SNMMI updates Mars Shot Initiative

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) has released an update regarding its Mars Shot 2024 initiative.

To date, the project has raised over $4.3 million, fully funding two rounds of grants with 83% of donations made by individuals and others from foundations and corporations. The SNMMI highlighted the following projects in a February 26 report:

• Mars Shot funding enabled a team led by Randy Yeh, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, to secure an additional $3.5 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to explore the potential of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) PET imaging in bladder cancer. Yeh has been researching HER2 PET imaging to predict which breast cancer patients with HER2-low tumors might respond to trastuzumab deruxtecan.
• Theranostics researcher Amir Iravani, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle secured an industry investment to expand the scope of his clinical trial focused on intensifying therapies for patients with lower prostate-specific membrane antigen expressions. 
• Marina Sharifi, MD, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison was awarded the SNMMI/Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Imaging Research Fellowship to investigate resistance to anti-estrogen therapy. 

"Each achievement underscores the Mars Shot’s role as a catalyst for next-generation nuclear medicine, driving momentum and increasing visibility to attract further investment and accelerate progress in the field,” said Munir Ghesani, MD, co-chair of the initiative.

Over the next decade, the program aims to raise more than $100 million, the SNMMI said.