World Molecular Imaging Society Kicks-off 12th Annual Global Congress in Montreal

CULVER CITY, Calif., Sept. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS), the world's largest international forum showcasing advances and research in molecular imaging, is holding its 12th annual congress in Montreal, Quebec, CanadaSeptember 4-7, 2019. The theme of this year's World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) is The Dynamics of Life: Integrating Molecular Imaging, focusing on the integration of molecular imaging into science and healthcare to develop innovative complementary approaches to understand biology and improve patient care.

"Integrating biology, physics, engineering and other disciplines is key to develop our understanding of dynamic molecular processes in living tissue and organisms, " said Martin G. Pomper, M.D. Ph.D., WMIS current president and director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Johns Hopkins Medical School.

"Ultimately, this will lead to cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic advances as we have seen from our program featuring world-renowned researchers and clinicians presenting on a wide range of scientific breakthroughs."

The WMIC will feature more than 250 oral and scientific poster presentations from leading institutions from across the globe. Plenary speakers include: Maria Kavallaris, a leader in cancer nanomedicine and therapeutics, Mark Michalski, a pioneer in machine learning who will discuss its role in clinical molecular imaging, Bertrand Tavitian, will present the breakthroughs his team has made in novel hybrid imaging approaches, Ed Boyden will provide updates on cutting edge research in the areas of microscopy and optogenetics, and Molly Shoichet, who will explore the exciting field of tissue engineering and how it can be applied to regenerative medicine. Finally, Pam Belluck will share her experiences with us as a Pulitzer Prize winning health and science writer who currently works for the New York Times.

"In addition to our highly experienced, world class molecular imaging veterans' presentations, we are incorporating some new concepts into the program," said Christin Sander, Ph.D., Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, and 2019 WMIC program co-chair. "For example, there is a strong emphasis on developing young and upcoming talent which will be showcased in the new Highlights Sessions where the highest scoring abstracts will have longer presentations nested within dedicated sessions."

New to the WMIC program this year are educational sessions and workshops for more in-depth exploration of such topics as Immune cell imaging with a focus on reporter genes, Imaging of infection, clinical translations of new optical tracers, as well as a focus on the path to regulatory approval. A new workshop on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will explore how these approaches could impact translational and imaging research and the benefits for clinical outcomes.

The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) was established in 2011 by integrating the Academy of Molecular Imaging and the Society for Molecular Imaging into a single streamlined society focused on advancing the field of molecular imaging. The WMIS has significantly expanded its global footprint in this field most recently launching WMISCan. A new Chapter of WMIS, WMISCan will help Canadian imaging scientists increase their connections and collaborations nationally and continue to increase the impact and outreach of WMIS on a global stage.

"As we continue to expand the scope of the WMIC, our goal is to provide a unique platform for scientists and clinicians to present and follow cutting-edge advances in molecular imaging" said Ferdia Gallagher, M.D., Ph.D., Cambridge, UK, and 2019 WMIC program co-chair. "This year we have also included Introductory Lectures at the start of some of the scientific sessions to set the scene for the subsequent proffered abstracts and we hope that this concept can be extended in future years."

ABOUT WORLD MOLECULAR IMAGING SOCIETY
The WMIS is dedicated to developing and promoting translational research through multimodality molecular imaging. The education and abstract-driven WMIC is the annual meeting of the WMIS and provides a unique setting for scientists and clinicians with very diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and follow cutting-edge advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging that impacts nearly every biomedical discipline. Industry exhibits at the congress included corporations who have created the latest advances in preclinical and clinical imaging approaches and equipment, providing a complete molecular imaging educational technology showcase. For more information: http://www.wmis.org

SOURCE WMIS