British and Irish Chapter
September 111th to 13th, 2024 Nottingham
African Chapter
September 24th to 27th, 2024 Tansania
Italian Chapter
March 24th to 26th, 2025 Lecco
Only half of a year after the last annual ISMRM Italian Chapter conference (also known as AIRMM), which focused on multicenter quantitative MRI and molecular MR imaging, and featured a round table entitled “Unmet clinical needs: the role of preclinical studies” that discussed strategies to increase preclinical – clinical interaction to better support clinical needs and research, the chapter met again on the 15th to 17th of April in Padua. The chapter decided to alter their meeting timing to have the chapter meeting take place before the ISMRM, and use it as a ramp-up for the international version. Quantification and the harmonization of preclinical and clinical acquisition and analysis remained at the forefront of discussions. The opening workshop focused on PET/MR applications, such as studying the relationship of biomarkets, i.e. GluCEST vs FDG.
The Third Annual ISMRM Japanese Chapter conference took place from September 22nd to 23rd in Karuizawa in Nagano. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Yoshiyuki Watanabe from the Shiga Medical University and featured over 30 oral presentations. A highlight was the Ogawa Seiji Prize Lecture and Symposium “How to increase Japan’s Presence in ISMRM” which was led by Ichio Aoki from QST.
The British and Irish chapter conference was held from the 13th to the 15th of September in Aberdeen. Matching the conference theme of „New Horizons in MRI“, talks covered deuterium imaging as well as hyperpolarization and ‘Magic Angle Directional Imaging’ (MADI) for visualizing the alignment of collagen fibers within tendons, ligaments, meniscus, and cartilage. The need for quantification and standardization was also an important discussion point. The rejoining of the UK into the Horizon Research gave everyone a positive outlook for the 2024 and the next year’s conference, which will be held at Nottingham University.
The German ISMRM chapter celebrated its 25th anniversary at its annual chapter meeting, which was held from September 6th to 7th in Berlin. A fully packed Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) enjoyed David Norris’ plenary on the history of the German chapter. Talk highlights included non-BOLD imaging as well as CEST. The use of AI continued to be at everyone’s focus, and a range of applications was discussed, including neuroimaging, motion correction, acceleration, image quality, and view planning. The importance of quantitation was also stressed in the plenary sessions. On the hardware end, ultra-high field and its clinical realization played a prevalent role.
Everyone was eager to continue these discussions at the 2024 and 2025 meetings, which are already being planned for Tübingen and Freiburg, respectively.
The Indian chapter of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine hosted the “The 5th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Asian Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: Quantitative MR Imaging & AI (ASMRM 2023)” from August 25th to 27th, 2023 at the Indian National Science Academy Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg New Delhi with special emphasis on the Applications of Magnetic Resonance in Quantitative MR Imaging & Artificial Intelligence.
This three-day event brought prominent speakers from across the world together with a special focus on Asian talent. In addition to the plenary talks by senior faculty and clinician scientists from the Asia Pacific region, the USA, as well as Europe, Bruker held two virtual presentations: “Overview on Preclinical Imaging” and “Application of preclinical imaging in cancer research and drug discovery”.
The Third Annual ISMRM Iberian Chapter conference was held on July 4th and 5th. This brought the most brilliant Portuguese and Spanish MRI and NMR researchers from the Iberian Peninsula together in the historic city of Valladolid. The conference featured over 60 oral and poster presentations, including a special session on preclinical MRI, moderated by 2023 Bruker MRI Award winner Andrada Ianus. María Luisa García-Martín was the Sebastián Cerdán plenary speaker and discussed “Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy in Biomedical Research”. Bruker co-sponsored the event, showcasing latest advancements in Ultra High Field MRI, the low-maintenance yet high-performing BioSpec Maxwell instruments, and the newest developments in ParaVision.
The next ISMRM Iberian Chapter will take place in early July 2024 in the unique city of Porto, Portugal - no other better occasion to hear about the best magnetic resonance science from the Iberian Peninsula!