other SNMMI officers elected for 2024-25 are Cathy Sue Cutler, PhD, FSNMMI, Upton, New York, as president and, Heather Jacene, MD, Boston, Massachusetts, 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.