Matthew S Johnson, an interventional radiologist and Gary J Becker professor of Radiology Research at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, USA, assumed the office of president of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) on 23 March, during the society’s annual Members’ Business Meeting.
“COVID has truly placed interventional radiologists on the frontline, which is both a challenge and an opportunity—people are now recognising us as the frontline workers we have always been and seeing what tremendous value we bring to patients and the care team,” Johnson comments. “SIR is committed to provide all interventional radiologists with the tools they need to thrive in their chosen practice setting, to combat burnout and promote wellness, and to foster a more diverse and inclusive specialty, all to the benefit of the patients we serve. Our members can best serve our patients if those interventional radiologists are healthy, happy, and well supported.”
Other incoming officers of SIR’s 2021–2022 Executive Council include president-elect Parag J Patel (Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA), newly appointed secretary Alda L Tam (Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA), and immediate past-president Michael D Dake (University of Arizona Health Sciences, Tucson, USA).
Interventional radiologists were often at the frontlines, doing remarkably large numbers of procedures treating COVID-19 patients and among the only specialties that carried on staffing hospitals, providing daily services such as putting in dialysis catheters or treating COVID-19 related pulmonary emboli. “That was a very valuable experience for others to see. We were there, we stepped up – and patients benefitted,” Matthew S Johnson, who took on the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) presidency on 23 March 2021, tells Interventional News.
New and re-elected members of the SIR Executive Council are:
- Derek Mittleider (Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute, Miami, USA)—SIR councillor-at-large: private practice (four-year term)
- Saher S Sabri (MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA)—Graduate Medical Education Division councillor (four-year term)
- Constantinos T Sofocleous (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA)—International Division councillor (four-year term)
- Kelvin Hong (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA)—Post-graduate Medical Education Division councillor (reappointment: three-year term)
- Mark Baerlocher (University of Toronto School of Medicine, Toronto, Canada)—Standards Division councillor (appointment to fill vacancy created by Alda Tam)
The SIR Foundation also appointed the following members to its Board of directors:
- Maureen P Kohi—SIR Foundation Development Division chair (three-year term)
- Nadine Abi-Jaoudeh—SIR Foundation Clinical Research and Registries Division chair (three-year term)
