Announcing This Year’s Journal of Nuclear Cardiology Awardees

ASNC joins Journal of Nuclear Cardiology Editor-in-Chief Marcelo F. Di Carli, MD, MASNC, in congratulating the recipients of the 2026 JNC awards. We thank them for their contributions to JNC and to cardiovascular imaging.

Valerie Builoff, BS

JNC Ami Iskandrian Award

Valerie Builoff, BS, is the recipient of this year’s JNC Ami Iskandrian Award, for Automatic Motion Correction for Myocardial Blood Flow Estimation Improves Diagnostic Performance for Coronary Artery Disease in 18F-Flurpiridaz Positron Emission Tomography-Myocardial Perfusion Imaging, by Valerie Builoff, BS, Cathleen Huang, BA, Keiichiro Kuronuma, MD, PhD, Chih-Chun Wei, MS, Hidesato Fujito, MD, PhD, Yuka Otaki, MD, PhD, Serge D. Van Kriekinge, PhD, Paul Kavanagh, MS, Mark Lemley, BS, Mark C. Hyun, CNMT, Marcelo Di Carli, MD, Daniel S. Berman, MD, and Piotr J. Slomka, PhD. (J Nucl Cardiol 2025;44:102072)

Chaitanya Rojulpote, MD

JNC Best Clinical Paper Award

Chaitanya Rojulpote, MD, is the recipient of this year’s Best Clinical Paper Award for Assessing the Effect of Repeat Positron Emission Tomography Imaging on Treatment Response and Cardiovascular Outcomes Among a Homogenously Treated Cohort of Patients with Suspected Cardiac Sarcoidosis, by Chaitanya Rojulpote, MD, Abhijit Bhattaru, BA, Shivaraj Patil, MD, Sarah L. Adams, DO, Jonathan A. Salas, BS, Mahesh K. Vidula, MD, Raul Porto Perez, MD, Wumesh Kc, MD, PhD, Karen Patterson, MD, Caitlin B. Clancy, MD, Milton Rossman, MD, Lee Goldberg, MD, and Paco E. Bravo, MD. (J Nucl Cardiol 2025;43:102082)

Yufan Gu, MD

JNC Best Translational Science Award – Molecular Imaging Category

Yufan Gu, MD, is the recipient of the Award for the Best Translational Science in Molecular Imaging for Preclinical and First-in-Human Studies of a Novel Tracer for Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Myocardial Blood Flow Quantification, by Yufan Gu, MD, Ruoxi Sun, MD, Wanjie Ren, PhD, Xiaoying Xi, MD, Kai Han, MS, Zongyao Zhang, MS, Shuang Liu, PhD, Wei Fang, MD, and Lei Wang, MD. (J Nucl Cardiol 2025;52:102441)

Xirang Zhang, MS

JNC Best Translational Science Award – Technical/AI Category

Xirang Zhang, MS, is the recipient of this year’s Award for the Best Translational Science in the Technical/AI category for Cardiac Motion Correction with a Deep Learning Network for Perfusion Defect Assessment in Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Myocardial Perfusion Imaging, by Xirang Zhang, MS, Yongyi Yang, PhD, P. Hendrik Pretorius, Piotr J. Slomka, PhD, and Michael A. King, PhD. (J Nucl Cardiol 2025;43:102071)

The awardees will be recognized at ASNC2026, where Dr. Di Carli will also announce the recipients of the Zaret-Beller Elite Reviewer Award.

Attend ASNC2026 Sept. 16-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada, or virtually. Choose in-person or virtual registration.

Register for ASNC2026