M Victoria Marx, an interventional radiologist at Keck Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, USA, has been appointed president of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) for 2018–2019.
“Through my new role as president, I will continue to move forward important SIR initiatives aimed at everything from promoting diversity within the specialty to increasing patients’ awareness of the benefits of interventional radiology,” said Marx.
Marx told Interventional News: “My main goal is to continue the momentum that we have this year on several fronts. The one I am most closely tied to is the development of interventional radiology as a primary medical specialty and the associated development of a robust graduate medical training process in the USA and I am very proud of where we stand with that.
“This is an exciting time to be an interventional radiologist. Interventional radiology is recognised as its own specialty and residency programmes are overflowing with a diverse and highly competitive pool of applicants in just their third year,” said Marx. “The future of our specialty is bright, and I am proud to lead SIR during this time of surging interest in the limitless potential of image-guided therapies to improve patient care,” she added.
Marx, who joined Keck Medicine in 1999, is an expert in women’s health, biliary disease and radiation safety. In her clinical practice, she advocates for managing symptomatic uterine fibroids with uterine fibroid embolization, a minimally invasive treatment that avoids hysterectomy. She is also focused on broadening regulatory standards to minimise radiation exposure for patients, physicians and staff.
“I believe that women can practice interventional radiology and be effective, safe, and pregnant. I think the promotion of a stronger universal culture of safety in the world of interventional radiology will make it easier for women to practice through pregnancy; if all interventional suites used optimal safety all the time and this was based on the assumption that every person in the room was pregnant, there would not be a need for special measures during pregnancy,” Marx told Interventional News.
Marx is also a professor of clinical radiology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, vice chair of education for the Department of Radiology and director of the
In addition to Marx, other incoming officers of SIR’s 2018–19 Executive Council include president-elect Laura Findeiss, Emory Healthcare, Atlanta; secretary Michael D Dake and immediate past-president Suresh Vedantham, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University, St Louis, USA.
