WMIC 2024 Award Winners
Gold Medal Award Winner
Peter Caravan, PhD
Co-Director of the Institute for Innovation in Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
The Gold Medal is the highest honor within the Society and is awarded to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to molecular imaging research. It recognizes innovative discoveries and approaches that integrate molecular imaging into science and healthcare, significantly advancing our understanding of biology and improving patient care.
Peter Caravan was awarded the Gold Medal for his contributions to molecular imaging research, particularly in the development and clinical translation of MR imaging probes and radiopharmaceuticals.
Dr. Caravan’s work spans from basic science to clinical application, embodying the translational nature of molecular imaging research. His innovative approaches have opened new avenues for understanding and treating diseases with fibroproliferative, inflammatory, or thromboembolic components.
Roger Tsien Award Winner
Michelle James, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology and Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS)
The Roger Tsien award is given to an early-stage investigator at the level of assistant or associate professor who has made significant contributions to the field of molecular imaging in the area of chemical biology. This includes the creation and/or use of novel chemistries to probe biological systems using noninvasive imaging approaches. The WMIS awards committee selection was based largely on new syntheses of molecular probes, that have been used for a better understanding of the biology of health.
Dr. James’s research centers on creating innovative molecular imaging agents to enhance the diagnosis, treatment, and comprehension of brain diseases, with a particular focus on developing PET radioligands for visualizing neuroinflammation. Her work has yielded multiple patented radioligands, three of which are currently being evaluated in human trials, with applications including tracking disease progression and guiding personalized therapies.
Young Investigator of the Year Award Winner
Renesmee Kuo
PhD Candidate
Kuo’s award-winning abstract, “ICOS immunoPET: A Promising Technique for Monitoring Anti-PD-1 and Anti-CTLA-4 Immunotherapies in Metastatic Brain Cancer,” introduces a novel approach to assessing immunotherapy efficacy in patients with melanoma brain metastases. Renesmee is a PhD candidate at Standford University, co-mentored by Michelle James and Israt Alam.
Second place was awarded to Rahaf Mihyar from RWTH Aachen University Hospital for “Immunoglobulins as Tumor Targeting Biomarkers for Cancer Nanomedicine Patient Stratification,” and third place was awarded to Ivy Wang from University of Oxford for “High Resolution 3D Mapping of Actin Network Regulation of Endosomal Function in Living Cells Through Cryo Correlative Light and X-ray Microscopy.”
2024 Poster Award Winners
Poster Select Award Winners
Science Slam Award Winners
First Place
Ghazaleh Takalloobanafshi,
Western University
“Technetium-Based Amyloid Plaque Targeting Radiotracers for Imaging Alzheimer’s Disease with SPECT”
Second Place
Kylie Smith, PhD,
Michigan State University
“PET or MR? Quantitative comparison of brain clearance parameters for F-18-FDS and gadobutrol co-injected into the rat cisterna magna”
Audience Choice Award
Eunbi Jun,
Korea University
“Dual-Channel Fluorescence-Guided Surgery for Simultaneous Identification of Nerve and Tumor”
Molecular Imaging and Biology (MIB) Awards
2023 Preclinical Paper of the Year
Title:
“Glucose Infusion Induced Change in Intracellular pH and Its Relationship with Tumor Glycolysis in a C6 Rat Model of Glioblastoma.”
Author:
Qi Qi et al.
The University of Western Ontario
2023 Clinical Paper of the Year
Title:
“A pH-Activatable Nanoprobe Labels Diverse Histologic Subtypes of Human Lung Cancer During Resection.”
Author:
Gregory T. Kennedy et al.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
2023 Image of the Year
“Improved Discrimination of Tumors with Low and Heterogeneous EGFR Expression in Fluorescence-Guided Surgery Through Paired-Agent Protocols.”
Author:
Cheng Wang et al.
Dartmouth College
Interest Group Awards
ICIT Top Abstract Awards Winners
Alessia Volpe, PhD
Chief Research Fellow/Research Associate
Vladimir Ponomarev Lab
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Pr. Catherine PAUL
Principal Investigator
LIIC EPHE-PSL, University of Burgundy
Special thanks to Pfizer Inc. for sponsoring the ICIT Awards
MINT Awards Winners
First Place
Karla Ximena Vazquez Prada, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
“Copper Nanostructures: A New Frontier in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment”
Second Place
Alec Wang, RWTH Aachen University
“Modular Polymeric Micelle Platform for Multimodal Image-Guided Cancer Nanomedicine”
Third Place
Sourabh Mehta, PhD, Stanford University
“Immune Checkpoint Targeted Nanobubbles for Multimodal Molecular Imaging of Tumor-Specific Expression of PD-L1 in Triple Negative Breast Cancer In vivo”
WIMIN Award Winners
WIMIN Rising Star Award
Maryam Hajfathalian, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
WIMIN Rising Star Award
Patricia Pereira, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
WIMIN Mid-career Award
Xiaowei Wang, PhD
Associate Professor and Group Leader, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia