The Western Regional Society of Nuclear Medicine will honor Satoshi Minoshima, MD, PhD with the presentation of the Western
Pioneer Award in recognition of his decades of service and lifelong transformational impact on Nuclear Medicine and the Western Region SNMMI. The Award will be presented at the 2023 WRSNM Annual Meeting, November 3-5, 2023, at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Dr. Minoshima is Anne G. Osborn Chairman and Professor of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. His research focuses on imaging investigations of neurological disorders and biotechnology development. His scientific contributions include the discovery of very early sign of Alzheimer’s disease in the posterior cingulate cortex, invention of brain PET/SPECT image databases, and worldwide dissemination of diagnostic statistical brain mapping technology (NEUROSTAT/3D-SSP).
Minoshima has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, review articles, proceedings, and abstracts and given educational lectures extensively. He served as the President of the Brain Imaging Council for the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), the chair of the SNMMI Scientific Program Committee, the President of the SNMMI, and the Chair of the Molecular Imaging Committee for the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM). In collaboration with Virginia Pappas, CEO of the SNMMI, he founded the SNMMI Value Initiative in 2017, which has revolutionized the recognition of nuclear medicine in the USA. He is currently serving as the Chair of the SNMMI Value Initiative, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, RSNA Research and Education Foundation, Executive Committee member of the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research, and Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Commission member of the American College of Radiology (ACR). Minoshima also works with the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to advance the peaceful use of nuclear technology in medicine particularly concerning dementia PET.
Dr. Minoshima has received multiple awards including the Tetalman Memorial Award in 1996 and Kuhl-Lassen Award in 2006 from the SNMMI; Distinguished Scientist Award from the WRSNM in 2011; Gold Medal from the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) in 2013; Clinical Teaching Award of the Year in 2014; the University of Washington Presidential Entrepreneur Faculty Fellow Award in 2014; the SNMMI Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2016; Honorary member of the Japanese Radiological Society in 2018; SNMMI Fellow in 2019; Healthcare Design Top 10 MVP Award in 2020; and SNMMI Henry Wager Jr. Lectureship Award in 2021.