World Molecular Imaging Congress Abstract Molecular imaging (MI) technologies are being used in multiple disciplines to transform our understanding of biology and pathogenesis, to drive detection to earlier and earlier stages of disease and refine therapies for nearly all human diseases. The field of MI represents a fusion of diverse scientific fields, including instrumentation physics, molecular biology, medicine, engineering and chemistry, and has a major impact on all areas of biomedicine. The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) embodies the field of MI as an organization dedicated to developing and promoting preclinical and clinical imaging using all modalities that have the capability of providing cellular and molecular information in living subjects. The tools and technologies supported by the WMIS, and featured at its annual meeting called the World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC), are changing the fields of oncology, infectious disease, neurology, cardiology, rheumatology, and endocrinology. A distinguishing feature of the WMIS is the highly-integrated, multimodal nature of its program that begins with scientific innovation and extends to patient care. As an international scientific educational organization, active members of WMIS include basic and translational scientists, clinicians, young researchers and students from a wide variety of disciplines, with a common goal of understanding human biology and the critical cellular and molecular components of disease through in vivo imaging with quantitative multimodality MI. As an annual event, the WMIC is the only comprehensive, international meeting in the field of MI. WMIS wishes to apply to National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a PA-13-347 Grant to support the next generation of researchers in our field. Our purpose in this application is to obtain funds to support the attendance of graduate students, postdoctoral and clinical fellows, junior women and minority faculty. We hope to support 5 students and fellows and 5 junior women and minority faculty members through these funds. Awards will be made based on the quality of the work (abstract score of three or higher) for the graduate students and fellows. For the junior faculty travel awards made for stages at or below assistant professor, quality of work as well as women and minority representation will be taken into account. All awardees will be from U.S. institutions. The NIH awards will be actively advertised with very clear guidelines on the WMIS and WMIC websites well in advance of the meeting. Abstract submitters will be asked to identify themselves as potential candidates for the awards at the time of submission. Additionally, they will be required to provide a letter from their institution confirming their eligibility to apply.

Narration: Molecular Imaging is making important breakthroughs in understanding cancer and several life- threatening diseases. The World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) provides a unique platform where members of several different disciplines that are essential for the field of molecular imaging meet to learn, present, and discuss, the latest advances in the field. The goal of this R13 is to obtain specific funds to cover costs that support the attendance of students at the graduate and postdoctoral levels, especially encouraging women, underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities, enabling their attendance to the annual WMIC in New York, New York on September 7-10, 2016.