Sunday, March 5
During SIR 2023’s Opening Plenary, the IR community honored four physicians who have made an impact on the field: the three 2023 Gold Medalists and this year’s Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecturer. Curtis W. Bakal, MD, MPH, FSIR, James G. Caridi, MD, FSIR, and Ziv J Haskal, MD, FSIR, were honored with the SIR Gold Medal in recognition of their role ensuring the future of interventional radiology.
William S. Rilling, MD, FSIR, the 2023 Dotter Lecturer, discussed the evolution of IR from the era of Dr. Dotter to now, focusing specifically on the evolution and expansion of the specialty. Despite rocky moments and times of despair, Dr. Rilling said, IR has not only flourished—it’s exploded. To keep this momentum, he suggested, it may be time to embrace subspecialization.
Be sure to watch the award ceremony and Dotter lecture via SIR Now and learn more about the winners and lecture on SIR Today.
- Award winner inspirations: 2023 Gold Medalists
- Dotter Lecture preview: IR in the age of (sub)specialization
- Session recap: Dotter Lecture
Monday, March 6
Theresa Caridi, MD, FSIR, opened Monday’s plenary session with the 2023 SIR Foundation Awards Ceremony. She recognized John Lipman, MD, FSIR, for his major gift to SIR Foundation in support of women’s health research. “For every SIR Foundation dollar spent on IR research, the NIH spends nearly $8 in subsequent funding of these same investigators,” she said, announcing that SIR Foundation awarded an all-time high in funding over the past year. She turned it over to SIR Foundation’s Research Grants and Education Division Chair Clifford R. Weiss, MD, FSIR, Grant Review Study Section Chair David Woodrum, MD, PhD, FSIR, and Scientist Board Member Govind Srimathveeravali, PhD, MS, who announced the SIR Foundation award recipients. Finally, Dr. Caridi announced the new Women’s Research Mentorship Grant, created in collaboration with the Women in IR section.
The second part of the plenary session, “Lightning Strikes Thrice: IR Leadership of Pivotal Clinical Trials in Venous Thromboembolism and Beyond,” was co-moderated by Suresh Vedantham, MD, FSIR, and Akhilesh Sista, MD, FSIR. Dr. Vedantham highlighted the successes of the ATTRACT, C-TRACT and PE-TRACT trials while noting their challenges and areas for future improvement. He also gave advice for young IRs, noting the various pathways for spearheading IR research. Dr. Sista touched on PE-TRACT, “the most important PE trial in a generation,” he said. “PE-TRACT is a story. It’s a tale about mentorship, perseverance, common will, teamwork, collaboration and innovation.” The panelists and co-moderators discussed the impacts of these trials and other topics relating to IR research.
Watch the Monday plenary via SIR Now.
Tuesday, March 7
Tuesday’s plenary session was led by the Journal of Interventional Radiology (JVIR) Editor-in-chief Daniel Y. Sze, MD, PhD, FSIR. He announced that JVIR is instituting an annual year-long editorial fellowship designed for residents with an interest in academic publications. The applicant pool was extremely competitive, Dr. Sze said, and he thanked Ron C. Gaba, MD, MS, FSIR, senior deputy editor of JVIR, for designing the fellowship curriculum and leading the program. The three inaugural participants in the fellowship are Anna Sophia McKenney, MD, PhD, MPH, from Cornell University; Xiao Wu, MD, from the University of California San Francisco; and Qian (Clark) Yu, MD, from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Sze also announced the 2022 JVIR awards, including Editor’s Top Paper Awards, Peer’s Choice Awards, People’s Choice Awards and Top Peer Reviewers Awards. In collaboration with SIR’s education department, JVIR is working to create a 13-credit CME activity based on the 2022 Top Papers, which can be completed any time in the next 3 years. Dr. Sze also introduced the new Lifetime Centurion Reviewers Award, highlighting those who each contributed over 100 reviews. Together, the 39 people honored with the award contributed over 3,900 reviews.
Following the presentation, the ever-popular Film Panel returned. Each year, moderators design a creative new format in order to foster education and encourage friendly competition. This year’s session featured a Family Feud-style quiz—called FamIR Film Feud—where 16 participants on four teams battled it out to take home the win. Ultimately, only one could prevail though, and the Association of Program Directors in IR came out on top.
Read more about the JVIR awards via SIR Today.
Watch the Tuesday plenary via SIR Now.
Wednesday, March 8
Incoming SIR President Alda Tam, MD, FSIR, opened the meeting’s Closing Plenary session on Wednesday morning. “Thanks to the work of the SIR and SIR Foundation, interventional radiology is a trusted partner and recognized stakeholder in many disease states with a seat at the table,” she said. Dr. Tam announced that 63 radiologists were successfully credentialed in the new focused practice pathway for IRs trained in cerebrovascular endovascular surgery. She also reported that SIR has introduced 130 new codes in the last 10 years and continues to push for the implementation of new IR codes. Looking ahead, Dr. Tam highlighted the upcoming SIR 50th anniversary.
Scientific Chair Gloria Salazar, MD, FSIR, recognized the Best Reviewers Award recipients for those who reviewed this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting abstract submissions. She then turned it over to the presenting authors of SIR’s three Abstracts of the Year, who described their research.
The second part of the plenary session, “Act Local, Think Global: IR and its role in Immuno-oncology,” was moderated by Rahul Sheth, MD, and Daniel B. Brown, MD, FSIR, and organized in collaboration with the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). Panelists discussed the role of interventional radiology in various immunotherapy treatments for cancer.
Read more on SIR Today.
Watch the Wednesday plenary via SIR Now and watch for an upcoming IRQ article on IR opportunities with immunoncology.
