The President's Corner
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is a pleasure to send this greeting as we kick off a new year for the ASPNR!
Our Annual Meeting in January is always the perfect transition from one year to the next, and this year’s meeting in Austin, TX, was no exception. We welcomed 368 attendees, with 74 international participants representing 22 different countries and 87 national and international trainees and students. The educational and scientific content was nothing short of exceptional, and it wouldn’t be an ASPNR Meeting without incredible social events to bring us all together.
I want to thank Dr. Mark Mamlouk, who chaired the Annual Meeting, Zenia Spear, the Program Committee, and our outstanding speakers and moderators for putting on such a terrific event, as well as the support of our membership who filled the meeting room from the very first lecture until the very last. I would be remiss if I did not thank our many corporate sponsors, whose generous support of our Society allows us to put on the absolute best Pediatric Neuroradiology meeting (yes, I am biased, but that doesn’t make it any less true!), while keeping the cost of attendance as low as feasible. Lastly, I want to congratulate our 2025 Gold Medal Winner, Professor Paul Griffiths, a brilliant neuroradiologist from the United Kingdom who led so many of the advancements in fetal and neonatal imaging that we now implement in our daily practices.
With the 2025 Meeting in the books, planning has already begun for the 2026 Annual Meeting, which will be held in Tampa, FL, and chaired by Dr. Laura Hayes. Please save the dates: January 16-18, 2026 (Friday – Sunday) for the Scientific Meeting and Thursday, January 15, for the ever-popular Core Curriculum and Advanced Imaging Workshop. We hope to see you there!
2024 was a banner year for the ASPNR under Dr. David Mirsky’s leadership, highlighted by countless new and ongoing initiatives and continued growth of our membership worldwide. ASPNR and ASNR collaborated in developing a $20,000 Pediatric Neuroradiology research grant aimed at low-GDP countries. ASPNR continued its collaborative educational agreement with the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) and established new agreements with the Australian and New Zealand Society of Neuroradiology (ANZSNR) and the Ibero Latin American Society of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (SILAN). Generous travel grants were sponsored by members of our Society, including the Charlotte and Thierry Huisman, Michelle Silvera and Bob Heist, and Tim Booth and Michele Johnson Travel Grants, and the number of ASPNR CARES scholarships were increased. For 2025, a new international travel grant, funded by Drs. Susan Palasis and Bryan Philbrook, will target radiologists from low or lower to middle income countries. New mentorship initiatives were created with industry support, and ongoing initiatives, such as the International Pediatric Neuroradiology Teaching Network (IPNTN) spearheaded by Drs. Kish Mankad and David Mirsky, and our Annual ASPNR Guerbet Research Award continued with great success. These provide just a snapshot of our Society’s ongoing efforts on behalf of our membership.
For this coming year, we will continue and expand upon these initiatives, with several new projects and initiatives in the works. Having reviewed the goals and charge for the Society and each of its committees, I am so excited for what is to come.
Financially, the Society is in a very sound position, having adequate reserves to protect and sustain the Society should there be an unexpected financial crisis (e.g., significant recession, loss of funds due to a forced cancellation of an Annual Meeting, etc.), while continuing to grow our BNH Founders Fund, which will be a source of internal grant funding for the Society. To donate, please visit our website: https://aspnr.org/donate/now/start. As we continue to be more and more financially secure, we are investing back into the Society to provide benefits that we hope far outweigh the cost of membership in this Society.
It is an exciting year ahead for the ASPNR! On behalf of your Board of Directors, I want to thank you for your continued support of this wonderful Society. It is the generous support and volunteerism of our membership that allows our Society to continue to grow and thrive.
Wishing you all the best,
William T. O’Brien, DO, FAOCR
President of the ASPNR
Chair, ASPNR Board and Executive Committee
