“The Department of Nuclear at PGIMER, Chandigarh accomplished more milestones for PGIMER by winning most of the best scientific paper awards at the 52nd Annual conference of SNM-India, SNMICON-2020 held at AIIMS Raipur Chattisgarh from 11-13 December, 2020 in a hybrid (virtual plus onsite) mode,” stated Prof. Baljinder Singh, President, Society of Nuclear Medicine-India (SNM-India).
Dr. Ashwin Singh Parihar, MD received the Dr. N. Ramdas Gold Medal 2020, third time in a row, for the best paper in the Thyroidology category. The best paper award in the Nuclear Hepatology category went to Dr. Ankit. Dr.Tinu, presenting his thesis research work done at PGIMER, Chandigarh received the best oral paper presentation award in the Clinical category. Dr. Sarika got the best paper award in the Basic Sciences category for her work on intra-operative lymph nodes detection by gamma probe. Three more students of Prof. Baljinder Singh and now on post-doctoral positions in USA, Dr.Anchal Ghai (WUSTL, USA, Dr. Shalini Chopra (UCSF) and Dr. Nisha (Harvard Medical) also won best paper awards in other categories.
This conference was attended by more than 800 virtual national and international delegates (with about 50 on-site delegates). This was a landmark conference with over 25 international invited speakers including the leaders of the world societies of Nuclear Medicine delivering excellent and impressive talks in this meeting.The theme of the conference was ‘Nuclear Medicine: Re-defining Precision Oncology.’The prominent Indian speakers (about 30) from PGIMER, AIIMS, INMAS-DRDO, TATA hospitals and Radiation Medicine Centre also delivered talks in this meeting.
Besides that, there was an enthusiastic participation from students and young researchers from across the country with about 150 oral/poster presentations. This Conference was perceived by many international and national stalwarts of the field as a historical event, never witnessed before. They anticipated that the deliberations of the meeting will definitely change the management of the cancer patients with the focused approach of precision oncology. Prof Richard Baum the President of the International Academy of Precision Oncology attended this meeting and in his plenary talk during the inaugural ceremony indicated his desire to collaborate with the Department of Nuclear Medicine at PGIMER, Chandigarh and other institutions in the country. Prof. Richard Wahl, MD, the President-Elect, SNMMI, USA and the Director, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis delivered the inaugural lecture on ‘Precision Imaging of the Cancer Phenome.’ Prof. Wahl is a doyen in Nuclear Medicine and at the forefront of research, his name being synonymous with the development of Radioimmunotherapy and ‘PERCIST criteria’ for response assessment. Other leading faculty in Nuclear Medicine from the USA, UK and Europe participated actively in the conference, sharing their valuable experiences.
