Cedars-Sinai Research Recognized at SNMMI 2020

Nuclear cardiology was at the forefront of SNMMI this year, with several researchers recognized for their contributions to the field, papers, and abstracts. We are extremely proud to celebrate the level of research conducted at our institution. Clinical and technical excellence translates into software advances that, once widely made available, help improve patient care.

More interested in CT? Check out Andrew Lin’s 1st Place Young Investigator Award at SCCT 2020.

Piotr Slomka, PhD, FACC, FCCPM

Hermann Blumgart Award

It’s no secret to us that Piotr’s dedication to advancing the field of cardiac imaging knows no bounds. It is with great pleasure that we see the Cardiovascular Council of SNMMI honoring Piotr as a leader in the field. The recent successes of the research team are in great part attributable to his leadership and relentless pursuit of excellence in the development of novel techniques for the analysis of cardiac images. We look forward to continued work that transcends individual modalities to forge a path toward earlier and more accurate detection of cardiac disease.

Jacek Kwiecinski, MD

Young Investigators Award, 1st Place, Clinical Science

Jacek’s work on sodium fluoride PET coronary uptake keeps getting noticed, as evidenced by the following:

SNMMI 2020 YIA award for this abstract: Clinical Predictors of 18F-Sodium Fluoride PET Coronary Uptake in Patients with Advanced Coronary Artery Disease. J Nucl Med May 1, 2020 vol. 61 no. supplement 1 87 [JNM LINK]
SNMMI 2020 Alavi-Mandell award for this 2019 paper: Three-hour delayed imaging improves assessment of coronary 18F-sodium fluoride PET. J Nucl Med September 13, 2018 jnumed.118.217885 (early online) [JNM LINK]
Cardiovascular Foundation online coverage of this JACC paper: Coronary 18F-Sodium Fluoride Uptake Predicts Outcomes in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 Jun, 75 (24) 3061-3074 [JACC LINK, TCTMD LINK]

Yuka Otaki, MD

Young Investigators Award, 2nd Place, Clinical Science

Yuka is continuing work on the application of deep learning to the prediction of CAD from myocardial perfusion SPECT:

SNMMI 2020 YIA award for this abstract: Diagnostic Accuracy of Deep Learning for Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in Men and Women with a High-Efficiency Parallel-Hole-Collimated Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride Camera: multicenter study. J Nucl Med May 1, 2020 vol. 61 no. supplement 1 92 [JNM LINK]

This work builds upon previous publications by Betancur et al.:

SNMMI 2020 Alavi-Mandell award for this 2019 paper: Deep Learning Analysis of Upright-Supine High-Efficiency SPECT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging for Prediction of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease: A Multicenter Study. J Nucl Med May 1, 2019 vol. 60 no. 5 664-670 [JNM LINK]
2018 JACC paper: Deep Learning for Prediction of Obstructive Disease From Fast Myocardial Perfusion SPECT: A Multicenter Study. J Am Coll Cardiol. Cardiovasc. Imaging 2018 Nov, 11 (11) :1664-1665 [JACC LINK]

Martin Lyngby Lassen, PhD

Young Investigators Award, 2nd Place, Basic Science

Martin’s work on the detection and compensation of patient motion to improve the quality and usability of images of coronary and valvular sodium fluoride uptake continues unabated:

SNMMI 2020 YIA award for this abstract: Aortic valve imaging using 18F-Sodium Fluoride: Implications of triple motion correction on test-retest reproducibility. J Nucl Med May 1, 2020 vol. 61 no. supplement 1 9 [JNM LINK]
SNMMI 2020 Alavi-Mandell award for this 2019 paper: Data-driven Gross Patient Motion Detection and Compensation: Implications for Coronary 18F-NaF PET Imaging. J Nucl Med June 1, 2019 vol. 60 no. 6 830-836 [JNM LINK]

2020 Alavi-Mandell Awards for 2019 JNM papers

So if we’re counting correctly (and we are), that’s 3 JNM papers receiving awards:

Betancur et al.: Deep Learning Analysis of Upright-Supine High-Efficiency SPECT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging for Prediction of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease: A Multicenter Study. J Nucl Med May 1, 2019 vol. 60 no. 5 664-670 [JNM LINK]
Kwiecinski et al.: Three-hour delayed imaging improves assessment of coronary 18F-sodium fluoride PET. J Nucl Med September 13, 2018 jnumed.118.217885 (early online) [JNM LINK]
Lassen et al.: Data-driven Gross Patient Motion Detection and Compensation: Implications for Coronary 18F-NaF PET Imaging. J Nucl Med June 1, 2019 vol. 60 no. 6 830-836 [JNM LINK]