Positive transitions

I wish to thank Jörg Steinbach and Constantin Mamat along with the local Dresden organizing committee for all of their efforts in providing another successful ISRS scientific program and an opportunity for us to network in a beautiful central European setting. Thank you as well to our corporate partners for their participation and support of our meeting.

When nominated and elected, the 2-year presidential term and 6-year leadership commitment seemed daunting. In retrospect, it is hard for me to believe that 2 years has gone by. The SRS Board and I have expanded the educational focus of the organization. The SRS is now the home for TERACHEM, the premier radiometals symposium that meets every 4 years in Bressanone, Italy. The next meeting is in September 2018.

Finally, I would like to thank the outgoing SRS Board members: Bert Windhorst (Immediate Past President), Sally Schwarz (Treasurer), Yasuhisa Fujibayashi, Robert Mach, Eyal Mishani and Roger Schibli. Congratulations to the newly elected members, Tony Gee (President-elect), Cathy Cutler (Treasurer), Peter Scott (Director, Americas) , Danielle Vugts (Director, Europe), Michael Kassiou (Director, Asia/Oceania), Gunnar Antoni (Director-at-Large). I wish Jae-Min Jeong all the best as he assumes the President post.

I thank you for all of your support over the last several years and your continued support of SRS!

Your membership supports our commitment to students

Henry VanBrocklin, PhD, SRS PresidentThough it has been over six months since we met at the 21st ISRS in Columbia, Missouri, this is the first NMB letter since that meeting. I would like to thank all of the attendees for your strong scientific contributions and participation in the meeting and workshops. This was a well-attended meeting with over 590 attendees, and we were pleased to offer travel bursaries to assist over 100 students. I am sure that all of you would join me in congratulating the local Organizing Committee (Alan Ketring, Wynn Volkert, Cathy Cutler, Susan Deutscher, Heather Henkins, Timothy Hoffman, Raghuraman Kannan, Kattesh Katti, John Lever, Susan Lever, Michael Lewis, Thomas Quinn, and Jeff Smith) led by Sylvia Jurisson and Barbara Wills, conference coordinator from the University of Missouri, on the successful conference. We look forward to our next scientific meeting in 2017 in Dresden, Germany.

As a reminder to all of our members, the SRS supports student/trainee travel bursaries to non-SRS meetings. Details for this benefit and forms to apply for support are on the SRS website in the “Meetings” section (/meetings/) . Please apply early to allow the SRS Education Committee time to review and approve the application.

Your membership is important to the maintenance of our society and our educational commitment. During the non-meeting years we often see a drop in membership. Our commitment to funding student travel to non-SRS meetings is supported in part by your annual dues. There are several additional member benefits including electronic subscription to Nuclear Medicine and Biology, our official journal, and presentations from the 21st ISRS workshops. We are in the midst of our annual membership renewal and enrollment season, which began in October and will continue for two more months. If you have not already done so, please browse /membership/ to renew your membership today. And please encourage colleagues to join. We appreciate your support to continue the good work of this society.

This is your society, and as members you have a voice in the governance and administration of the society assets. Therefore, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts and ideas on how SRS may better serve the member as well as the profession. Please feel free to email me (henry.vanbrocklin@ucsf.edu) with your thoughts and ideas.

Looking back with gratitude; looking forward with excitement

Henry VanBrocklin, PhD, SRS PresidentDear Friends and Colleagues,

It was great to see many of you recently at the 21st ISRS meeting in Columbia, Missouri. I would like to thank Silvia Jurisson, the local organizing committee, and the program committee for planning and assembling an engaging and enlightening meeting. I know that you all join me in appreciation for the many volunteer hours that were given to provide a venue for us to share our scientific successes. Congratulations to Columbia for being a gracious host!

As this is my blog post as SRS President, I want to thank Bert Windhorst for his guidance and supervision of the Society as President over the last two years. His passion and leadership clearly strengthened the SRS organization both administratively and financially. Bert was instrumental in developing written policies for educational support of members and conferences with the assistance of the education committee. He also developed new policies for the biennial Society awards with the awards committee. Both of these policies were unanimously approved by the Board of Directors. Bert also worked with the Board for the Society to transition the financial responsibility for the biennial ISRS meetings to the Society. Since the inception in the 1970’s, the financial responsibility for the biennial meetings was left to the local organizing committees. As the meeting has grown and costs have risen significantly over the last 40+ years, it is more difficult for the local committees to take on this commitment. Starting with the 2019 meeting, the SRS will be financially responsible for its own meeting, like many of the other professional societies to which we belong. This is a significant step forward for the financial stability of our organization as well as the stability of the biennial symposium series, and I praise Bert for this successful effort.

I am excited to have taken the helm from Bert and look forward to working with our membership to continue to enhance the member benefits. I will working with the board to identify ways to keep our membership rolls level throughout the cycle between meetings. This will enable us to more effectively steward our financial commitments between meetings and more effectively support the educational activities of the Society. We will also look at ways to enhance our educational activities to a broader segment of our membership in between the biennial meetings.

This is your Society, and as members you have a voice in the governance and administration of the Society assets. As our international footprint grows, how do we more effectively engage and retain our members? Therefore, I would appreciate hearing from you on the issues upon which we should be focusing. Please feel free to email me your thoughts and ideas.

It is an honor to lead your organization, and I look forward interacting with many of you over the next two years.

Respectfully Yours,

Henry VanBrocklin, PhD, SRS President

Revised Bursary Applications - Submissions Welcome!

Henry VanBrocklin, PhD, SRS President-ElectDear Friends and Colleagues,

One of the rewarding tasks of the SRS President-elect is to chair the SRS Education Committee. Since its inception, supporting educational programs and advancing the careers of young investigators have been key elements of SRS activities. The fundamental task of the SRS Education Committee is to oversee the policies, processes and selection of individuals and workshops for disbursement of funds that have been raised to support educational activities. The largest portion of the education budget supports student’s participation at the biannual ISRS meetings and SRS affiliated/ co-organized meetings such as TERACHEM. In 2014, $15,000 was given to underwrite student travel to TERACHEM, enabling 20 students from 13 countries worldwide, including India, Iran and Cuba, to attend the conference in Brezzanone. The SRS also supported the travel for two individuals to attend the Targetry Workshop in Prague.

In June of 2014, the SRS board adopted a revised policy for the disbursement of SRS educational funds. This updated policy outlines how the organization will provide funds annually to support ISRS and affiliated/supported meetings and can be reviewed by accessing our Code of Practice. In addition, a portion of funds each year will be available to support young scientist attendance at non-SRS or SRS co-organized educational workshops as well as provide individuals with the opportunity to attend a workshop or course of their choosing, provided these activities are aligned with SRS educational goals. The policy provides an overview of the eligibility criteria for individuals and courses that may wish to apply for funds. It also describes the selection process that the Education Committee uses for the disbursement of funds.

Individuals wishing to apply for support to attend a course or workshop may obtain the “SRS Trainee Bursary Application” from this site's Meetings page. Likewise, course organizers may apply for support using the “SRS Course/Workshop Support Application,” also found on the Meetings page. Please apply as early as possible to give the Education Committee time to review your application prior to the meeting or educational opportunity.

I would like to thank the current SRS Education Committee members, Dr. Michael Kassiou from Australia and Dr. Mark Bartholoma from Germany, for their efforts in support of SRS educational goals.

We look forward receiving your application for educational travel bursaries.

President-Elect, Henry VanBrocklin invites your input

Henry VanBrocklin, PhD, SRS President-ElectDear Friends and Colleagues,

As I commence my commitment as a leader within the SRS, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support during the election and to all those who accepted nominations to run for office. The continued success of our organization relies on the volunteers who agree to serve. I appreciate your confidence in my abilities to guide SRS and look forward to working with the board and membership over the next several years.

With the successful conclusion of the 20th ISRS on Jeju, I congratulate the Organizing Committee for a wonderful meeting highlighting the latest innovative chemistry and instrumentation research. We look forward to the 2015 meeting in Columbia, Missouri USA and the 2017 meeting in Dresden, Germany.

As we enter the Fall season, it is time for us to renew our membership in SRS. Keep your member benefits active by completing your annual renewal. Your support enables the development of society education programs and provides students the opportunity to attend the biennial meetings. These important programs support the future generation of radiopharmaceutical scientists, keeping our society vital.

Again, I look forward to working with you over the next four years to strengthen our society. I ask that you contact me by email [henry.vanbrocklin(at)ucsf.edu] with any thoughts and ideas that you may have to improve the quality of our meetings, enhance our educational programs and membership offerings.

Respectfully Yours,

Henry VanBrocklin