Mel is a polyglot editor and journalist who specialises in healthcare and technology. She is a regular contributor to Aunt Minnie Europe, European Hospital and HIMSS Insights. She also works as a consultant for individuals and organisations focusing on digital health, artificial intelligence, engineering and medical imaging. She has been working with the European Society of Radiology for over a decade, bringing in her enthusiasm and skills in communication to highlight major events such as the ECR and the International Day of Radiology.

Mel obtained her Master’s degree in bilingual English-French journalism from Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle University in 2003. Previously she obtained her Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree in English language, literature and civilisation from Paris 3 University and Rennes 2 University. Mel also took part in the SOCRATES programme in Thessaloniki, Greece, studying literature and theatre at Aristotle’s University. More recently, she completed a postgraduate course in social media marketing and content management at Inesdi, a digital business school in Madrid, Spain.

She has worked for leading French media including Agence France Presse, Le Monde and tf1 across Europe. She has lived in Austria, Chile, France, Greece, Spain and the UK, and speaks English, French, German and Spanish fluently.

Thomas Beyer holds a PhD in Physics and is co-developer of combined PET/CT imaging systems. He has a background in research and project management in academia and imaging industry.

Thomas graduated in Physics from the Leipzig University (Germany) and got his PhD in Medical Physics from Surrey University (UK). During his US-based studies he became involved in the development and clinical testing of the first PET/CT prototype (1992-2000) before joining Siemens/CTI PET Systems as an International PET/CT specialist.

In 2002 he became a Research Associate in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology and PET/CT project manager at Essen University Hospital (Germany). In 2006 he became Teaching Professor (Priv.-Doz.) for Experimental Nuclear Medicine at Essen, and joined timaq medical imaging Inc, a Zurich-based Imaging CRO. In 2007 Thomas moved to Philips Medical Systems as International Manager Clinical Science Nuclear Medicine. In 2008 he set up a Zurich-based consulting company for expert advise in cross-modality imaging and applications. He is appointed full professor of Physics of Medical Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna from March 2013.

Thomas is a member of various national and international Medicine organizations, a founding member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Physics Committee, the European Society of Hybrid Imaging (ESHI) and past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES).

Dr. Fischer, MD, PhD, DMSc is a consultant in PET imaging at Guy’s & St. Thomas Hospital in London, Senior Clinical Lecturer at Kings College London and chief physician, associate professor at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital.

Dr. Fischer has performed research within the field of hybrid imaging and oncology for a decade. The common thread of her research being the exploration and implementation of functional imaging in cancer treatment, mainly PET/CT and PET/MR.

Dr José L Vercher-Conejero is a nuclear medicine physician in the Department of Nuclear Medicine/PET Unit at the University Hospital of Bellvitge (Barcelona, Spain). During his training period, for his merits he was awarded a scholarship by the Official College of Physicians of Valencia and invited by the Mount Sinai Medical Hospital of New York to perform a rotation in the Department of Radiology.

He has been working at the University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe in Valencia (Department of Nuclear Medicine – Clinical Area of Medical Imaging), being also a member of the “Biomedical and Imaging Research Group – (GIBI230)”, and carried out a fellowship in the Department of Radiology at UH Hospital/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (Ohio, USA), specializing in PET/MRI and digital PET mainly.

His interests are in oncological PET/CT, PET/MR, SPECT/CT, FDG and Non-FDG radiopharmaceuticals, and radiometabolic therapy (PRRT for NETs, endocrine disorders and endocrine oncology, treatment of bone metastases, microspheres with Y-90 for the treatment of intrahepatic tumour lesions, among others).

From March 2019, Dr Vercher-Conejero is the Hybrid Imaging Ambassador for Spain for the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging (ESHI^MT).

Nuclear medicine Physician
Associate Professor- University Paris Descartes

Head of Nuclear Oncology Unit
Nuclear medicine Department–Cochin Hospital Paris-APHP
Faculty of Medicine, University Paris Descartes

Previous positions :
1994-2004: Head of Nuclear Medicine department- Surgical Center Marie Lannelongue-Le Plessis-Robinson
2012 : Head of Nuclear Medicine department – Curie Institute -Paris
2016 : Head of Nuclear Medicine department-Hôtel Dieu-Paris-APHP
2019 : Head of Nuclear Nuclear Oncology Unit- Nuclear medicine department-Cochin-Paris-APHP

Publications :
main topics : PET in breast cancer, digestive cancer, lung cancer
Journal of Nuclear Medicine ; European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging ; Cancer ; Clinical Nuclear medicine ; Diagnostic Interventional Imaging

Patrick Veit-Haibach is a dual-certified Radiologist and Nuclear Medicine Physician currently serving as the Director of the PET/MR program at the Joint Department Medical Imaging (JDMI), Toronto, Canada. He completed his training in radiology and nuclear medicine in Germany and in Switzerland. Before joining the JDMI in 2017, he served as the head of the PET/CT-MRI section at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.

His research interests focus on multi-modality molecular imaging strategies, particularly combined PET/MRI and PET/CT, perfusion- and hypoxia-imaging.  Current projects involve clinical and preclinical molecular imaging research in esophago-gastric cancer, breast cancer, HCC, sarcoma, ENT cancer and lymphoma as well as molecular cardio-vascular imaging.

POSITIONS

• Professor of biophysics and nuclear medicine at University P & M Curie (Paris VI) since 1990
• Former Head of the nuclear medicine department of University hospital Tenon 1991-2018
• Expert at the French Medicine Agency (AFSSAPS and HAS) since 1992
• Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Group “Diagnostic agents” of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA

DEGREES

• Medicine Doctor : 20/10/1978 (University P & M. Curie, Paris). Silver medal.
• Specialist in nuclear medicine in 1979
• Specialist in endocrinology in 1982
• Ph D in investigative Endocrinology in 1977
• Ph D in statistics and methodology of assays in 1978 (Pr Schwartz)
• Life Science Doctor in 1989 (University P&M Curie, Paris)

PUBLICATIONS

• Over 150 original articles referenced in Pub Med
• One complete book “Scintigraphie” (Masson publisher),
• One CD-ROM on FDG CDET
• 11 Chapters of books, 46 lectures or review articles.
• H Hirsch factor = 36

Dr. Nadel is a dual board certified Pediatric Radiologist and Nuclear Medicine Physician in both the USA and Canada. She holds certifications from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, The American Board of Radiology (ABR) with certificate of added qualification in Pediatric Radiology and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM).

Dr. Nadel has been practicing as a pediatric radiologist and pediatric nuclear medicine physician and has been performing the entire breadth of nuclear medicine studies in children in a fully integrated departed of Pediatric Radiology for her entire career. Dr. Nadel currently uses PET/MR exclusively for PET imaging at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University.

Clemens C. Cyran, MD is Professor of Radiology, Section Chief Hybrid and Molecular Imaging and vice-chair at the Department of Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany.

Prof. Cyran completed his residency in radiology in Munich in 2013 and is also board certified in diagnostic nuclear medicine. Prof. Cyran is currently chair of the Education Committee of the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging.

Read Prof. Cyran’s CV here.

Katrine Riklund, graduated at Umeå university in 1988, licensed in radiology in 1994 and in nuclear medicine in 1997. She defended her PhD thesis about radioimmunoscintigraphy and radioimmunotherapy, in 1992, and received a position as senior lecturer in 1993. Since 2002 she is full clinical professor in diagnostic radiology at Umeå University and senior consultant in radiology and nuclear medicine at Umeå University hospital. During 2000-2002 Dr. Riklund was the head of the clinical department of Radiology at Umeå university hospital and is thereafter responsible for the department of nuclear medicine. She was deputy dean of the medical faculty 2008-2011 and the director of the medical school 2011-2016. Since 2016 she is the Pro Vice Chancellor of Umeå university.

Dr. Riklund started her work in science in translational research between immunology and nuclear medicine by developing and evaluating monoclonal antibodies in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecological cancers.Thereafter hybrid imaging took her interest and imaging research in cognition, neuro degeneration and movement disorders was added. Oncologic hybrid imaging of prostate and colorectal cancer is her third area of research.

The linker between the different areas in her research is hybrid imaging, SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR. The research also includes a focus on dopamine in imaging, both pre- and postsynaptic.

She has many commitments and is the past president of the Swedish Society of Radiology and the Swedish Society of Nuclear Medicine. Among other commitments, she is the chairperson of the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization at Linköping University, Sweden the Center for Functional Brain Imaging at Umeå University, Sweden as well as the Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine at the same university. She is also an ordinary board member of the national facilities SciLifeLab, MedTech4Health and the scientific board of the Swedish Drug Authority.  She has served as grant evaluator for the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Research Council.

Dr. med. Harun Ilhan is a Senior Physician at the Department of Nuclear Medicine, LMU Munich.

He finished med school at the LMU Munich in 2011 and started his professional training at the Department of Nuclear Medicine, LMU Munich in 2012. His doctoral thesis focused on the evaluation of nephroprotective strategies in a murine model of radiation induced nephropathy by [Lu-177-DOTA0,TYR3]-octreotate. His habilitation topic is the concept of theranostics in nuclear medicine and focuses on the value of PET and SPECT imaging for oncology. Currently he is responsible for the nuclear medicine therapy ward with an expertise and scientific focus on peptide-receptor-radionuclide therapy using Y-90 and Lu-177 labeled somastostatin analogs and antagonists, radioligand therapy using Lu-177 labeled PSMA ligands, radioiodine therapy for thyroid cancer and radioembolization with Y-90 labeled resin microspheres.

Alexander Hammers has been Head of the King’s College London & Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre since 2013. He is Professor of Imaging and Neuroscience at King’s.

He trained in medicine and then in Neurology in Germany, France, and the UK. He obtained an MD in MR imaging of the hippocampus, and a PhD in PET investigations in focal epilepsy, before leading his own group at the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Sciences Centre at Hammersmith Hospital, creating the large manually annotated Hammers_mith brain atlas database. As Chair of Excellence in Functional Neuroimaging at the Neurodis Foundation in Lyon, France, 2009-2014, he wrote several of the grants that established France’s first simultaneous PET-MR, before joining King’s.

Alexander’s research areas are functional imaging with PET to understand mechanisms of neurological disease, associated with structural neuroimaging using MRI and anatomical segmentation. In PET, he has evaluated several radioligands including novel ones. The ultimate goal is to benefit individual patients through the clinical application of neuroscience, including through classification and decision support with machine-learning techniques. Methodological work is underpinning all applications, particularly for simultaneous PET-MR.

Irène Buvat received her PhD degree in “Particle and Nuclear Physics” from Paris Sud University, France, in 1992 and oriented her career towards applications of Nuclear Physics to Medical Imaging. She spent one year at University College London, UK, and two years at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA. In 1995, she entered the French “Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique”.

She is currently the head of the “In Vivo Molecular Imaging” research lab at the Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot PET center in Orsay, France. Her research interests focus on developing quantification methods to make the most of SPECT and PET data coupled with CT or MRI for understanding biological mechanisms or optimizing patient management. She has been the spokesperson of the worldwide OpenGATE collaboration developing the GATE Monte Carlo opensource simulation tool dedicated to emission and transmission tomography and radiotherapy applications for 10 years. She is currently largely involved in so-called radiomic approaches to further enhance the role of PET/CT and PET/MR in precision medicine. She has always been very active in training students and in knowledge and software dissemination and promotes open-access to high-standard research material.