Past Presidents

Kevin London

President

Dr Daniel Badger
2020-2022

For those who haven't met me yet, I'm a Medical Physicist, specialising in Nuclear Medicine and I work for SA Health at The Queen Elizabeth and Lyell McEwin Hospitals in South Australia.  I've been on the ANZSNM Federal Council since 2015 when I became the chair and council representative of the Physics SIG (Prab Takhar is the current SIG chair, while I have retained the representative position).  I've spent most of the last two years as Vice President learning the ropes from our outgoing president Ros Francis, who you'll agree has done a great job leading the Society in that time through many changes and crises.

As I write this, things have changed rapidly everywhere around the world due to COVID-19, and like many others, I've been working from home when I don't have to be at the hospital to carry out my clinical duties.  Most of our members are not working from home due to clinical requirements of their roles, and so have been faithfully going to work under very trying circumstances - although possibly thankful for the reduction in traffic on the way!   We have been dealing with issues around the supply of radiopharmaceuticals and PPE, extra infection control precautions and working with the risks of virus transfer from our patients, preparing for an influx of people sick with COVID19 and many other struggles, both professional and personal.  I was really starting to get worried about running out of toilet paper at home after not being able to get any in the shops for many weeks - even turning up early in the morning at the special time for medical workers!   Thankfully here in Australia, things are starting to look like they are under control and we will be able to return to some sort of normal life sometime soon. Some of our friends and colleagues overseas are still in the thick of it, but it has been great to see the many webinars sharing ideas and successes in adapting Nuclear Medicine practice to this new situation.  Have a look at the ANZSNM website for links to some of this content.

I come into the role in a world of rapid change.  As you read this, the 50th Annual Scientific Meeting is underway online, having launched on the 28th of May.  I want to thank the Local Organising Committee; Geoff Currie, Matt Ayers, Socrates Angelides and Hosen Kiat, who put in a huge amount of work to organise a very special 50th meeting for the Society.  Unfortunately, many of their plans were dashed by COVID19 induced travel and group gathering restrictions.  We have been able to retain almost the entire scientific program for the online Meeting.  I also want to thank the Federal Council and other volunteer members who suddenly had to jump in to help reinvent the meeting for this new socially-distanced, virtual-meeting world.

Many thanks to Ros Francis for her leadership and work over the last two years, and to all the other volunteers: the Federal Council, Branch committees, Special Interest Groups, advisory committees and others who put in countless hours of work behind the scenes to keep the Society running, contributing to keeping Nuclear Medicine relevant, up to date and cutting edge.

Thanks also to the LOC for 2021, who have adapted to the shift in the location of the 2021 ASM from Perth to Sydney.  We assume things will have settled down enough to hold a face to face meeting in May 2021, but if not, the Society is now well placed to run it online if required.  We all hope it will not come to that, as there is nothing like actually being there! Standing in the line for the barista coffee between sessions, sitting next to and meeting a new colleague from another state or country, getting up on the dance floor at the gala dinner or catching up with old friends.  Don't forget to put the dates of May 22-24, 2021 into your calendar!

Looking to the future, once COVID19 is controlled and we start to get back to "normal", we still have much to do.  Research into and the implementation of new radionuclide therapy is a big new area in Nuclear Medicine, and there are already whispers of a lot of clinical research trials moving to Australia and New Zealand. ARTNET has been a very successful joint venture and is making a big difference in research trials.  We are still looking into the possibility of a merger with the AANMS, and planning to add to the CPD content available in the online ASM with more content for Edutrace.

Daniel Badger

Former President ANZSNM 

A/Professor Roslyn Francis
2018-2020
 

As I begin my term as President of ANZSNM I look forward to embracing both the challenges and the opportunities ahead for our Nuclear Medicine community.  

I am committed to a Society that our members want to be a part of, as we embrace a rapidly changing era of technology, with a focus on personalised medicine, which will see the emergence of new tracers and new therapies.

I very much welcome discussion and ideas, and I encourage engagement in ANZSNM as we seek to strengthen collaboration, networking, education and opportunity in our field. 

In terms of challenges, the current situation around Tc-99m supply represents a very significant challenge. The cooperative effort of the working group, comprising representation from ANZSNM, AANMS and RAINS in combination with GMS and ANSTO is very much appreciated. The working group is providing advice and assistance to facilitate the supply of Tc-99m across Australia and to ensure the availability of up-to-date information on the current situation to members. I would like to thank in particular Prof Dale Bailey and Matt Ayers, as the ANZSNM representatives on this group, for their time and commitment to this process. I recognise that even with these efforts there continue to be supply issues that are resulting in disruption, and as a Nuclear Medicine community, this is a significant challenge. I encourage you to provide us with feedback about any ongoing problems and issues during this time.

The opportunities in Nuclear Medicine were very much highlighted at the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB) meeting in Melbourne. This was an impressive meeting of 2000 attendees, a wealth of international speakers and an educational program of the highest quality. The sessions provided unprecedented learning opportunities and were thought-provoking, with a focus on the promising future of our specialty.  Congratulations to Prof Andrew Scott, A/Prof Sze-Ting Lee, Prof Dale Bailey, the organising committee, track chairs, and all those associated with bringing such an impressive meeting to Australia.  Thank you also to all the international speakers and attendees who enriched the meeting. 

Following the WFNMB meeting in Melbourne, I had the opportunity to attend the post-congress meeting in Cairns, which was also a huge success and highlighted the rapid changes in prostate cancer imaging and therapy. In Australia, Prof Michael Hofman is leading two promising clinical trials, ProPSMA and TheraP, and the involvement of the ANZSNM/AANMS joint initiative, ARTnet (Australasian Radiopharmaceutical Trials Network), has been an important component of these trials. This highlights the innovation and collaboration that is so strong in Australian nuclear medicine. 

Continuing the prostate cancer theme, congratulations are extended to Prof Michael Hofman and his team for their impressive achievement of ‘SNMMI Image of the year’ : PSMA PET Imaging of Theranostic for Advanced Prostate Cancer. The image of the year was chosen from more than 2200 abstracts submitted to the SNMMI meeting and is voted by reviewers and the society leadership as exemplifying the most promising advances in the field of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. This is a really excellent achievement. 

1^st May 2018 was a memorable date with the MBS reimbursement of Ga68 Octreotate PET imaging, following the successful submission for MSAC review by AANMS in 2016.  This represents the first new PET item number in more than 15 years and is the first non-FDG PET tracer to receive a reimbursement. This is a significant achievement and we are grateful for the work of AANMS in pursuing this important MBS rebate. 

As I come to the conclusion of my report I would like to thank Prof Dale Bailey for his Presidency of ANZSNM over the last two years. Dale’s leadership has resulted in a strong and healthy relationship with other professional societies both locally and internationally. He has had many achievements over his term, and in particular has promoted the importance of our multidisciplinary membership, which remains very much our strength. The Federal Council and Secretariat continue to prioritise education, CPD and networking, and we encourage members to utilise the functions and educational links on our new website.  I would like to thank all those who contribute to our Society in so many ways, including those that volunteer their time and expertise on the Federal Council, branch committees, interest groups, advisory committees and to our publications and newsletter. Your hard work, dedication and contribution are vital to the success of our Society. 

Finally, please remember to mark in your diary April 26th-28^th, 2019 as the date of the ANZSNM 49^th Annual Scientific Meeting. This will be held in the newly refurbished Adelaide Convention Centre, with the pre-congress meeting in the Barossa Valley. The Organising Committee is working hard on ensuring this will be an excellent meeting, with strong educational and networking opportunities. 

Ros Francis

Former President ANZSNM

Professor Dale Bailey
2016-2018
 

Planning for Our Future  

When I was first approached to consider serving as President of the Society for the next two years, I immediately considered what I would like to change or improve in the way that the society functions. I felt that the central theme for the next two years should be to make the society a vital entity for all professionals involved in nuclear medicine in Australia and New Zealand.

We have many different roles, from those involved in basic research in developing new tools and probes, to those who represent the large organisations that make the sophisticated machinery that we rely upon, to those running a business employing people and providing an essential service, and finally to those involved in the clinical hospital environment with all of the challenges that this encompasses today. Satisfying such a diverse membership relies on solid basics: maintaining a healthy Society budget, reaching out to all involved no matter in which part of the discipline they work, recognising the diversity in people and practices that exist, and meeting the real needs of the members.

We should not lose sight of the fact that for all the faults we can find, nuclear medicine in Australia is in a healthy position at present. This will continue as long as we stay committed to our core values and practices and continue to innovate. With some imagination and a good degree of determination, we have been able to offer patients many of the latest developments in the field. In the management of neuroendocrine tumours, we are the envy of our colleagues in North America and many European countries; also, the relatively recent introduction of PET scanning for prostate cancer with radiolabelled PSMA has probably had the greatest penetration in Australia of any country internationally at present, with partner therapies now beginning to emerge. Such innovation attracts funding.

The local biotech scene is gathering momentum, especially in the area of radiopharmaceuticals and theranostics, with companies like Sirtex leading the way with their profile on the international stage. A number of others are looking to follow in their path. ANSTO has one of the few “young” nuclear reactors worldwide which uses low-enriched uranium fuel, with tremendous production capacity to provide the basic nuclides that we will need into the future such as 99Mo and 177Lu.

Alan Kay, the US computer scientist, once said that “the best way to predict the future is to invent it”. We find ourselves in that position today. Which direction will multimodality hybrid imaging take? What new theranostics are just around the corner? How we involve ourselves in and prepare for these developments and embrace them will help to shape our future. Nuclear medicine has never enjoyed a more essential role in clinical medicine than it does today. The ANZSNM is moving towards developing the foundations for individuals involved in nuclear medicine to maintain best-practice, embrace the early adoption of new technologies, and help to deliver the evidence required to translate these new developments into the mainstream. The future is indeed now.

Please get in touch with me with your ideas as to how we move our profession and this Society forward into the future: president@anzsnm.org.au

Dale Bailey PhD
Former President ANZSNM