SCCT Awards Best Original Science of 21st Annual Scientific Meeting
CHULA VISTA, CA. — The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) announced its best original science award winners of the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting (SCCT2026) in San Diego, Calif.
The SCCT Best Abstract Award – supported by the National Institute for Cardiovascular Research and Innovation (niCVRI) (formerly the Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Southern California), Ronald Karlsberg, MD, MSCCT, and Daniel Karlsberg, MD, FSCCT – is open to all abstracts submitted to SCCT2026, which included a record number of 330 accepted manuscripts as part of the conference.
Six finalists and three winners of the Best Abstract Award are determined by receiving overall top scores through a three-round scoring process by an independent judging panel led by Mouaz Al-Mallah, MD, MSc, FSCCT.
The SCCT 20th Annual Young Investigator Awards program – supported by Canon Medical – aids the professional and clinical development of top radiology residents and cardiology fellows within five years of completing a training program.
Authors of the two top-scoring abstracts for each award presented during the SCCT2026 Best Original Science session and winners were announced in front of an SCCT member audience.
Sheran Vasanthakumar, MBBS, FRACP is the winner of the SCCT Best Abstract Award for his submission, “Deep Phenotyping Of Calcium Density To Assess Response To Preventative Therapy: The CAUGHT-CAD Trial.”
Linda Zakkak Monayer, MD received Best Abstract first runner-up after presenting her abstract, “Sublingual Nitroglycerin In Severe Aortic Stenosis: Safety And Image Quality.”
Second runner-up is Eric Ho, MD for his abstract, “PHOTON Study: Plaque Characterization Using Photon-counting CT Angiography: A Comparison Study Using Conventional Energy Integrating Detectors And Coronary Angiography With Intravascular Imaging.”
Prior to the conference, an independent panel of judges led by Todd C. Villines, MD, MSCCT selected two YIA winners.
Kenneth Chan, MBBS, of University of Oxford is the 2026 YIA winner for his abstract, "Quantifying Coronary Inflammation On Contrast Or Non-contrast Cardiac CT Enhances CV Risk Stratification Beyond Coronary Calcium Score And Plaque Volume.”
Runner-up for the YIA is Sara Ersözlü, MD, CCK, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, for her abstract, “Quantitative Plaque Assessment Reclassifies Risk In Patients With Stable Chest Pain And Zero Coronary Artery Calcium Score.”
The winner of the Best Abstract Award receives a $5,000 monetary award and a trophy.
Along with a monetary award, Best Abstract Award runners up and YIA winners receive a plaque, one-year free membership to SCCT and free registration for SCCT2027, to be held July 8 - 11, 2027 in Washington, DC.
All YIA and Best Abstract finalist manuscripts will be published in the SCCT2026 supplement of Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (JCCT).
About the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
Founded in 2005, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) is the international professional society devoted to improving health outcomes through effective use of cardiovascular computed tomography (CCT). SCCT is a community of physicians, scientists and technologists from over 100 countries advocating for access, research, education and clinical excellence in the use of CCT. For more information, please visit https://scct.org.
About the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
The Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (JCCT) is a peer-review journal of the SCCT that integrates the international cardiovascular CT community and addresses a broad range of topics affecting cardiovascular CT imaging. The journal’s major focus is on original research and on the clinical and technical aspects of cardiovascular CT. For more information, please visit www.journalofcardiovascularct.com.
About the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of SCCT (SCCT2026)
SCCT2026 – the preeminent meeting focused on cardiovascular CT – will be held July 9 - 12, 2026 in San Diego, California. The SCCT Annual Scientific Meeting is designed to engage physicians, trainees, technologists and healthcare professionals in a complete overview of the cardiovascular CT field. Planned sessions are targeted for all levels, from new practitioners to experienced providers. Sessions range from general overviews to state-of-the-art research and expert discussions. For more information, please visit https://scct.org/SCCT2026.
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