RESTON, Va.A recent National Academy of Sciences report that examined the competitiveness of U.S. chemical research includes statements that support government relations initiatives of SNM, the worlds largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.
Members of the Committee on Benchmarking the Research Competitiveness of the United States in Chemistry included information in their report about the potential negative effect of Department of Energy funding cuts to basic science research for in vivo molecular imaging and the need for domestic radioisotope production, said SNM President Alexander J. McEwan, who speaks for the societys 16,000 physician, technologist and scientist members. The society can refer to this documentauthored by some of the most prominent chemists in the countryas it continues to validate and promote molecular imaging and nuclear medicine needs for inclusion in the federal budget, added McEwan, professor and chair of the Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Alberta, and director of oncologic imaging at Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Canada. SNM hopes that Senate and House appropriators take notice of the concerns raised in the report, noted McEwan.
NASthrough the National Research Councilreleased the report, The Future of U.S. Chemistry Research: Benchmarks and Challenges. The publication indicates that DOE funding cuts in basic chemistry may destabilize U.S. leadership in the area of in vivo molecular imaging. In addition, it notes, there is no U.S. facility dedicated to year-round production of radioisotopes, severely compromising nuclear medicine practice and radioisotope R&D needed to advance targeted molecular therapy and other radioisotope needs for the future.
The results of a separate NAS study that is reviewing the state of the science for nuclear medicinea multidisciplinary science and medical specialty that uses radiopharmaceutical agents and r
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Contact: Maryann Verrillo
mverrillo@snm.org
703-652-6773
Society of Nuclear Medicine
28-Jun-2007