From the ASFNR21 President and Program Chair
Greg Zaharchuk, MD, PhD

​

In the Loretto chapel, about a mile from the site of our meeting in Santa Fe, there is an unusual staircase connecting the main level and the choir. This spiral structure, built entirely of wood and glue and without a central support structure, was built in the late 1870’s and is considered an architectural gem. Even more intriguing is the story of its construction: after the death of the main architect, no one was available to complete this part of the chapel, so the nuns prayed to St. Joseph, their patron saint of carpentry, for assistance.  At the end of their nine-day prayer, a mysterious stranger arrived looking for work and offered to build a staircase, completed the job alone and with minimal tools, and left without accepting payment. For this reason, a legend has grown up about this “miraculous” staircase and it has been visited by millions of people.

When taking a step back, it is clear that most of what we do as clinicians and scientists would appear miraculous to even our grandparents’ generation. The ability to not only see inside the living human body but also to probe its function in minimally invasive ways is our central mission. The myriad ways in which we accomplish this is the reason we are all meeting in Santa Fe. During 3 full conference days and a pre-conference day of workshops and symposia, we will hear of the latest advances in imaging brain function using a wide range of imaging modalities, including CT, MRI, PET, and MEG. I am especially grateful to the organizing committee who has developed the program and to the members that have taken on the challenge of preparing their own mini-symposia on PET/MRI and MEG. Another new initiative is a mentor-mentee breakfast meant to welcome and support our younger and first-time attendees and a diversity gala to highlight the contributions of women and under-represented minorities to functional neuroradiology and to identify areas in which we can be more supportive as a society. And importantly, more than just listening via a Zoom window, we will gather together in person to discuss and brainstorm improvements and advances for the next generation of tools to further improve patient care. 

This latter aspect of the meeting has been facilitated by another “miracle” – that of coronavirus vaccines that are offering a way out of the great healthcare crisis of COVID-19.  It is fitting then that we have our annual meeting of the ASFNR in this city of miracles. I hope that you will be inspired by this to join together with colleagues and create the next set of miracles to better understand the brain and to improve the health of patients with neurological disease. See you in Santa Fe!

The 2021 ASFNR Meeting

Learn the latest in functional neuroradiology and interact with your colleagues who share your interest of advanced neuroimaging by attending the ASFNR Annual Meeting, which will feature an in-depth and comprehensive update on advanced neuroimaging. As you can see from the list above, the topics covered appeal to a broad range of neuroradiologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, physicists, neuropsychiatrists and psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, clinical and research fellows, residents, doctoral and postdoctoral students, and radiology technologists.

​

ASFNR encompasses everything that is cutting edge and on the forefront of neuroimaging, including:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning in personalized medicine, image quality, and its application to diagnostic image interpretation

• An AI challenge that will see different academic groups and companies compete around detecting urgent abnormalities on head CTs

• Emerging imaging technologies such as PET-MRI, 7T imaging, magnetic particle imaging, and MR-guided focused ultrasound

• 3D printing