The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is organizing the International Conference on Molecular Imaging and Clinical PET–CT in the Era of Theranostics (IPET-2020) following the successes of IPET-2007, IPET-2011, and IPET-2015. Innovation in research and development is a driving force in medical imaging. New imaging devices, radiopharmaceuticals, clinical applications and medical evidence are being produced at a fast pace and need to be propagated.

New standards of best practice should be emphasized not only as part of training programmes, but all efforts should be made to keep the medical community abreast with developments in order to provide optimal patient care and professional growth.

Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging play a key role in cancer management. They permit early and accurate diagnosis, precise staging, provide guides for selection of therapy, allow the monitoring of treatment, and further aid in disease management by supporting treatment planning or guided biopsies.

Radiopharmaceuticals, labelled with beta- or alpha-emitters, targeting relevant molecular markers expressed by different solid and haematological tumours can be used for radionuclide targeted therapies. Medical imaging and radionuclide therapies, together, help herald in the era of personalized medicine.

This conference will provide a forum for clinicians, imaging specialists and scientists to review the important clinical aspects of cancer management. It will critically examine the pivotal role of multimodality imaging techniques, combined with targeted therapies with a view to addressing the health challenges common to many Member States.

Considering the current global situation, a session devoted to the role of medical imaging in COVID-19 patients will be held.