From Editor's Desk

It gives me immense pleasure to bring out the supplementary issue of Indian Journal of Nuclear medicine (IJNM) to highlight the scientific contributions being presented at the 47^th Annual Conference of Society of Nuclear Medicine, India (SNMI) at Puducherry from 3^rd-6^th Dec 2015.

Puducherry-a union territory of India; is located in the southernpart of the country bordering Tamil Nadu. It has vast coastline and beautiful building/streets - a gentle reminder of the French colonization. This place is world renowned for Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville. “Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity. Hence, Puducherry is an important destination for tourists from all walks of life as well as spiritual seekers from around the world in search of inner peace and tranquility. It has more significance today in context of the recent violent attacks in Paris. The city is also known for its medical facilities and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) stands out like a beacon amongst them. It is an institute of national repute with various specialties catering to the nearby population and from the adjacent states.

This is for the first time that JIPMER, Puducherry is hosting the prestigious Annual Conference of the SNMI. This conference would provide a suitable platform for interactive discussions and ideas exchange regarding the latest developments taking place in the field of Nuclear Medicine in India as well as the other parts of world. The conference will not only provide an opportunity to nuclear medicine physicians from whole of the country to showcase their work but also get invaluable inputs by eminent foreign and national experts. IJNM has the unique distinction in bringing out the supplementary issues coinciding with the time of annual conference to give an idea regarding the latest development and trends in the subject. The aim of publishing the abstracts of presentations in print media is to have a widenet of readership.

There would be about 140 oral and poster presentations in the present conference covering areas related to clinical as well as basic nuclear medicine including cardiology, gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, musckulo-skeletal system, nephro-urology, oncology, endocrinology, radiation safety, radiopharmacy etc. The oral and poster presentations have undergone a strict scrutiny and peer-review before being accepted for presentation. The majority of papers are from radiopharmacy constituting more than 1/3^rd of total presentation. The scientific sessions have been carefully designed so that every physician/scientist gets a chance to present their work and listen to the experts’ views. The scientific committee of this conference has tried to design a very rich program with theme of the conference being “Scintillation for Maladies”.

The society will also bestow honors on its distinguished speakers with oration awards. This year, the recipients of the Homi Bhabha Memorial Oration, Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Oration and Brig SK Majumdar Memorial Oration awards will be Dr. Pankaj Tandon from Mumbai, Dr. Frank Rosch from Germany and Dr. Partha S. Choudhury from New Delhi. These awards are named after three great Indian scientists/physicians who have contributed a lot in the field of Nuclear Medicine in India. In addition, there will be Dr N Ramdas prize in Nuclear Thyroidology and Dr. Shakuntla Krishnamurthy prizes in the field of Nuclear Hepatology for best papers.

The whole team of IJNM wishes the organizing team of 47^th annual conference of SNMI a great success.