Molecular Neuroimaging Symposium

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed two-day symposium will bring together individuals from multiple scientific disciplines; including chemistry, engineering, physics, molecular biology, neurosciences, and imaging sciences with the goal of promoting the emerging field of molecular neuroimaging. This meeting follows a similar conference held at NIH in 2009 that focused on cardiovascular molecular imaging. The previous conference attracted over 200 participants and 28 poster presentations. The proposed meeting is designed to continue this momentum and stimulate further growth in the field of molecular imaging. We anticipate attracting individuals from both the basic science and clinical communities, with a special emphasis on encouraging the participation of junior scientists. The overall structure of the meeting will include a series of didactic lectures on focused topics by experts in the field, panel discussions on selected key areas, and an abstract poster session. This symposium will focus on advances in targeted multimodality imaging of the central nervous system (CNS) and will cover imaging of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), tumors, neuroreceptors, stem cells, adoptive immunotherapies, and other biological processes relevant to the CNS. There will be an emphasis on interactions among speakers and registrants to stimulate further interest in this field and foster collaborations between participants. All invited speakers will be required to provide a 2-3 page summary of their presentations which will be provided to the participants and distributed electronically. Abstracts from the poster session will be published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine or Molecular Imaging. The proceedings will be published as a supplement to The Journal of Nuclear Medicine or Molecular Imaging. The objectives of the meeting are: 1) to educate the scientific community about the potential of targeted multimodality molecular neuroimaging; 2) to provide an overview of critical issues related to development of targeted tracers that can cross the BBB for targeting, monitoring, and/or treating CNS disease; 3) to provide an overview of various imaging technologies for both small animal imaging and clinical molecular imaging; 4) to review the approaches and implications for imaging of stem and/or immune cells; 5) to define the potential of neuroreceptor imaging and imaging of metabolic processes; 6) to provide an overview of the potential of molecular neuroimaging to improve our understanding and management of critical CNS pathophysiological processes, such as neurodegeneration, brain tumors, and psychiatric diseases; 7) to promote basic science research in molecular imaging and clinical applications for CNS disorders; 8) to foster potential collaborations among scientists and clinicians working in various related fields; 9) to stimulate interactions between junior scientists and more established investigators in the field. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There has been a paradigm shift towards the development of a more molecularly-based and personalized approach to the early detection, monitoring, and treatment of central nervous system diseases (CNS) with goals of developing preventive measures as well as controling the escalating costs of healthcare. Parallel advances in many scientific and clinical fields are revolutionizing biomarker development, the design and synthesis of targeted diagnostic probes, drug discovery, and computational neurosciences. Another key aspect of individualized care is obtaining a detailed profile of the pathologic processes of interest through the application of noninvasive molecular imaging technologies over a range of spatial scales, The application of targeted molecular imaging based on novel markers may be linked to distinct molecular/genetic phenotypes, in addition to elucidating pathophysiology that can inform the management of CNS disease/disorders. The proposed two-day symposium will bring together individuals from multiple scientific disciplines; including chemistry, engineering, physics, molecular biology, neurophysiology, and imaging sciences with the goal of promoting the evolving field of translational molecular neuroimaging.