Indian American Congressman Ami Bera (CA-D), has received the 2025 Legislative Champion Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) in recognition of his advocacy for the nuclear medicine community.
Bera worked to include report language that promotes a focus on nuclear medicine research within the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) in FY 2024 DoD funding legislation, according to a media release.
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His leadership on this initiative has helped advance research aimed at improving the health outcomes of service members, and others, while also reducing the DoD’s financial burden for cancer treatments, it said.
Congressmen Neal Dunn, MD (FL-R), also received the award for introduced the Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics (FIND) Act in the House of Representatives in 2021 and 2023.
“On behalf of SNMMI’s more than 15,000 members, we extend our gratitude to Congressmen Dunn and Bera for their support of the nuclear medicine community,” SNMMI stated.
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.
The longest-serving Indian American serving in Congress, Bera has represented Sacramento County in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013.
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He is currently a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific. He is also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
A lifelong Californian and son of Indian immigrants, Bera attended California’s public schools from grammar school through medical school, earning both his B.S. and M.D. from the University of California, Irvine.