As part of the series of interviews with leadership, SIR Today recently spoke with SIR Foundation Chair Theresa M. Caridi, MD, FSIR, about her plans at the midway point of her term, updates on ongoing foundation programs, the increased involvement of scientist members in the foundation's leadership structure, and more.
Theresa M. Caridi, MD, FSIR
What first led you to interventional radiology?
Theresa M. Caridi, MD, FSIR: Some individuals know exactly what they want to do from the start, but I definitely wasn’t one of those. I was fascinated by general surgery, but the environment was not ideal at the time I was a student. I was very fortunate to have the benefit of my dad’s perspective—he highlighted for me all those who were switching from surgery into IR and DR. There really wasn’t the reverse—nobody switched from radiology into surgery—which I found very telling.
I did a rotation in radiology and I loved it, including the diagnostic component. It was so fascinating to piece the whole puzzle together for the clinicians in the hospital. Next I entered radiology residency at University of Florida. When I rotated through IR, I loved the ability to combine what I valued in diagnostic work with a procedural solution. I was fascinated by taking care of complex diseases through tiny incisions and sending patients home the same day with very little side effects. It spoke to me that we could significantly impact someone’s health and healthcare in such a positive way. It could not be more at the forefront of medicine and ideal patient care.
I went to Penn for my IR fellowship, then started at Georgetown as a faculty member for roughly 7 years, later transitioning to the University of Alabama at Birmingham where I was recruited to be director of interventional radiology and vice chair of interventional affairs. I’ve been there for nearly 3 years.
The term for the SIR Foundation chair is 2 years versus SIR president, which cycles out every year. Can you touch on the benefits of having a 2-year term?
TC: Just like anything, there are benefits and drawbacks. One of the reasons why the society cycles is because it is such a demanding position, and you have to devote significant volunteer time during the year in the presidency all while doing your day job. Additionally, cycling through as many leaders as possible allows for different thoughts and diversity in leadership.
Our major officer positions are 2 years in the foundation, and that’s to create a basis for successfully navigating longer-term projects. Often we’re working on long-term fundraising and research strategies that involve robust relationship development. Again, I think there is some merit to this but also yields plenty of potential downsides – there’s no perfect structure.
What are your major goals for the coming year?
TC: The team is focused on moving the needle with regard to research that supports IRs in all practice models. That really boils down to understanding how we best care for our patients and reimbursement so that the burden doesn’t fall on the patients themselves.
In some clinical focus areas, we lack data to support what we do. In others, we lack the ability to broadcast that data well enough, or to ensure that payers are seeing the value of the data. I’d like to see the foundation play a pivotal role in improving these shortcomings.
We also need to decipher how best to involve various practice models in data collection. It’s quite a bit more straightforward in an academic institution, where time and an infrastructure are in place for it. But there’s an incredibly large body of valuable information that comes out of office-based labs and private practice, for example, and there are many individuals who are eager to provide that information. VIRTEX will likely be the tool to achieving data collection in various practices over the years to come. Doing so will make a significant impact on the amount of data in our pool.
You’ve touched on the need to support research and create that research community. Is that the intent of the Clinical Trials Network (CTN)?
TC: Yes, that is certainly part of it. We hope for the CTN to be a great way to intertwine investigators, the foundation and the society with corporate partners, because we all have a vested interest in working with investigators who are experienced, will bring the project to fruition and run an ethical, organized clinical trial. At the very least, this will allow us to have a repository of sites that are capable of clinical trials, but we’d like to see it be more than that.
This coming year, we’re piloting a version of the CTN, which will initially focus on the pulmonary embolism (PE) space. PE is such an important topic in terms of clinical care and research, and it’s multidisciplinary, so we overlap with colleagues and other specialties. We need to bring our best investigators to the table. The pilot version of the CTN will help ensure that it’s effective and meeting certain metrics in order to continue to scale it up to other clinical areas. The pilot will be instrumental in determining what the Clinical Trials Network looks like for the next 5–10 years.
In the past year, SIR Foundation awarded $1.5 million in grants. Can you touch on the research that was selected to receive that funding?
TC: Two of the four research projects are registry based and two are standard approach. We’re really excited about this amount of grant funding, which was made possible by tremendous industry support. It’s the most funding we’ve been able to provide to our investigators in a single year, and I think it’s just the start of where the foundation is headed. In addition to industry support, it is important to align with other medical societies and foundations to move pivotal research forward – that will be another focus moving forward.
To what do you attribute the success of the Grants for Education of Medical Students (GEMS) Program?
TC: I suspect much of the success has to do with the fact that our society, foundation and constituents are so hungry to involve talented students who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to explore IR. That hunger and support gives me confidence about where our society and foundation are going—these up-and-coming individuals are our future. It’s been a long time coming, as we’ve lagged behind other specialties in terms of diversity in the workforce and the IRs-in-training are significantly changing this landscape.
Can you touch on the increased focus on the role of scientists in the SIR Foundation leadership structure, and the new Research Scientist Award?
TC: It’s similar to the other areas where we’re trying to increase diversity of thought and leadership. Kathy Krol really started this feat – involving scientists/PhDs in the foundation. It’s important to create those relationships between IRs—the practicing physicians—and PhDs so that we can bring the best minds together to move our specialty forward.
Overall, I am so grateful for the SIR Foundation team and working collaboratively with the society leadership, both physicians and staff. We’re really working in alignment with eyes and ears wide open to meet all of our constituents’ needs.
