ISMRM President’s Corner:

Connecting MR in a Changing World

by Daniel K. Sodickson, M.D., Ph.D.
ISMRM 2017-2018 President

By many measures, our International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine is at the pinnacle of its success. We have a robust and engaged international membership, a rich tradition of connecting clinicians with the developers of new imaging techniques and technologies, a vibrant annual meeting, and a committed and effective central office.

At the same time, we exist in a rapidly changing world, which will increasingly pose pressing challenges and opportunities for our field. Forces both external and internal are transforming the work we do. Imaging enterprises around the world are confronting the prospects of economic and technological disruption; imaging methods and applications are in the midst of a revolution; and our relationships with clinical and scientific disciplines around us are shifting. What is the future of our Society, and our field, in this changing world?

Welcome to the ISMRM President’s Corner. This new little corner of our website is intended as a forum for reflection and, I hope, a catalyst for discussion among the various constituencies of our ISMRM community. I am honored and humbled that you have entrusted me with the presidency of this amazing Society, and I look forward to working and talking with you in times to come.

This year, the ISMRM will be entering into a process of strategic planning. We traditionally refresh our strategic plan every five years or so, and the timing is particularly opportune right now, given the rampant forces of change all around us. Ultimately, all our assumptions will be subject to inspection and re-evaluation, as will all the organs of our Society – our journals, our annual meetings and workshops, our committees, our study groups, our modes of discourse. Strategic planning discussions are already underway among our Board of Trustees and various committees, and the process will continue over the summer, with representative sub-groups gathering for brainstorming, the results of which will be shared with all of you. But this is only the beginning. You are the true owners and trustees of our Society’s strategic plan, and your voices will be essential in shaping it.

Over the next few weeks in this Corner, I will discuss some observations on the state of our Society in our changing world. As a rule, communications here will be brief, generally a few paragraphs, and will be designed as conversation starters. Please feel free – nay, encouraged, or even exhorted – to continue the conversation amongst your friends and colleagues, on social media, and by any other means you think might be valuable. Ours is a field that has reinvented itself more than once. And we live in a sometimes terrifyingly exciting time, which in many ways calls out for reinvention. I cannot wait to see what we will all come up with next!

Next week: Disruption