Jérémie Calais, MD, PhD, delivers SNMMI Gambhir Annual Lecture
Theranostics leader recognized for advancing earlier detection, PSMA PET and radioligand therapy
image: Jérémie Calais, MD, PhD, Delivers SNMMI Gambhir Annual Lecture
Credit: Image courtesy of SNMMI.
Bethesda, Maryland (November 6, 2026)—Jérémie Calais, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized leader in theranostics and cancer imaging, presented the Dr. Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir Annual Lecture in Nuclear Medicine Treatments and Diagnostics at the SNMMI Theranostics Conference. Established by SNMMI, the annual lecture honors Gambhir’s visionary work in early detection and precision medicine and spotlights advances that enable earlier intervention and improve patient outcomes. Calais’ lecture was titled “Seeing and Treating Earlier: Theranostics on the Path to Cure?”
“Sam Gambhir challenged our field to find disease earlier, when we have the greatest opportunity to change its course,” said Calais. “It was a privilege to present this lecture and to build on his commitment to translating scientific innovation into better outcomes for patients.”
Calais is a nuclear medicine physician and professor at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center and Université Paris-Saclay in France, a position he took up on September 1, 2026. He spent 10 years at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he advanced from postdoctoral fellow to full professor in the Ahmanson Translational Theranostics Division. There, he directed the Theranostics Clinical Research Program, co-led the opening of UCLA’s dedicated theranostics treatment center, and helped establish the first independent Department of Nuclear Medicine and Theranostics in the U.S., where he served as vice chair. He remains an adjunct professor at UCLA to support ongoing trials and collaborations.
His work helped establish prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging and radioligand therapy (RLT) as standard practice. He co-authored the new drug application (NDA) for gallium-68 PSMA-11 that led to the first FDA approval of a PSMA PET imaging agent in December 2020. He also co-led RESIST-PC, the first prospective phase 2 trial of lutetium-177 PSMA therapy in the United States, and LUNAR, the first randomized trial combining RLT with stereotactic radiotherapy in oligometastatic prostate cancer. In addition, he pioneered PET imaging programs at UCLA targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP) and carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), and co-developed the international PROMISE and RECIP standards.
At UCLA, Calais helped develop more than 65 clinical trials as a principal investigator or co-investigator, serving as principal investigator for 30 of them. At Gustave Roussy, he will help build the institution’s RLT clinical trial portfolio and lead the translational development of new radiopharmaceuticals and novel combination strategies, with a focus on emerging isotopes such as actinium-225 and lead-212, and new targets including FAP, CAIX, nectin-4, ACP3 and glypican-3 (GPC3).
He has authored more than 230 peer-reviewed publications. He serves as an associate editor of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine and is a member of committees and working groups of SNMMI, the SWOG Cancer Research Network, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). He is also a co-organizer of the international PSMA & Beyond conference.
“Jérémie Calais embodies the innovation, clinical translation, collaboration and commitment to patient impact that this lecture was created to recognize,” said SNMMI President Heather Jacene, MD, FSNMMI. “We are delighted to honor his accomplishments.”
The Gambhir Lecture recognizes global leaders and groundbreaking research in diagnostic imaging, theranostics, radiopharmaceutical development and personalized medicine. It is intended to educate and inspire physicians, researchers, technologists, industry partners and the next generation of innovators.
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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging and theranostics—precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. For more information, visit snmmi.org.
The SNMMI Theranostics Conference is an immersive, multi-day event dedicated exclusively to the field of theranostics—an approach that combines targeted molecular imaging diagnostics with precision radiopharmaceutical therapy to find and treat disease.