Joanna Fowler, Ph.D., a major contributor to brain research and a pioneer in molecular imaging, is being recognized by the White House with the National Medal of Science-the highest award for lifetime achievement in science. Eight other researchers will join Fowler to receive the award at a White House ceremony on October 7.
"SNM commends Joanna Fowler for her outstanding contributions to science," said Michael Graham, M.D., Ph.D., president of SNM. "Her advanced knowledge makes her stand out as one of the nation's foremost thought-leaders in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, as well as a luminary in the quest to deliver the best patient care through the application of innovative research."
Currently serving as a senior chemist and director of the radiotracer chemistry, instrumentation and biological imaging program at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., Fowler has a long career filled with many illustrious achievements in research. Her work using the molecular imaging technique, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, has led to significant advances in the study of how drugs, disease and aging affect the brain.
Fowler has also been instrumental in laying the groundwork for how disease is diagnosed today. In 1976, she and her colleagues synthesized 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a radiotracer used in PET that is widely relied on today to diagnose cancer and study brain and heart abnormalities.