From the June 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


HCB News: Do you have any advice for SNMMI attendees hoping to make the most of this year's meeting?
MG: I recommend that attendees explore all available tracks and options being offered at the meeting rather than attending sessions only in their own area of interest/expertise. The Scientific Program Committee worked very hard to provide diverse tracks and programs to create a very enriching and holistic experience for the attendees.

I highly recommend that attendees spend some time reviewing the program in advance of the meeting so that they can create the best experience for themselves. Note that the program includes longer, in-depth categorical seminars on Saturday, June 11, on eight topics ranging from infection/inflammation to theranostics to dosimetry.
Be sure to attend some of the many scientific abstract sessions to encourage and appreciate the work being done by trainees, early career professionals and experts in the field to advance nuclear medicine.

HCB News: What are you most looking forward to at the meeting?
MG: I am really looking forward to reconnecting with friends and colleagues, after several years of separation enforced by the pandemic. I am eager to thank our leadership in person for all their hard work navigating our Society and membership through the difficult times. The discipline of nuclear medicine is stronger than ever, and its future is brighter than ever.

I am also very eager to immerse myself in the meetings and sessions and soak up as much information as I can. In fact, I will be moderating a scientific session at the meeting — this will be my protected time to engage in the scientific program outside of my leadership responsibilities!

HCB News: Is there any particular moment in your career that stands out above the rest?
MG: Yes. My father died of advanced prostate cancer at the height of the pandemic in May 2020. Nasrin Ghesani, who is my sister and a nuclear medicine colleague, and I tried to enroll our father in a trial of targeted radionuclide therapy using Lu-177 PSMA — but unfortunately, he did not qualify for this treatment because the PSMA PET/CT scan he underwent failed to show the receptor expression. Since then, we have enrolled and treated more than 40 patients in the expanded access program of this therapy, and we have seen a remarkable difference in the outcome of the patients who are being treated.

Most of my previous career has focused predominantly on diagnostic nuclear medicine; however, for the past several years I have been increasingly involved in targeted radionuclide therapies. Seeing the patients initially for consultation and realizing noticeable change in their outcome and their outlook after radionuclide therapies has been tremendously rewarding and gratifying. My sister and I are convinced that our father is smiling down on us for providing much-needed therapy to eligible patients, something he unfortunately could not benefit from.

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