June 16, 2009 – The study "Does Positron Emission Tomography Imaging in the Surgical Treatment of Colorectal Liver Metastases add any Value?" by Bastiaan Wiering, M.D., won Siemens Award for Excellence in Practice-Based Research at SNM’s 56th Annual Meeting in Toronto.
The purpose of the award is to encourage clinicians and researchers to create studies that demonstrate the economic value of molecular imaging, including nuclear medicine, in the daily patient management process. This is especially important as many emerging applications and techniques are limited in their adoption. Cooperative efforts to encourage research studies hold potential to drive down the overall cost of healthcare by increasing the quality and accuracy of the information gained using these types of imaging techniques and bolsters efforts for generating evidence for increased reimbursement.
The award recognizes an investigator for originality, scientific methodology and practical applications. Submitted abstracts needed to contain scientific examination on the economic value of practice- or evidence-based research in the field of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and Therapy.
“A key initiative for SNM has been to evaluate the effectiveness of PET-CT and other molecular imaging tests,” said Robert W. Atcher, Ph.D., M.B.A., 2008-09 president of SNM. “The body of research clearly shows that molecular imaging procedures can lead to better detection, earlier diagnosis and improved understanding of the best way to tailor treatments for individual patients. One of the most exciting aspects of this award is that it will allow researchers to directly study the benefits of molecular imaging for improving patient care.”
The winners of the 2009 Siemens Award for Excellence in Practice-Based Research are:
First Place: Bastiaan Wiering, MD; Does Positron Emission Tomography Imaging in the Surgical Treatment of Colorectal Liver Metastases add any Value?
Second Place: Mehrbod Javadi, MD; Relationship Between Plaque Burden, Coronary Flow Reserve and Cardiac Events in Hybrid 82Rb PET-CT
Third Place: Lisa Dunnwald, CNMT; PET tumor metabolism in locally advanced breast cancer patients: predicting outcome after neoadjuvant chemotherapy by kinetic analysis of FDG PET
Honorable Mention:
Ronny Buechel, MD; Low-dose and Fast Hybrid Cardiac Imaging: New Method Combining CT Coronary Angiography and SPECT
Ken Herrmann, MD; Cost-effectiveness of Anatometabolic Imaging with PET/CT for Staging of NSCLC
Tomohiro Kaneta, MD, PhD; Dementia Clinical Trials with Longitudinal FDG PET: Improved Statistical Power Using Intra-subject Registration
Jeong Won Lee, MD; Prediction of Tumor Recurrence by 18F-FDG PET in Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
“Siemens is honored to work with the SNM since the inception of this award in 2007 to recognize researchers and their tireless work to demonstrate the economical benefits of molecular imaging procedures. As innovation within our industry continues, we need to revisit the efficacy of today’s imaging protocols to diagnose and manage disease and consider revising them to include imaging studies that provide more information. The type of studies that are encouraged by this award will help clinicians as they determine the best treatment paths for their patients,” said Michael Reitermann, chief executive officer, Molecular Imaging, Siemens Healthcare. “This research can also help bolster evidence needed to convince legislators and payers to increase R&D funding and reimbursement of molecular imaging.”
To be considered for the award, the papers needed to contain research objectives and/or results that evaluate the potential for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) and other molecular imaging-based technology, including:
- reducing costs for payers while increasing or maintaining quality of patient care
- limiting costs for lengthy non-effective treatments
utilizing hybrid devices in a true dual modality use (e.g., PET-CT versus stand-alone CT)
- better utilization of resources (real-estate, operators, etc)
- case-based studies that may be used to address issues related to reductions in reimbursements (e.g., DRA-related reductions)
The Siemens Award for Excellence in Practice-Based Research is an SNM initiative with Siemens acting as the official grantor. SNM intends to seek, evaluate, publish and present to an international audience, innovative practice-based investigations concerning the economic pressures and potential business solutions explored via scientific research.
The SNM Scientific Program Committee was responsible for evaluating the content of submitted abstracts to determine their eligibility for this award, and consequently selected the winning presentations. A committee selected the key papers, and identified the award winners after the oral presentations were made.
For more information: www.siemens.com/healthcare.
November 18, 2025 
