The International Society of Radiology (ISR) has unveiled plans to move its office from Bethesda, Maryland, to the headquarters of the American College of Radiology (ACR) in Reston, Virginia. There are also plans to establish a base in Vienna, Austria, following ISR's annual congress in São Paulo, Brazil.
ISR's executive director, Otha Linton, will retire at the end of 2012 after 17 years in the job. Tom Caldwell, former director of the ACR's Philadelphia office, which houses the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) and ACR Image Matrix, is coming out of retirement to take the executive director's position.
ISR President Dr. Jan Labuscagne (right) presents an award to Dr. András Palkó, past president of the European Society of Radiology, during ICR 2012 in São Paulo. All images courtesy of ISR.The relocation announcement was made by ISR President Dr. Jan Labuscagne in a recent letter to ISR members. The move could take place as soon as late September or early October once current ongoing renovations at ACR's headquarters are completed. The ACR will provide the ISR with an office, secretarial assistance, and administrative support.
"We will house the administrative functions of the ISR by giving them office space and secretarial backup," said Dr. Paul Ellenbogen, chairman of the ACR's Board of Chancellors. "The ISR is not becoming a division of the ACR and [ACR] will not be controlling [ISR]. This is an organization that has great potential."
According to Ellenbogen, the ISR also wants to create a satellite office in Vienna, where the European Society of Radiology (ESR) is located. "My understanding is that [the ISR] wanted a physical presence in Europe to help with upcoming meetings," he added. "The main activities of the ISR have been and will be under the direction of the North American representative and the ACR."
Dr. James Borgstede, vice chairman and professor of radiology at the University of Colorado Hospital, is due to succeed Labuscagne as president in 2014. ISR's executive committee includes senior radiologists who represent the U.S., Brazil, China, Spain, France, and other nations. Dr. Luis Donoso Bach, from Barcelona, is the current secretary general. The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) designates the executive committee member from the U.S., while the North American membership is represented by ACR.
Labuscagne (second from right) and Dr. James Borgstede (second from left) and their ISR colleagues organized a well attended ICR in São Paulo in May.In 2013 a new executive director take up the position, noted Labuscagne, who works as a radiologist at Global Diagnostics Australia in Bunbury, Western Australia. "After many years of dedicated service, Mr. Otha Linton will step down from that role in December. On behalf of all radiologists, I want to express our sincere thanks to Otha for all the time and effort he devoted to the ISR. We shall remember him with fondness. We wish him well in his endeavors."
ACR and ISR already are planning to hold a three-day Global Summit on Radiological Quality and Safety in May 2013 in Washington, D.C., and will invite representatives from other international societies to discuss topics such as radiation dose, accreditation, guidelines and standards, and best practices of institutions around the world.
The ISR held its International Congress of Radiology (ICR) together with the São Paulo Radiological Meeting in May. It was the first occasion that both the ISR and the Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging Society of São Paulo (SPR) cooperated on a scientific program.
