Joanna Fowler, Ph.D., a major contributor to brain research and a pioneer in molecular imaging, was scheduled to receive the National Medal of Science at the White House on Wednesday.
She will receive the highest award for lifetime achievement in science with eight other researchers.
Fowler currently serves 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, NY.
Fowler's work in PET imaging has led to significant advances in the study of how drugs, disease, and aging affect the brain. In 1976, she and her colleagues synthesized 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to diagnose cancer and study brain and heart abnormalities.
Fowler's research interests have focused on how addictions cause changes to circuits in the brain. By measuring the uptake and movement of cocaine and methamphetamine in the brain, Fowler's studies also have shed new light on the addictive power of drugs.
She also has researched the use of PET to track the action of therapeutic drugs and explore the introduction of new drugs into the practice of medicine.
Related ReadingNews agency predicts Nobel for fMRI inventor, September 25, 2009
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