image: George Sgouros, PhD, Receives SNMMI 2024 Paul C. Aebersold Award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic Nuclear Medicine Science
Credit: Image courtesy of SNMMI
Toronto, Ontario—George Sgouros, PhD, a trailblazer in radiopharmaceutical therapy, has been named the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Paul C. Aebersold Award. The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) announced the award during its Annual Meeting in Toronto, recognizing Sgouros’s outstanding contributions to the field.
For more than two decades, Sgouros’s research has focused on calculating precise radiation dosages for nuclear medicine therapy in cancer patients, ensuring treatments are tailored to maximize benefits and minimize side effects. His lab at Johns Hopkins University, where he is a professor of radiology and director of the Radiological Physics Division, is currently engaged in pioneering pre-clinical research and mathematical modeling on targeted alpha-emitter therapy for metastatic cancer and clinical research on the impact of patient-specific treatment planning on outcomes.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by my colleagues and to receive the prestigious 2023 SNMMI Aebersold Award,” said Sgouros. “It is rewarding to see radiopharmaceutical therapy coming into clinical practice, with new and better treatments for cancer that will make a difference to cancer patients who have run out of treatment options.”
Sgouros’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree in applied physics from Columbia University and a PhD from Weill Cornell Medical College. He completed a fellowship in medical physics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
At SNMMI, Sgouros has been a dedicated leader, serving nearly 10 years as chair of the Medical Internal Radionuclide Dose (MIRD) Committee and more than 20 years as a member. He currently co-chairs the SNMMI Dosimetry Task Force. His influence extends beyond SNMMI, having chaired the Dosimetry & Radiobiology Panel at a Department of Energy workshop on alpha-emitters in medical therapy and supported the first FDA-approved human trial of targeted alpha-emitter therapy in the early 1990s.
Sgouros has contributed significantly to several influential bodies, including the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements. He chaired the Report Committee on “Treatment Planning for Radiopharmaceutical Therapy” and served on the committee for “Bioeffect Modeling and Equieffective Dose Concepts in Radiation Therapy.” Additionally, he is a member of the Scientific Committee of the IAEA/WHO Network of Secondary Standards Dosimetry Laboratories and the National Council on Radiological Protection and Measurements. From 2013 to 2017, he served on the NIH Study Section on Radiation Therapeutics and Biology, chairing it from 2015 to 2017.
Through his career, Sgouros has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, along with monographs, review articles, and book chapters. He is a fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and has received numerous awards, including the 2001 CaP CURE Award and the SNMMI Saul Hertz Award for outstanding achievements and contributions in radionuclide therapy.
“It is a distinct pleasure to present the Aebersold Award to Dr. Sgouros,” noted Richard L. Wahl, MD, FACR, FACNM, FSNMMI, chair of the SNMMI Committee on Awards. “In recent years, research into radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) has exploded as researchers develop ways to destroy malignant cells using targeted delivery of radiation. Sgouros has dedicated his nearly 40-year career to the imaging and dosimetry physics that make RPT possible.”
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, vital elements of precision medicine that allow diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.
SNMMI’s 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 www.snmmi.org.