The Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) has announced the recipients of the 2005 Peter Valk Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award and the 2005 Distinguished Basic Scientist Award, both of which will be presented in March during the AMI Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The prestigious Peter Valk Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award will be presented to Anthony Shields, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and oncology at Wayne State University and the associate center director of clinical research at Karmanos Cancer Institute. Dr. Shields is also chief of the Gastrointestinal Oncology section in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the program leader of Developmental Therapeutics. He earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and his M.A. and doctorate in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Shields' research focuses on the development of new imaging technologies to measure tumor response to therapy, particularly using positron emission tomography (PET). These imaging approaches are now being used in the assessment of new cancer therapies. Dr. Shields is also involved in the development of new drug therapies for the treatment of solid tumors, especially GI cancers.

The Distinguished Basic Scientist Award will be presented to Joanna Fowler, Ph.D., senior chemist and director of the PET program at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the Brookhaven Center for Translational Neuroimaging. She received her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Colorado, after which she did postdoctoral work at the University of East Anglia in England and BNL. She has been director of the PET program since 1994 and director of the Brookhaven Center for Translational Neuroimaging since 2004. Dr. Fowler is also an adjunct professor in the chemistry and biomedical engineering departments at Stony Brook State University of New York. In 2003, Dr. Fowler was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Fowler and colleagues designed and synthesized 18F-FDG, a radiotracer widely used to study brain function and in cancer diagnosis and treatment planning. She also developed the radiotracer 11C-cocaine, providing the tools for the first documentation that cocaine movement in the human brain parallels its behavioral effects. Other recent research achievements include mapping monoamine oxidase (MAO) to measure the turnover rate of MAO B in the living human brain, the method used to provide the first documentation that cigarette smokers have reduced brain MAO.

"These coveted awards are a staple of the annual AMI conference," said Dr. Edward Coleman, president of the AMI and professor of radiology, director of nuclear medicine at Duke University Medical Center. "We are especially honored this year to have Dr. Shields and Dr. Fowler as award recipients, as their contributions to the field of molecular imaging have been remarkable."

Each Distinguished Scientist is awarded $20,000 for outstanding career achievement. The AMI Distinguished Scientist Awards have been made possible through the generosity of CTI Molecular Imaging and GE Healthcare. The Peter Valk Memorial Award also received generous donations from the following individuals and institutions: Siemens Medical Solutions, UCLA Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, Dr. Michael Maisey, Radiology Corporation of America, Inc., Metro Region PET Center, Maryland PET Partners, Ms. Carol Valk and the Nicols Family, Dr. Simon R. Cherry, Mr. Eugen T. Morita, Dr. Thomas Beyer, Dr. Steven Larson, Dr. Jose Morales, Dr. and Mrs. Henry Padgett, Ms. Gertrude Eichenberger, Dr. Donald Hopkins, and Ms. Winnie Ladyman.