Hossein Jadvar, MD, PhD, was elected as the 2015-16 president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) during its annual meeting June 6-10 in Baltimore.

Jadvar, an associate professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has a clear agenda, according to a news release from the society.

“Over the next year, I will focus on developing appropriate-use criteria and devising methods for quantifying the quality and value of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging in this era of evidence-based medicine. I will also work to facilitate the timely clinical translation of novel radiotracers,” Jadvar said.

Specifically, he plans to encourage activities that will increase the appropriate utilization of targeted radioisotope therapy, the organization reported.

Jadvar has been an attending physician at Keck Medical Center and a member of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1999. Previously, he held hospital appointments as a clinical fellow with the Harvard Joint Program in Nuclear Medicine, in Boston; served as a diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine resident at Stanford University and was an intern in internal medicine at UC San Francisco. He also served as a visiting associate in bioengineering at Caltech.

Throughout his career Jadvar has been active in contributing to the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging field. With more than 20 years of experience, he has served in the capacities of physician, educator, director-at-large on the SNMMI board of directors, president of the PET Center of Excellence, chair of the Committee on Publications, a member of the SNMMI Correlative Imaging Council board of directors, and member of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine editorial board. He also served as vice chair of the SNMMI Scientific Program Committee, among many other activities. Jadvar is also a member of SNMMI’s Pacific Southwest Chapter and is on the Steering Committee of the Western Regional SNMMI.

Jadvar received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and a master’s in biomedical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He also holds a master’s in computer engineering, as well as a doctorate in bioengineering, from the University of Michigan. He then attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine for his medical degree.

He received a master’s of public health degree from Harvard University and has an executive master’s of business administration from USC. He has also completed a number of executive educational certificate programs at Harvard Medical School,  the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jadvar is a member of European Association of Nuclear Medicine, the American College of Nuclear Medicine (past president), the Radiological Society of North America and the American Roentgen Ray Society. He is the past recipient of the SNMMI Mark Tetalman Young Investigator Award, the Western Regional SNMMI Distinguished Scientist Award, and the Academy of Radiology Research Distinguished Investigator Award.

Jadvar is also recognized in numerous top physician lists, including Best Doctors in America, America’s Top Radiologists and multiple Who’s Who biographic profiles. He is on multiple journal editorial boards and serves as associate editor of Radiology, assistant editor of the American Journal of Roentgenology and deputy editor of Clinical Nuclear Medicine.

Jadvar is a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator and a member of multiple NIH review panels, as well as the Imaging Technology and Informatics review panel of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. He has written more than 120 journal articles; has published four books, 25 book chapters, and nine patents; and he has given more than 250 invited speaker presentations.