March 2025 - COBRA 2025 Unites Bay Area Nuclear Imaging Community at UC Davis
This year’s COBRA (Community Of Bay area RAdionuclide imagers) meeting brought together a diverse group of researchers, trainees, and professionals in nuclear imaging from across Northern California for a day of scientific exchange and community-building at UC Davis’ Betty Irene Moore Hall.
The day kicked off with a workshop on fellowship and grant writing led by Katie Hellier (UC Santa Cruz), followed by a networking lunch.
The afternoon program featured two scientific speaker sessions, showcasing cutting-edge research across the participating institutions, including UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Stanford University. The presentations covered topics like CNS-targeted radi tracers, LGAD detectors for medical imaging, instrumentation development, innovations in imaging for radiation therapy and ultra- thin silicon tracking for autoradiography.
Participants then enjoyed an informal poster session and coffee break, complemented by a research-themed BINGO game to spark interaction and discovery among colleagues. The meeting concluded with a career-oriented panel discussion moderated by Katie Hellier, featuring professionals from academia, national labs, medical physics, and industry.
The organizers also announced a mini-proposal competition with a $500 award aimed at fostering inter-institutional collaboration and supporting new research ideas. The day concluded with a dinner buffet and cold drinks—another opportunity for attendees to connect and unwind. Inspired by the collaborative spirit and rich exchange of ideas throughout the event, the organizing team announced plans to launch a monthly newsletter to keep participants informed about ongoing research efforts across institutions until the next COBRA gathering.
The COBRA organizing committee thanks all who attended and contributed to the event’s success, as well as our generous sponsors – the UC Davis Department of Radiology and Hamamatsu Photonics. Those interested in helping shape future meetings are encouraged to get involved.
Organizing Committee 2025
- Ekaterina Shanina, Reimund Bayerlein, Daehee Lee – UC Davis
- Kimia Gholami, Katie Hellier – UC Santa Cruz
- Ananya Goyal – Stanford University
- Seungeun Lee – Lawrence Berkeley National Lab