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Embracing the Future of MRI: A Journey from Passion to Leadership in ISMRM
Magnetic resonance imaging is the imaging love of my life. I love the information that it reveals to me as a diagnostic radiologist. It tells me the secrets of disease—both morphologically and also physiologically. I find MRI astonishing and never boring.
My first MR meeting (of the society that became ISMRM) cemented my interest in MRI. The Society was my imaging home. I learnt stuff that I had no idea about, and I met people who loved MRI and enthused about its potential, people who innovated and helped translate science into clinical practice. The meeting became a major source of MR science, MR education, and it also helped me develop my MR network. Eventually, it also gave me the opportunity for professional development, and I have had the honour of becoming a member of the Board of Trustees, the Executive Committee, chair of the AMPC (Hawai’i 2009), secretary of the Society, vice president, and now the president.
My ambition for the Society is that my very positive experiences will be shared with other members of the Society, whether they are student or new members, or members of longer standing. I would like our Society to provide our international membership with science, education, and opportunities for making friendships, collaborations, and for development of their other skills.
I will support an ongoing review of the way the ISMRM functions, to make sure we are providing value for money, that we avoid waste and make our footprint as small and sustainable as possible. We need to be a transparent organisation that responds to the needs of our membership. I also hope to foster and collaborate fully with our colleagues in industry—they are the essential and valued enablers who help translate our advancing science into our clinical practice.
We need to look at our annual meeting. Is it fit for purpose for the next decade? Do we need to innovate to ensure that it is inclusive and sustainable—yet at the same time deliver the essential qualities that we value?
The ISMRM leadership is a team—no president works alone. The presidents (past, current, vice president, and VP-elect) work closely together and with others in the Executive Committee, Central Office under the leadership of Anne-Marie Kahrovic, the AMPC chairs, and the Board of Trustees. This is a healthy leadership that depends on honest, often differing, opinions but with the health of our Society at the centre of our decision-making. As ISMRM President, I will continue to contribute to this leadership team and hopefully help make the society the place that we—the members—want it to be.
Margaret A. Hall-Craggs, M.D.
ISMRM President 2024-2025
