Successful first conference – 180°N
«Already today, 180°N is a project that is being noticed.” – Trond Mohn, philanthropist and industrialist.
These words marked the opening of the first, physical 180°N conference in Tromsø on 29-31 March 2022, gathering 110 attendees.
Three universities, three hospitals and the three stages of PET research from tracer, to preclinical, to clinical – illustrate what all the opening session highlighted: cooperation and interdisciplinarity.
The main programme of the conferences started with how to apply for funding for young researchers, by Per Magnus Kommandantvold from the Research Council of Norway (RCN). One thing that may increase your chances, is to be noticed through effective dissemination. Eivind Nicolai Lauritsen at Forskning.no therefore held a theoretical and practical session on how to communicate with the general public.
This was followed by oral presentations from abstracts from all three focus areas of 180°N.
The first day was concluded with tapas and feeding of seals at the Arctic adventure centre POLARIA.
Clinical and preclinical
Day two was devoted to clinical and preclinical nuclear medicine. Tone Bathen (NTNU) introduced the clinical session, which covered topics ranging across prostate cancer, glioma, hypoxia, lymphoma and PET/MR technology. Keynotes were “PET/MRI – Physicist’s perspective” by Professor Bernhard Sattler, Leipzig University Hospital, and “PET/MR – is it worth it?” by Professor Martin Biermann, University of Bergen.
The preclinical session was introduced by Rune Sundset (UiT/UNN) covering immunoregulatory potential of radiotherapy, tracers for glioblastoma and breast cancer, and deep learning in PET imaging. Keynotes were delivered by Professor Bart Cornelissen, University of Groningen, on “Targeting DNA for molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy”, and by Professor Willem Mulder, Eindhoven University of Technology on “Regulating innate immunity with nanobiologic therapeutics”.
The day was concluded by a poster session before the conference dinner at the hotel.
Tracers
The last conference day was devoted to tracer development, introduced by Tom Christian Adamsen (UiB). This session focused on radiolabelling of peptides, automated production of [64Cu][Cu(ATSM)], redesigning Clozapine, and the production of radiocopper. Here they keynotes were “18F-Py-TFP – A versatile labelling agent for small and larger molecules” by Associate Professor Dag Erlend Olberg, Norsk Medisinsk Syklotronsenter, and “Grabbing the Tigers Tail: Imaging complex biological systems” by Professor Antony Gee, King’s College London.
The conference was concluded by Abstract awards to:
- Clinical: “Diagnostic and prognostic potential of 68Ga-PSMA PET/MRI for recurrent high-grade glioma”, Benedikte Emilie Vindstad (NTNU)
- Preclinical: “Deep Learning-Based Input Function in Dynamic PET Imaging of Mice”, Nils Thomas Doherty Midtbø (UiT)
- Tracer: “Fouride-Mediated Breaking of Oxygen-Silicon Bonds (FOSi)-Method for Radiolabelling of Pepetides”, Louise Bergsjø Sand (UiB)
- Popular choice: “Early Feasibility Studies of a new PROne BIOpsy System (PROBIOS) for PET Imaging” and “Innovative Molecular Imaging Technique for Granzyme B Characterisation as an Emerging Biomarker for Radio-Immunotherapy Combinations”, Michel Herranz Carnero (UiT)
Save the date!
We hope to see you all again in Bergen, 25-27 April 2023!
