NESIR 2021-22: The Hybrid Road Ahead

 
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SHAMS IQBAL, MD

Dear NESIR Colleagues,

I welcome you all to a new and hopefully normal year. I'm honored to serve all NESIR members in the role of President 2021-22. My heartfelt thanks to those who supported my candidacy for the role of President. I am excited to announce Dr. Julie Bulman and Dr. Yan Epelboym have agreed to serve as Vice-Presidents and will further the work of NESIR Residents' & Fellows' Section (RFS).

Together with the NESIR Board of Directors, we have come up with a great series of lectures by leaders in the field which includes relevant topics like spine and pain intervention, liver directed therapies in the age of immunotherapy, prostate artery embolization, Emborrhoid Procedure, TIPS, and AV malformations. The complete list of lectures and speakers has been posted on the NESIR website.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the last season was far from normal.

We reached out to the IR community in the New England area, and felt the yearning for normalcy, and a desire to get back to routine business. With significant vaccination rates in the area, and professional sports teams offering 100% seating for games, we are inspired and offer a hybrid series where we will have a mix of in-person and virtual Zoom lectures. This is an attempt towards normalcy and I hope this works well for all.

We will start with in-person sessions at the Longwood Inn on Monday September 20th 2021, where we will be updated regarding "Spine Procedures and Pain Management" by Dr Josh Hirsch, a world renowned spine specialist.

The format will be similar to last year's where we will have a lecture followed by case presentation by residents followed by selection and award for the best case presented.

Now is the time to head to the website https://nesir.org to renew your membership and pay the 2021-22 dues. This ensures we keep serving your needs including CME credits, continue to work for the field of IR and bring the latest and the greatest to you. I am excited to mention that the membership for medical students and residents will remain free. Please follow us on Facebook at Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/NESIR-159752507547742] and Twitter [@NESIR84290842].

Feel free to reach out to me with any queries, comments, or suggestions. I look forward to seeing you all in person on September 20th to learn more about spine procedures.

Shams Iqbal MD FSIR

WELCOME TO THE 2020-21 NESIR SEASON

 
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Dear NESIR Members,

Welcome to a new year and exciting year of NESIR. I am honored to serve as the 2020-21 President. I will work hard to be deserving of the privilege. Shams Iqbal M.D. has agreed to serve as Vice President. He will continue outreach by strengthening resident involvement and bolstering our social media presence.   

In the face of the global pandemic last spring, Aaron Harmon M.D. did an excellent job of pivoting to virtual meetings. We will continue with virtual meetings, although we hope to meet in person this spring if possible. Although we will miss catching up over cocktail hour, virtual meetings will allow NESIR to expand its reach beyond New England and has given us the opportunity to invite speakers from as far away as Japan.   

The Board of Directors and I have put together an outstanding lecture series, covering a range of clinical and non-clinical entities. Topics include complications, radiation segmentectomy, innovation and device creation in IR, pulmonary embolism management, and more. A complete list of lectures and speakers will be posted on our website.  

We also want to go back to the NESIR of old and re-focus on interesting cases from our accomplished members. When presenting a case, there is no need to include literature searches or extensive background information – just cases! Virtual meetings will enable seamless case presentations through screen sharing. 

Please renew your membership and pay your dues at NESIR.org/membership. Benefits of membership include 8 lectures, CME credit to physicians and nurses, and as soon as possible, food and parking. Trainee membership remains free. 

Remember to follow us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/NESIR-159752507547742] and Twitter [@NESIR84290842] where you’ll get reminders about upcoming meetings, hear about other IR-related events, and see great cases.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, or comments. I look forward to seeing you all on September 14 for our first meeting on embolization for tendinitis!

Sincerely,

Ezra Burch
ezra.burch@gmail.com

Welcome to the 2019-20 NESIR Season

 
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Dear NESIR members:

Welcome back to another exciting year of IR lectures, camaraderie, and savory victuals! I am honored to have been selected to serve the New England Society of Interventional Radiology this year as president, and will work hard to be deserving of the privilege. I would also like to announce that Ezra Burch, M.D. will be serving as Vice President. Ezra plans to extend our reach beyond the I-95 belt through social media.

The board of directors and I have put together another great lecture series. You will hear from leaders in the field about a wide range of topics including thermal ablation, left gastric artery embolization, percutaneous AV fistula creation, diversity in IR, and more. The complete list of lectures and speakers will be posted on our website.

As in years past, members are invited to present interesting and unusual cases after the keynote address. We will also be bringing back the award to recognize the “best case” each meeting (just don’t let it go to your head.)

We know that it is hard or impossible for many of you to come in person to the meetings which are held in Boston, which is why we will be continuing the tradition started by President Raul Uppot M.D. of live-streaming the conferences and making them available to watch online thereafter. This allows you to not only watch on your computers and mobile devices, but also participate with questions or comments. We also encourage members who cannot come in person to present their interesting and unusual cases remotely.

Head over to our website NESIR.org to renew your membership and pay your 2019-2020 dues. Your dues make it possible for us to bring you great speakers, provide CME credits to physicians and nurses, validate your parking, cover the food, use the venue, and much much more. Trainee (medical student, resident, and fellow) membership will remain free. And make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter where you’ll get reminders about upcoming meetings, hear about other IR-related events in the area, and see great cases from members around New England.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, or comments. I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Sincerely,

Aaron Harman, M.D.

Call for Membership & Dues

 

 

New England Society of
Interventional Radiology
 

Call for Annual Membership & Dues
 

Dear NESIR Colleagues:
 

the final details of the 2017-18 season are still being determined.  The Board of Directors has been working diligently over these past several months to ensure that we have another successful year.

Our kickoff meeting will be in october.  You can find the listing of our lecture series here on our site. We are continuing our commitment to a monthly lecture that includes dinner, a parking voucher and continuing education credits for physicians and nurses.    

We invite you to complete the membership form on line here.


After completing and submitting the membership form, please pay any dues that are owed.  


Thank you,

NESIR Board of Directors
contact@NESIR.org

 

Welcome to the 2016-2017 NESIR academic year!

Dear NESIR Members -

Welcome to the 2016-2017 NESIR academic year!

I want to thank the Board for electing me President of the New England Society of Interventional Radiology (NESIR). I am both humbled and excited about the honor to work for such a distinguished, historical organization representing our unique specialty.

Educational Lecture Series for 2016-2017 –

We are again lucky to have a great series of renowned speakers who will introduce new ideas and IR techniques, talk about our role in defining the next generation of medicine from entrepreneurship, to NIH research, to our relationships with the American Medical Association, and update us with new data and insight on our daily bread & butter IR procedures.

Our inaugural speaker this year will be Dr. J. David Prologo who will talk to us about “Cryoablation for Phantom Limb Pain” - A new technique that has the potential to improve the lives of many patients. The inaugural meeting this year will be held on at the Inn of Longwood on Monday, September 12, 2016. A complete list of our lectures this year can be found at www.nesir.org.

50th Anniversary of the NESIR

The NESIR was founded in 1966 and represents the oldest and one of the largest interventional radiology societies. This year we continue to celebrate our 50th anniversary. For this year, I am happy to announce the following initiatives:

1. Live-Streaming Monthly Meetings -

One of the biggest challenges the NESIR has always faced is hosting the monthly meetings for all our New England members - from Maine to Connecticut. We know it is not easy to drive to downtown Boston at the end of a Monday workday. With advances in technology, we are exploring live streaming our monthly meetings. This year we hope to send links to all our members, allowing everyone to not only view live the monthly meeting on computers or mobile devices, but to also participate. At its minimum, we hope that members would be able to view the invited speaker’s lectures and ask questions on laptops or mobile devices from remote locations. At its ideal, I hope that members from remote locations can present their clinical cases. As this is the first year we are attempting this, I ask that you be patient. There will no doubt be computer glitches and audio and video issues - we will learn, make improvements, and move forward. So tell your IR friends, sign up for membership, and log on September 12.

2. “What Would You Do?” Clinical Case Series –

With the possibility of live-streaming and increased remote participation we want to increase conversations amongst members about challenges and techniques we all face daily. To that end I would like to start a series titled” What Would You Do?” Unlike in past years where trainees brought interesting cases, for this series I encourage all members to bring cases where you want an opinion from the group - Questions of indications, technique, or complications. The NESIR represents a large brain trust- Use this resource to help in the clinical care of your patients. Interesting and unusual IR cases will also be accepted. With live-streaming, we will all be able to see and discuss cases presented from the remote corners of Maine and Connecticut to cases presented in person at our monthly meetings.

3. Build On Our Social Media Community-

Did you know the NESIR has a Facebook page? Hirschel McGinnis, our Communications Board Member created and has been maintaining the NESIR Facebook page. We want to build our online community. So join our Facebook page and be prepared to post or tweet about NESIR events.

2016-2017 NESIR Board Members

The NESIR would not exist without the hard work and dedication of its board members who volunteer their time and efforts for the NESIR. The 2016-2017 NESIR board members who have already done a tremendous amount of work for the upcoming year include:

Dr. Regina Maria Koch- Vice President
Dr. Muneeb Ahmed, MD – Secretary
Dr. Hirschel McGinnis - Incoming Treasurer, Communications
Dr. Michael Stecker – Outgoing Treasurer
Dr. Neil Halin - Accreditation
Dr. Ronald Arellano
Dr. T. Gregory Walker
Dr. Herlen Alencar
 

Please thank them for all their hard work.

I would also like to thank Muneeb Ahmed, MD - 2015-2106 President of the NESIR. Under Muneeb, the society has grown and has continued its long tradition of hosting internationally recognized speakers and educating regional radiologists about new ideas and techniques. Muneeb has also been an incredible resource for me during these months of transition and I am forever indebted for his help. I would also like to thank the board members Hirschel McGinnis, Mike Stecker, Ron Arellano, Greg Walker and Neil Halin for all their help, support, and advice over this past month of planning and preparation for the upcoming year.

NESIR Membership

The NESIR represents the oldest and largest regional society. We appreciate your membership within this community of IR experts. Membership benefits include:

1. Collaboration with members of the largest IR community in New England
2. Eight educational lectures from renowned interventional radiologists
3. Clinical case presentations
4. Educational credits for physicians and nurses
5. Buffet dinners
6. Validated parking for NESIR meetings
7. Guest pass ($25/guest/meeting)
8. Access to on-line archived case presentations.

I encourage all of you to renew your membership or join NESIR for the upcoming academic year.

Finally, I would also like to acknowledge and thank our corporate grantors who continue to support NESIR and without whom we would not be able to host this long-standing educational series. We will acknowledge their support at our meetings and on our website.

I am excited about the upcoming year for the NESIR. I hope you will join me in making this year another successful year. I look forward to meeting every one of you. Please feel free to reach out to me with any thoughts and ideas you have for the NESIR.

Thank You

Raul N. Uppot, MD
President, 2016-2017 NESIR
uppot.raul@mgh.harvard.edu

 

 

 

 

 

A Warm Welcome

Dear NESIR Colleagues,

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the entire NESIR community to the 2014-2015 academic year.  I thank the Executive Council for electing me as President and look forward to the opportunity to continue the strong tradition of advancing the interests of one of the largest IR communities in New England.  I also want to recognize the superb job of Dr. Herlen Alencar, our immediate past president.  Under his leadership, Dr. Alencar strengthened every aspect of the Society and we are all better off for his tireless efforts.  I am also very grateful for his advice and guidance as I transition into my new role.  A very big round of applause for Herlen!

This year promises to be an exciting year.  A number of local and nationally recognized speakers will address the NESIR, covering  in a broad spectrum of interventional radiology topics.  I believe we can all benefit from their knowledge and experience in this exciting field of Interventional Radiology.

This years’ inaugural speaker with be Dr. Anne Roberts, Vice Chair and Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology at the University of California, San Diego, Medical Center who will speak to us on the IR management of Placenta Procreta, Acreta and Increta. 

I encourage you all to join or renew your membership with the NESIR this year.  Membership benefits include the following:

  • 8 lectures
  • Educational credit
  • Buffet dinners
  • Validated parking after 5 pm
  • Guest pass ($25/guest/meeting
  • Access to on-line archived case presentations
  • Access to members of the largest IR community in New England

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the Summer, and I look forward to seeing you all in September.

Ron Arellano, MD
President, NESIR 2014-2015

 

 

Passing the Baton

Dear NESIR Colleagues,

As you know, we held our last meeting of this academic cycle last month. Dr. Carnevale from Brazil gave us a great lecture on the current status of prostatic artery embolization. We had a little extra time to socialize and enjoy the good food and drinks for one last time this year.

With the end of the lecture series, my term as President is also coming to a conclusion. It was a great honor for me to serve the society and help move it forward, building upon all the great work done over the past few years. I would like to take a moment to thank all members of the board for initially electing me as President and for supporting the efforts that lead to a successful year, with great lectures, member engagement and fundraising. I am confident that our society is strong and that the next president will be able to continue the long tradition of a dynamic IR community in New England.

Tomorrow we will have our annual Executive Council meeting, lead by our newly elected President, Dr. Ronald Arellano from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Arellano is a well know figure in the IR community and was the featured speaker during our November 2013 meeting. Dr. Arellano will be contacting you all in the next few days and I am positive our society is in very good hands for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Thank you once again for allowing me to lead this great society over the past year. I will continue to serve the NESIR as a member of the Executive Council and will definitely see you on future meetings.
 

Herlen
President, NESIR 2013-14

The Home Stretch

Dear NESIR Colleagues,

 

As we prepare for our last meeting of this academic year, I would like to briefly review the past few months and let you know what we have planned for May.

After a few outstanding lectures by Dr. Barry Katzen in January and Dr. Chieh-Min Fan in February, we had a break for the SIR meeting in March. For those who could not be in San Diego, it was a great meeting where some of the challenges facing our specialty and the entire health care system were discussed. Despite all concerns, there is a lot of enthusiasm about the future of IR.

Coming back from SIR, we had Dr. Rahul Patel as our invited speaker in April. He gave us a great overview on transradial approach for vascular interventions and convinced a more than a few people in the audience to consider this as a valid option in selected patients.

I gave the members a brief update on our fundraising efforts, led by Dr. Shoey Ganguli. Despite all challenges, we are doing well financially and I believe we will reach our target of leaving the Society in great financial footing for the next year.

Looking forward, we are planning a great meeting in May to close the year. We will have Dr. Francisco Carnevale from the University of São Paulo speaking to us on his experience with prostatic artery embolization. As many of you know, this has been a prominent topic in IR for the past couple of years and Dr. Carnevale has played a pivotal role in the development of this new procedure. Many prominent members of the American IR community have travelled to São Paulo to learn from Dr. Carnevale. As a member of the NESIR, you will have an opportunity to attend one of his lectures right here in Boston.

Lastly, in May we will have a little more time to engage our colleagues and talk informally before the lecture. There will be an open bar and hors d'oeuvres between 6-7PM, followed by our traditional buffet dinner, with the lecture starting at 7:30PM.

I hope to see you all in May to celebrate the end of another academic year.

Best,

Herlen Alencar, MD

President, NESIR

Happy New Year

Dear NESIR Colleagues,

After a brief hiatus, I would like to get back in touch with you to discuss where we are and what are the plans for the remainder of the 2014 season.

As you know, in December Doug Huynh delivered a great lecture on IR economics and how to overcome (or at least be better prepared) for the changes in the way we deliver health care in this country. It was a quite interesting topic and the audience was really engaged.

For January, we had the honor of hosting one of the giants in our field, Dr. Barry Katzen. He gave us a great overview on the current status of Endovascular Aortic Repair and may have convinced some of us to take a second look at the field that has been moving away from IR over the past few years.

As always, we had great cases presented by our fellows during both meetings.

Moving forward, for our next meeting in February our invited speaker is Dr. Chieh-Min Fan from the Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Fan is an expert on varicose vein ablation and will be lecturing on "Saphenous Vein Ablation: an Update".

Lastly, I am glad to report that a combination of fundraising efforts led by Dr. Ganguli with the restructuring of our expenses has left us in a stable financial status at this point of the year. However, we are still missing contributions from some of the major players in the industry so I encourage you to take a look at the list of grantors in our website and ask your local representative for their support.

I hope to see you all on February 3rd.

Best,

 

Herlen Alencar, MD
President, NESIR

 

Looking to December

Dear NESIR Colleagues,

Once again we had a great meeting this past Monday, featuring Dr. Ronald Arellano from MGH. He discussed different thermal ablation modalities and their application to intra-abdominal tumors. His main focus was the pros and cons of each technology and how to make educated choices. We had a great turnout and audience members engaged Dr. Arellano on a very productive Q&A session after his talk.

We also have great case presentations and Dr. Pradeep Goyal from Boston Children's Hospital was awarded the best case of the evening for his presentation "Embolization of Unusual Chylothorax". As always, a copy of Dr. Arellano lecture as well as cases presented will be uploaded to our website soon.

For December 9th, our guest speaker will be Doug Huynh, J.D., Director of Government and Policy Affairs at the Society of Interventional Radiology. The title of his talk will be "IR Economics: Overcoming Challenges and Delivering Quality Care". As we all know, health care in the US is undergoing deep and fast changes that have left many of us wondering how the future is going to look like. Even though Mr. Huynh is unlikely to answer this question, he will be presenting key information to help us be better prepared for the changes that are undoubtedly coming.

I hope you can join us next month. If you have not done so yet, please register, pay you dues and RSVP for the meeting. This can be done online at our website www.nesir.org.

Best,

Herlen Alencar, MD

President, NESIR

Great Turnout!

Dear NESIR Colleagues,
 

Thanks to all who attended our September 9th meeting, featuring Dr. Daniel Brown. We had a great start for this academic year with 85 people in attendance. To quote Dr. Brown, "it was wonderful to see the room so full". Pictures of the event can be found on our Facebook group.

As you know, the topic of our lecture was loco-regional therapy for HCC and what modality should be used for different patients. It was a very engaging lecture and we will post a copy of the slides on our website for those who were unable to attend. The password to access archive material is "nesir".

We also had great cases presented by fellows from UMass, BIDMC, BHW, MGH and Children's Hospital. At the end of the night, Dr. Pradeep Goyal from the Children's took the prize for best case with a transvenous approach to treat a AVM in the thenar region. All cases will be posted in our archives.

Our next meeting will be on October 7th and we will have Dr. Douglas Beall as guest speaker. Dr. Beall's topic will be "The Cutting Edge of Vertebral Augmentation".  He will give us an update on vertebral augmentation covering both basic concepts and new advances in the field. Dr. Beall is an outstanding speaker and he also proctors several vertebral augmentations training courses.

I hope you can join us next month. If you have not done so yet, please register, pay you dues andRSVP for the meeting. Both can be done online at our new website www.nesir.org.

Best,

Herlen Alencar, MD

President, NESIR

The Next Few Months

Dear NESIR colleagues,
 
As we approach the beginning of the new academic year for our society, I would like to take this opportunity and inform you all of what we have planned for the next few months.
 
We will continue to meet on the first Monday of each month, with the exceptions of the September and December meetings (details on nesir.org). All meetings will continue to be held at The Inn at Longwood Medical. As always, CMEs and CEUs will be issued to eligible participants.
 
I have reviewed responses to the recent members survey and I am selecting speaker for the academic year guided by your feedback.
 
Our first speaker on 9/9/13 will be Dr. Daniel Brown, Professor of Radiology and Director of Interventional Oncology at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University. Dr. Brown will be speaking on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma, with a focus on available data (or lack thereof) in order to select the most appropriate treatment modality for different patient groups.
 
Thanks to Dr. Hirschel McGinnis, our website has been completely redesigned and I encourage you to visit http://nesir.org. This new platform will allow us to renew memberships, pay dues and RSVP online from any computer or mobile device. Along with the new website, we also have a new Facebook group where members can interact and network.
 
We are working on a few other projects and I will keep you all informed. In the meantime, please remember to renew your membership and pay your dues. 
 
Looking forward to seeing you on September 9th.
 
Best,
 
Herlen Alencar, MD
President, NESIR

 

Building This Ship As We Sail It

Dear NESIR Colleagues:

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I want to thank all of you for contributing to the success of our 2012-2013 season.  Serving as President over this past year has been an honor and I am deeply indebted to Dr. Richard Taus, Dr. Greg Walker, Dr. Sanjeeva Kalva, Dr. Susan O’Horo, Dr. Michael Stecker , Dr. Neil Halin, and Ms. Blanca Rivera for all of their invaluable support.

I came to my first NESIR meeting as a resident in 1991.  That’s long enough ago that I’ve seen a significant extension in the arc of IR as it’s practiced.  The things we talked about doing and the things we imagined doing have become the things we actually do.  

We're building this ship as we sail it.  Looking back upon the lectures that were delivered this year, I see our future.  At it’s core, IR is an innovative and evolving discipline committed to high quality care.  As we stand upon the forming edge of IR, each one of us has the opportunity to advance the practice of innovative, humane and compassionate care to our patients through the learning NESIR offers.

 

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I am happy to announce that Dr. Herlen Alencar has been elected as the next President of NESIR.  Dr. Alencar first joined NESIR while serving as a fellow at The Brigham and Women’s Hospital and currently serves as Chief of Vascular Interventional Radiology at UMass Memorial Medical Center.  He has a strong commitment to our organization and will be in contact with you in the weeks to come.  

Thank you for entrusting me with the care of NESIR over the past year.  I hope I have been a good steward of the organization and will continue to offer my services as a member of the Executive Council.   

I want to congratulate Dr. Alencar on his new role and look forward to seeing you again at our next meeting on Monday September 9th.  

Hirschel McGinnis


617-699-7726   

HMcGin9836@aol.com