Society of Nuclear Medicine

Corporate donors have given the Society of Nuclear Medicine of Reston, Va., nearly $3.3 million for its Bench to Bedside campaign, a five-year effort to raise $5 million for molecular imaging research. The sum includes more than $1 million from IBA Molecular of Sterling, Va., MDS Nordion of Ottawa and Cardinal Health of Dublin, Ohio. Previous donations from GE Healthcare of Chalfont St. Giles, UK, Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging of Princeton, N.J., Siemens Medical Solutions USA of Malvern, Pa., Royal Philips Electronics N.V. of Amsterdam and FluoroPharma Inc. of Boston make up the remainder of the gift. The society is carrying out the campaign in cooperation with its Education and Research Foundation. Together with representatives from its Molecular Imaging Center of Excellence, the organization has decided that funds from the initiative will be applied to translational research as well as clinical research and trials, with the goal of developing molecular imaging technologies for more individualized patient treatment. The money also will be used to support outreach activities to referring physicians, patient groups and others, and to help train individuals in the use of imaging applications.