DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Abstract Molecular imaging (MI) is finding transformative applications in the understanding, detection and treatment of nearly all human diseases. The field of MI represents a fusion of diverse scientific fields, including imaging technologies, molecular biology, and chemistry, that is providing major new insights and advances to the scientific community. The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) embodies the field of MI as an organization dedicated to developing and promoting preclinical and clinical imaging of various types at the atomic level, to understand and effectively treat often life-threatening diseases of a variety of specialties, such as in oncology, infectious disease, neurology, cardiology, rheumatology, and endocrinology. A distinguishing feature of our society is the highly-integrated, multimodal approach that spans from scientific innovation to patient care in the clinic. As an international scientific educational organization, active members of WMIS include basic and translational scientists, clinicians, young researchers and students from a wide variety of disciplines, with a dedicated common goal to the understanding of biology and medicine through multimodal in vivo imaging of cellular and molecular events involved in normal and pathologic processes and utilization of quantitative MI in patient care. The annual World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) is held for WMIS members and non-members interested in the field, who come from both academics and industry, and is the only comprehensive, international meeting of MI. Indeed, the WMIC is the epitome of MI that provides a platform for scientists and clinicians with diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and discuss and follow cutting-edge advances. The WMIS is actively seeking mechanisms to maintain the impetus and rapid trajectories of this multidisciplinary transformative field, in particular, by securing trave funds for post-doctoral fellows and graduate students. These individuals will play future roles in deciding how MI is utilized in healthcare. The goal of this R13 is to obtain specific funds to cove costs that support the attendance of students at the graduate and postdoctoral levels, especially encouraging women, underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities, enabling their attendance to the annual WMIC, next year in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 2-5, 2015. " |