A Message from the Executive Director

Dear Members,

I recently read, “When you go out and see the empty streets, the empty stadiums, the empty train platforms, don’t say to yourself, ‘It looks like the end of the world.’ What you’re seeing is love in action. What you’re seeing, in that negative space, is how much we do care for each other, for our grandparents, for our immune-compromised brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet. People will lose jobs over this. Some will lose their business, and some will lose their lives. All the more reason to take a moment, when you’re out on your walk or on your way to the store or just watching the news, to look into the emptiness and marvel at all of the love. Let it fill and sustain you. It isn’t the end of the world. It is the most remarkable act of global solidarity we may ever witness.”

I hope each of you and your families are safe and well. All of us at the Central Office are safe at home, doing our best to maintain a sense of normalcy in a time when there is no normalcy. Working by Email, secure connections to the office, enhanced with tools like Zoom and Skype, we continue our work for you. Because through all of this we have not lost sight of this organization’s mission statement: “To foster a vibrant, collaborative, international and interdisciplinary community that promotes discovery, innovation and clinical translation in magnetic resonance.”

So this is all about you. You are our priority.

I hope that you had a chance to register and attend the COVID-19 virtual meeting this past Wednesday or coming Saturday. If not, you can log in and listen to the recording of the meeting that features members around the globe that are on the front lines. Let us know if you would like this to be a continuous virtual series.

With regards to the annual meeting, we are still hopeful to reach Paris in August; however, we have our community’s safety in mind, and, along with the ISMRM Board of Trustees, will continue to monitor the situation and keep you updated.

Again, we are truly seeing the most remarkable act of global solidarity. And just maybe, when we are on the other side of this, we will not go back to just the way things were but will find a way to do things better. Stay safe.

Best wishes,
Roberta

Roberta A. Kravitz, Executive Director
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)
Society for MR Radiographers & Technologists (SMRT – a section of the ISMRM)