The 27th Seoul National University-Hokkaido University Joint Symposium was held at Seoul National University (SNU) from November 27 to 28, 2024. This symposium is part of an ongoing academic exchange program between SNU and Hokkaido University. This year, breakout sessions were held across five academic fields, including medicine, where faculty members, graduate students, and researchers from both institutions engaged in lively discussions and exchanged innovative ideas.

The plenary session that was scheduled for November 27th was unfortunately canceled due to record-breaking snowfall in the city of Seoul.

On November 28th, our Department of Diagnostic Imaging, in collaboration with the Department of Radiology at SNU (led by Professor Seung Hong Choi), hosted a breakout session with the main theme on MRI and Nuclear Medicine.

The following seven participants attended from Hokkaido University:

• Professor KUDO Kohsuke
  As a director, Professor Kudo oversaw the entire event and co-chaired Session 1, “Radiology” alongside Professor Choi from SNU. In Session 1, discussions were carried out by focusing on topics such as MRI x AI and new brain research utilizing MRI.

• Associate Professor HIRATA Kenji
  Associate Professor Hirata Kenji co-chaired Session 2, “Nuclear Medicine” with Professor Jae Sung Lee from SNU. In this session, presentations and discussions centered around nuclear medicine therapy and the integration of nuclear medicine with AI.

• Senior Lecturer FUJIMA Noriyuki
  Senior Lecturer Fujima Noriyuki introduced AI reconstruction technologies in MRI, focusing particularly on the differences between vendor-neutral and vendor-specific approaches. The discussion emphasized their future prospects for clinical applications.

• Assistant Professor WATANABE Shirou
  Assistant Professor Watanabe Shirou presented an introduction to nuclear medicine therapy (Theranostics) at Hokkaido University Hospital, along with the latest research findings in this field.

• Assistant Professor KAMEDA Hiroyuki
  Assistant Professor Kameda Hiroyuki provided an overview of the latest findings, including the research results of foundational experiments on Neurofluid using the stable isotope O-17 water.

• LI Yingtong (a PhD Student)
  Ms. Li Yingtong presented research results on automatic segmentation of metastatic lesions in FDG-PET using AI, which is the focus of her research.
• ZHOU Simi (a PhD Student)
  Ms. Zhou Simi presented on research results regarding the application of QSM (Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping) in ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), which is the focus of her research.

Future Plans
This symposium has strengthened the bond between researchers from SNU and Hokkaido University. The Department of Diagnostic Imaging plans to continue participating proactively in this event. The next symposium is scheduled to be held in Sapporo in 2025, and we plan to host a fruitful event by welcoming researchers from SNU.
Lastly, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all participants and look forward to seeing them again at the symposium in 2025.