The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) named the winners of its Best Abstract and Young Investigator awards July 12 at its annual meeting in San Diego, as well as announced its 2026-2027 leadership team.
The Best Abstract Award was open to all abstracts submitted to the meeting, which included a record 330 accepted manuscripts, according to the society. Six finalists and three winners were selected through a three-round scoring process by an independent judging panel.
The Best Abstract Award winners are:
Sheran Vasanthakumar, winner, "Deep Phenotyping of Calcium Density to Assess Response to Preventative Therapy: The CAUGHT-CAD Trial."
Linda Zakkak Monayer, MD, first runner-up, "Sublingual Nitroglycerin in Severe Aortic Stenosis: Safety and Image Quality."
Eric Ho, MD, second runner-up, "PHOTON Study: Plaque Characterization Using Photon-Counting CT Angiography: A Comparison Study Using Conventional Energy Integrating Detectors and Coronary Angiography With Intravascular Imaging."
The SCCT Young Investigator Award, supported by Canon Medical and now in its 20th year, recognizes top radiology residents and cardiology fellows within five years of completing training, the society said. An independent panel selected two winners ahead of the meeting:
Kenneth Chan, winner, "Quantifying Coronary Inflammation on Contrast or Non-Contrast Cardiac CT Enhances CV Risk Stratification Beyond Coronary Calcium Score and Plaque Volume."
Sara Ersözlü, MD, runner-up, "Quantitative Plaque Assessment Reclassifies Risk in Patients With Stable Chest Pain and Zero Coronary Artery Calcium Score."
The Best Abstract Award winner receives $5,000 and a trophy; runners-up and Young Investigator Award winners receive a plaque, a one-year SCCT membership, and free registration for SCCT 2027. All winning and finalist manuscripts will be published in a supplement of the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.
In other news, SCCT also announced its 2026-2027 leadership team, led by incoming president Ronen Rubinshtein, MD, director of the Heart Institute at Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel.
Rubinshtein succeeds Kavitha Chinnaiyan, MD, as president. His clinical and research interests include interventional cardiology, endothelial function, and advanced cardiac imaging spanning CT and MRI, and he previously chaired SCCT's Membership Committee and Annual Scientific Meeting Committee.
Other newly named Executive Committee members include Kelley Branch, MD, as president-elect, Cristina Fuss, MD, PhD, as vice president, Ahmad Slim, MD, as treasurer, and Barbara Srichai-Parsia, MD, as secretary, according to the society.
