Credit: SNMMI
ANAHEIM, California (embargoed until 10 AM PDT, June 23, 2019) – Jason S. Lewis, PhD, has been named the 2019 recipient of the prestigious Paul C. Aebersold Award. Lewis is Emily Tow Jackson Chair in Oncology and vice chair for research and chief attending, Radiochemistry and Imaging Sciences Service, Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He was presented the award by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) during its Annual Meeting, June 22-25 in Anaheim, California.
Lewis’s research interests center around radiotracers and radiochemistry. “I am researching new ways to use PET imaging to diagnose cancer as well as developing new radioimmunotherapies for treating this disease,” he said. The Lewis lab research interests are focused on the development of radiopharmaceuticals for targeted diagnosis and treatment of cancer. “By combining small- and biomolecule-based targeting agents with positron-emitting or therapeutic radioisotopes, we can both interrogate the molecular profiles of cancer using noninvasive nuclear imaging and treat tumors specifically with endoradiotherapy,” Lewis explained. “Our research program is a molecular-imaging-based program focused on the targeting of nonstandard nuclides, with an emphasis on developing these novel radiopharmaceuticals for clinical translation.”
“Dr. Lewis has made significant contributions to the field of radiochemistry and nuclear medicine, at both basic and clinical levels,” said Sally W. Schwarz, RPh, MS, BCNP, FSNMMI, chair of the SNMMI Committee on Awards and a past president of the society. “Jason’s accomplishments are enabling a better understanding of the biology of cancer, which is improving treatment of the disease.”
Upon hearing of this recognition, Lewis remarked. “I am truly honored to receive this honor, although it is important for me to accept it on behalf of all the amazing students, postdocs and lab members who have worked so hard on all of our projects.”
Lewis was president of the World Molecular Imaging Society (2014-2015) and is now a fellow. He is an elected member of the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology. Lewis received a Distinguished Investigator Award from the Academy Radiology Research (2014), and the Michael J. Welch Award from the SNMMI (2017). He is an associate editor for The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, and he has published more than 250 papers, books, book chapters, and reviews on cancer imaging. He has served on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute and on a number of editorial boards.
Professor Lewis earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry (1992) and a M.Sc. (1993) in Chemistry from the University of Essex in the laboratory of Professor Jonathan R. Dilworth. He then obtained a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1996 from the University of Kent mentored by Professor Philip J. Blower. His postdoctoral work was with Professors Carolyn J. Anderson and Michael J. Welch at the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM). Subsequently he joined the WUSM faculty as an Assistant Professor at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (2003-2008). In 2008 he joined MSKCC.
The Aebersold Award is named for Paul C. Aebersold–a pioneer in the biologic and medical application of radioactive materials and the first director of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Division of Isotope Development. It recognizes outstanding achievement in basic science applied to nuclear medicine and was first presented in 1973. The SNMMI Committee on Awards selects the recipient.
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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, a vital element of today’s medical practice that adds an additional dimension to diagnosis, changing the way common and devastating diseases are understood and treated and helping provide patients with the best health care possible.
SNMMI’s more than 16,000 members set the standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and practice. For more information, visit http://www.
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