Season's Greetings from the ESNR

PLEASE NOTE: Registration and abstract submission for 41st Annual Meeting in Rotterdam, The Netherlands is open

41^st ESNR Annual Meeting, 25^th Advanced Course in Diagnostic Neuroradiology & 10^th Advanced Course in Interventional Neuroradiology of the European Society of Neuroradiology in Rotterdam, Netherlands – 19-23 September 2018

The registration and the abstract submission for the meeting is now open on the ESNR website. Please note that the deadline for abstracts submission will be 12^th April 2018. Check the website for future updates.

Prepare to be inspired by world-renowned keynote speakers, the latest scientific insights, and most importantly: your colleagues! With advanced courses in ‘Imaging techniques in Neuroradiology: here and beyond!’ and ‘Neurovascular lesions: to treat or not to treat?’ an inspiring educational programme is kicked off on 20 September, which will continue throughout the annual meeting. In honour of the opening of the newly built Erasmus MC as the most modern hospital in Europe, the pre-conference symposium on 19 September is themed ‘Hospital of the Future’.

Rotterdam is a wonderfully dynamic city in the southwest of the Netherlands. It has recently been named by both the New York Times and Lonely Planet as one of the top 10 places to visit, boasting fascinating modern architecture, including the brand new train station and its surroundings, world-class museums and festivals, top bars and restaurants, amazing river views, and a stunning market hall. Rotterdam is very easy to reach from Schiphol Airport with fast trains every 15 minutes taking you to the centre of Rotterdam in less than 30 minutes. English is spoken widely in the Netherlands.

The congress centre ‘De Doelen’ and the adjoining congress hotel (Marriott) are located directly opposite the train station, right within the city centre.More information will be presented in the website within a few weeks.

Follow @ESNRad and @MarionSmits on Twitter to stay informed on the latest #ESNR2018 updates!

WFNRS offers Travelling Grants for upcoming XXI Symposium Neuroradiologicum.

The upcoming XXI Symposium Neuroradiologicum will be held in Taipei, at the International Convention Center, between March 19-23, 2018. 

The WFNRS offers three Travelling Grants, which are only eligible for applicants from NON-Asian-Oceanian regions. 

The deadline for application is 4 months before the first day of the Congress/meeting.

Please visit www.wfnrs.org and send all application documents to: 

Ms Mary Beth Hepp, Executive Director, WFNRS (mhepp@asnr.org)

For the Application following documents are required:

·      Applicant’s curriculum vitae including detailed information of applicant’s institution

·      Letter certifying that the candidate is a certified or in-training radiologist/neuroradiologist

·      Support letter from the head of his/her department

·      Letter of intention from the candidate

·      Expected scientific presentations at the congress to attend Only electronic submissions will be accepted 

Final Welcome Malmö

DON’T MISS THE NEURORADIOLOGY EVENT OF THE YEAR: THE 40^th ESNR ANNUAL MEETING AND 24^th ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC COURSE, Malmö, Sweden 13-17/9 2017

MORE THAN 700 PARTICIPANTS HAVE ALREADY REGISTERED!!!

Dear all,

don't miss the 40^th ESNR annual meeting, 24^th Advanced Diagnostic Course in Neuroradiology focused on “Neurodegenerative diseases” and the 9^th Advanced Course in Interventional Neuroradiology on “Update in Stroke imaging” in Malmö, Sweden 13-17/9 2017.

For the first time, we will host a free pre-course in CSF diseases on Sep 13 starting in the afternoon.

At this time more than 700 international neuroradiologists from 60 countries worldwide are registered for the meeting.

For all of you that still want to come it is NOT too late to register.

Registration can be done on www.esnr.org. Although the Congress Hotel, the Clarion Hotel, is fully booked several hotels in walking distance from the congress venue, have rooms available. The ESNR Central office, DEKON, our PCO Company and I are happy to assist you with names of surrounding hotels if you do not find what you are looking for.

Malmö is a great, diverse city. There are plenty of things to do after the end of a long day at the congress. The Congress venue is at the centre of the city, one block from the Little Square with restaurants and bars. If you want to enjoy the free air, stroll, or go for a run, the large Slottsparken is just across the street from the venue.

Some highlights and Information regarding this year´s meeting:

We have the honour and pleasure of H.M. the Queen of Sweden’s who will be officially opening the Advanced Courses and the meeting on September 14. Due to our distinguished guest, H.M the Queen, the doors to the main congress hall will close 5 minutes before the opening ceremony – so be on TIME for the opening ceremony. Those arriving LATE will NOT be allowed to enter the Congress Hall for the opening ceremony. Please review the time schedule in the program.

This years distinguished Keynote speakers are among others professors Mauricio Castillo, Anne Osborn, Mark van Buchem, and Staffan Holmin – you do not want to miss their lectures.

The pre-course in CSF diseases is free for those who have registered for the meeting.

The Farewell party is planned to be in the SLAGTHUSET, a well-known party venue within minutes walking distance from the congress venue. Tickets are still available and can be bought at the registration site at www.esnr.org website or on site at the Congress venue Malmö Live from 13/9 2017.

I wanted this farewell party to be a party and not a formal seated dinner, so you will have the opportunity to eat, drink, meet, and chat to all your friends and international colleagues while you are listening and dancing to my favourite Big Band Orchestra Salongsorkestern under the leadership of Sune Larsson. They will give you many opportunities to dance and have fun. If you thought that was the end of the evening, forget it. The party and the night will continue with a DJ, Kent Larsen, who will be playing your favourite hits as well as ABBA, of course, until the end of the night (morning).

For further information and registration visit www.esnr.org

I hope you all will have a great time with a lovely combination of science, education and social life during you stay in Malmö.

Last thing, let us cross our fingers for great weather!

I wish you all welcome the 40^th ESNR Annual meeting in my hometown Malmö.

Pia Sundgren

Congress President ESNR Annual meeting 2017

Interview with Prof. Pia Sundgren, president of the 40th Annual Meeting of the ESNR

A member of ESNR Social Media Committee, Yelda Özsunar, interviewed Prof. Pia Sundgren, who is the President of the 40th Annual Meeting of ESNR. The 40th Neuroradiology Meeting, which also covers the 24th Advanced Course on Diagnostic Neuroradiology and the 9th Advanced Course in Endovascular and Interventional Neuroradiology, will be held between the 13th and 17th of September 2017 in Malmö, Sweden.

To inform the neuroradiologists, who wish to attend the meeting, she gave the following information regarding the congress.

Yelda Özsunar: Could you briefly explain why the city of Malmö is selected for this Congress?

Pia Sundgren: I think one reason for the selection of Malmö, which is the third largest city in Sweden, is the great connections to Europe as Malmö is just 20 min from Scandinavia’s largest airport, Copenhagen Airport. Malmö Airport and Copenhagen Airport together offer direct flights to 142 destinations throughout the world. In addition, Malmö is a vibrant, multicultural city with a great location at the sea with the beach just minutes from the city centre. Famous for its many parks, it is often called the ‘green city’, with interesting architecture like Turing Torso and the newly build areas at the previous docks in the harbour, galleries, pubs and high-star restaurants, and for its outdoor life. All this offers the Congress delegates a variety of things to visit and do in the evenings. I think many delegates will find the congress venue Malmö Live and congress hotel Clarion appealing as they are in the middle of the city, just a few walking minutes from Malmö railway station and one block from the old part of town.

Yelda Özsunar: Could you please tell us how Swedish scientists or neuroradiologists have contributed to the field of neuroscience or neuroradiology?

Pia Sundgren: Swedish radiologists and neuroradiologists have been pioneers in our field, and the list of contributions could be long. Swedish colleagues early took a key position in this development, not the least due to the close collaboration with the industry, resulting in, for the time, advanced equipment such as the Lysholm skull table and the stationary grid introduced by him, AOT film changer, Mimer, and Orbix, just to name some. The Swedish School of Neuroradiology, at the time in its leading institution at the Serafimer Hospital in Stockholm, was regarded as the Mecca of neuroradiology in the 1940s and for some decades to come. A specific reason for the success of Swedish Neuroradiology is the close collaboration between referring physicians, especially neurologists and neurosurgeons, which was established already in the 1920s. Many internationally famous neuroradiologists have been trained in Sweden during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Just a few examples of early Swedish pioneers were Erik Lysholm, Ingmar Wickbom, Erik Lindgren, Sven Seldinger, and Torgny Greitz. Torsten Almen, from Malmö, introduced nonionic contrast media 1969 allowing for wide use of myelography and angiography. Interventional neuroradiology has been pioneered in Sweden mainly by Pål Svendsen who led his team from Gothenburg. Just one example of the developments by Swedish colleagues related to neuroradiology was the introduction of electronic subtraction which is useful in angiography, and almost indispensable in interventional neuroradiology. It was developed in a collaboration between Wickbom, Wallman, and Quiding. The Swedish Society of Neuroradiology was established in 1971, and since 1992, neuroradiology is considered its own subspeciality in Sweden. Until the introduction of dedicated journals such as Neuroradiology and AJNR, the Journal Acta Radiologica, initially edited by Erik Lindgren, was initially the leading and only neuroradiological journal.

Yelda Özsunar: Do you think that 40th Annual Meeting of ESNR will be an interesting congress for neuroradiologists? If so, why do you think that would be?

Pia Sundgren: I am absolutely sure that the 40th Annual Meeting of ESNR will be an interesting and exciting meeting as it creates a great opportunity for friends from all over the world to meet up, discuss, and enjoy a great scientific program. This year, it will be a stronger focus on scientific and new advances in neuroradiology. We will have keynote lectures by Prof. Anne Osborn, Prof. Mauricio Castillo, Prof. Staffan Holmin, and Prof. Mark van Buchem and several other wellknown national and international speakers will be present.

Yelda Özsunar: Could you tell us about distinguishing features or topics of the scientific program in this Congress?

Pia Sundgren: We will, for the first time in the course of annual meetings, start 1 day earlier with a half-day precourse session on CSF disease: the neuroradiological impact in diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH)—is there a need for neuroradiology. The advanced diagnostic course focuses on neurodegenerative diseases and the advanced interventional course on the latest news and advances in stroke imaging. In general, the program will focus on new advances in neuroimaging and the latest treatment options and devices for endovascular treatment.

Yelda Özsunar: What do you think about the social events? Will this Congress be memorable?

Pia Sundgren: I really hope so as I have tried to select venues that are well-known in Malmö (Presidential dinner in City Hall, farewell party in the well-known club Slagthuset) and, most importantly, in walking distance from hotels so delegates can come and go without having to wait for transport. I have selected musical arrangements that, in part, reflect me and represent great artists from the region. At the welcome reception that will be held at the congress venue to please our sponsors and vendors, the delegates will have the opportunity to stroll around, chat with friends, grab some food and drinks, meet vendors, and listen to soft music. The farewell party is more in my style with a well-known big band orchestra Salongsorkestern that I already, as a student and resident, had opportunities to dance to their music and songs; later in the evening, this will be followed by a DJ playing ABBA among other great artists from 1970s to 1990s which I hope will be appreciated not only by us of 50+ but also our younger delegates so that the dance floor will be crowded.

Yelda Özsunar: What are your recommendations for attendees to enjoy Malmö?

Pia Sundgren: As the Congress venue is in the centre close to the harbour and the old city with all its restaurants and pubs—just take the opportunity to stroll around, enjoy the atmosphere, stop for beer or drink, or have your evening meal at one of the restaurants at the Little Square just across the small canal from the congress venue. If you like to enjoy the sea and/or enjoy a dip in the water—just visit the beach which is only15 min of walking from the congress venue. For those that want to shop—take the local commuter train or bus to Emporia, the largest shopping mall in North Europe. Malmö has a beautiful location with great communications to Lund, the oldest college/university city with a beautiful cathedral, small streets, and a lot of students, and to Copenhagen—so if time permits, take a tour. South of Sweden, the region of Scania, is well known for its fresh food so take the opportunity to eat seafood, and Malmö is a very diverse and multicultural city so there is a taste for everybody.

In behalf of my committee, I would like to thank you very much for this interview and all your efforts for the ESNR meeting. I wish a productive, joyful, and unforgettable ESNR meeting in Malmö.

Prof. Yelda Özsunar

12 months Research Fellowship in Diagnostic Neuroradiology

The ESNR Neuroradiology Diagnostic Committee is delighted to announce that, with support of the ESNR Executive Committee, we can offer a

12 months Research Fellowship in Diagnostic Neuroradiology.

Purpose of this fellowship is to stimulate cross-border research exchange in Neuroradiology within Europe.

The fellowship amounts to €25.000, intended to cover costs for living during the fellowship. Host institutions are expected to cover all potential other costs related to carrying out the research project.

Eligible are ESNR junior or full members up to the age of 40 years, who have been residing in Europe at the time of application for the past 24 months (with respect to membership see also ESNR regulations 7.12.2014).

Candidates will be selected based on their potential for scientific development, including the capacity to carry out the proposed research project, the quality of the research project, and the appropriateness of the host institution for the proposed project.

A minimum of 1 (submitted) manuscript is expected to result from the Fellowship.

Applications can be submitted until October 20^th, 2017 and should include:

1. Curriculum vitae of the applicant, including information on previous publications and awards.
2. Letter of invitation by the host institution, including mention of the intended supervisor for the project.
3. A detailed research proposal, including background, methods and work plan and expected deliverables at the end of the Fellowship. Maximum of 5 A4 pages, including references, at minimum font size 11.

Selection will be performed by the ESNR Neuroradiology Diagnostic Committee and announced by December 20^th 2017.

When awarded, the Fellowship is to commence within 6 months of announcement.

Applications to be sent to: info@esnr.org

In memory of Jacqueline Vignaud: 1925-2017

Homage to a spiritual mother, an ode to her image

Doctor Jacqueline VIGNAUD

I would first like to thank the European Society of Neuroradiology for giving me the precious opportunity to write the eulogy of Doctor Jacqueline Vignaud.

It is a great personal honour for me to write the funeral oration of our, of my dear Jacqueline. Jacqueline, first, let me say it loud and clear at the very outset so that the younger ones amongst us know it and that the oh so slightly less young remember it: you were a shining ambassador of our discipline, a beacon of light, the international "star" of our science at the height of your career in the 1980s. Now that that has been said, let us move to more serious things.

Jacqueline, my mentor, my spiritual mother, my dear and tender friend, I could have honoured you following conventions by retracing every step of your brilliant career, citing the numerous books you wrote, enumerating the number of prestigious learned societies and scholarly organisations that welcomed you, honoured you or that you yourself created. It would have, it is certain, taken a lesser emotional toll on me, only requiring a few clicks and "copy and paste" here and there, using excerpts from your biographers who concomitantly are wonderful and renowned friends and colleagues. Amongst those, let us only name Professor Claude Manelfe and the late Doctor Kathlyn Marsot-Dupuch.

Well no! It is not what I will do, what I shall do. As my main justification, I could have argued that plagiarism is always a pale and dim representation of the original which always comes from the heart and mind being aligned, but the truth is elsewhere. I derive an immense pride and joy in having known you differently, from having been one of your students and then your colleague, confident and friend for nineteen long and beautiful years. I remember every single detail of our path: the moment when professor and student, we became friends; the moment when friends, we became trusted confidents and accomplices, how together we hummed to the tune of our personal lives intertwined with our professional one, a colourful, fantastic professional life, one that would delight us with the aroma of the rose and with the stench of manure alike.

As such, it is your friend who today is speaking, speaking to you Jacqueline; it is your friend who mourns and honours you because, of honourability, you most certainly were the embodiment Jacqueline.

You were born in 1925, thirty years after the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen and eight years after the end of World War I when humanity realised the extraordinary contribution of radiology in curing and easing the suffering of the injured. It is indeed during this dramatic period of history that radiology became an authentic medical discipline. You were also born five years after Syria was placed under French mandate following the uprising of the Druses, an uprising which was bloodily repressed by the mandatory power of which you had just become the child. It is perhaps at that exact moment that of you very first cry, that your desire for peace took shape to encode and define your genome.

Today, it is 2017 and you leave us. Radiology, a medical discipline which you passionately fostered, and neuroradiology, a new scientific discipline whose creation and nurturing you actively and courageously participated in, have become full-blown, ever-blooming and booming sciences, bright and shining beacons of the medical discipline. But, let us look dispassionately at the facts, when I first met you in 1973, no one would have been so mad as to predict such a bloom and boom of those disciplines. Today, however, X-rays and ultrasounds vie for first place; ultrasounds battle it with protons, all of which can be measured by targeted interventions. O what a magnificent evolutionary dance of the brain we have waltzed together!

2016: the same year you leave us, the people of Syria reach the climax of their suffering. Geographically closer to us, but not emotionally closer to us, ninety-six people who are savagely assassinated on the Promenade des Anglais in Cannes also leave us. In the span of your ninety-one years of life, Syria drifted towards chaos, France towards insecurity, but, you Jacqueline, you finally incarnate the peace that was always your beam of light, your beacon of life. Ah peace! The word was the luminous philosophy of your life, a philosophy which I was immensely grateful for, sharing its joys and sorrows as I walked down the path of peace by your side. Peace was never just a word for you, it was the embodiment, the incarnation of life, all lives, all forms of life, an incarnation you sought above all, but not at any cost, dishonour being its honourable limit.

O how many times have I admired you, have I admired the mathematical constant of your peaceful behaviour. I admired you and it even when I disagreed with some of your decisions, decisions which sometimes appeared as weaknesses to me, but really that were frank successes as they took into consideration everyone’s opinion and attempted to reconcile them all. Ah if there is one thing that you were not successful in transmitting to me is the wisdom of that institutional peace that inhabited you, that systemic peace that drove you. The fault is entirely mine and I regret it.

Jacqueline, you chose radiology and then neuroradiology, or they chose you, or both. All in all, in their names, we thank you. Thanks to that inner peace that was always yours, you accepted at the onset of your career to be subjected to the "Solomonic judgment", judgment ordered by the then great ordering power of the time, I have named Professor Hermann Fischgold. This is 1960, Professor Fischgold has two main spiritual children: Jean Metzger and you Jacqueline Vignaud and there are two positions to fill: Department Head at the Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière and Head of Radiology at the Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild. The spiritual child who shall obtain the first position will lead a renowned, prestigious large academic institution; the spiritual child who will obtain the second position will lead a small, relatively unknown, private institution then looking for strong directions. As history knows it, Mr Metzger obtained the lead at the prestigious, large institution and you, Jacqueline, the lead at the then little-known, small institution, the FOR as you liked to call it.

What was the reason for that inequitable choice I wonder, that we shall never know for certain, but I cannot help but think that the future of French neuroradiology was decided right the moment that decision was taken. Choosing peace, you never whispered a word of your disappointment, but when Mr Fischgold passed away, almost in your arms, your unbridled emotion honoured him while also deeply thanking him for the pivotal decision he had taken twenty-two years prior. Was Mr Fischgold an enlightened visionary knowing what was best for your professional life? Did he deem that an independent, autonomous, flexible, reactive and freer structure like the FOR corresponded best to your personality? Or did he know that every choice bringing with it its slice of pain, your inner peace would soften the blow of pain? The brilliance of Mr Fischgold encourages me to lean towards the former rather than the latter, that of the choice of an enlightened visionary, because he was every bit right in the choice he made.

As you loved to say it, you would "espouse, really marry" the FOR and, with it, the court and the courtesans that surrounded Monsieur le Baron Edmond de Rothschild, a humanist, an enlightened, benevolent, caring man. But, a court remains a court and, with it, come its capricious succession of charms and less charming disgraces. As such, it was inevitable that you would experience both, the most positive but also the most negative which a court can offer, although the negative was truly unfair to you. In a royal sanctuary, where the most exalting but also the most devastating lobbying rules as absolute monarchy, where initiative, audacity and innovation vie for the throne, you were right where you belonged because your desire for peace enabled you to disguise the negative with a beautiful royal cloth of velvet and, as such, only feel the vibration of exaltation.

You made the FOR, under the banner and pride of French neuroradiology, radiate around like the world like no one else did. Thanks to your incomparable talent, your hard-working nature, your unbending ethics and your relentless desire to transmit knowledge to all, the quality of your teaching recognised around the world, you made French neuroradiology radiate around the world and you radiated with it. In such wave of radiation, you were helped by Mr Gabriel Korach, your talented and trusted technician, Doctor Marie Louise Aubin, devoted to your cause for twenty-four years, and Professor Pierre Rabischon, flamboyant as ever.

Thanks to your fourfold radiation, the radiological anatomy and pathology of the rock and the orbit would soon become accessible, even luminous to all. Together, Jacqueline, we then embarked on a fantastic trip, a trip that first took us around the tomography of the rock and the orbital venography at the confines of the catheterisation of the cerebral blood vessel via the femoral artery, and back. The trip then took us on a breezy walk with the first steps of X-ray scanning before taking us surfing on its sweeping wave like the rest of the medical field. As the grand finale, our unforgettable trip took us to watch the magnificent sunrise of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This trip we took together Jacqueline, what a trip it was!

Jacqueline, I know that you did not share the same enthusiasm and zeal for the unconventional direction your two "favourite" students, Pierre Lasjaunias and myself, decided to take at the onset of their careers. You often warned us about the great uncertainty of the path we had chosen as young men, that path being that of the nascent Interventional Neuroradiology. Today, not only is its acronym NRI a symbol of joy and pride in our country, but it is also the case around the world as NRI travelled long distances becoming INR when sharing its knowledge with all.

Today I take the measure of how much Pierre and I owe you, how much we owe you in having become the men we have become today, men I hope you can be proud of. To understand the extent to which you were instrumental in our success, one must imagine a Department led by Jacqueline Vignaud where Pierre Lasjaunias and Jacques Moret openly organised a new professional activity in parallel to the general orientation and activity of the Department. Not only did you accept this highly unconventional situation Jacqueline, but you unconditionally embraced it, and that being despite your own personal convictions. You endorsed it despite your personal wishes, you argued for it at your own risks and perils with the administration; you never flinched including when, at the end of 1989, the forces of short-sightedness and close-mindedness took the decision to cease all interventional neuroradiology-related activities at the FOR. It is well-known that short-sightedness and close-mindedness have one instinct and one only, that instinct being fear, and, as such, only fear they serve. Fear, short-sightedness and close-mindedness could have won, but, thankfully, the then soon-to-be new Director made the practice of NRI a condition of its acceptance of the leadership position at the Foundation. This ordeal most certainly hurt you, but your inner peace healed you.

All this, you did because your beautiful spirit forbade any negative assumption and projection. Like the supporter of an athletic team, you cheered every single one of Pierre and I’s steps forward, every success of ours, every external recognition of our work, no matter how small. Jealousy was always absent, pride and happiness for our achievements always answering present instead. This is truly exceptional Jacqueline. It is almost unheard of from a leader. You were Jacqueline what we call a rare, marvellous breed of leader whose personal success equals the well-being of all, you were what a true leader is, what a true leader should be at least. Every leader should derive inspiration from the luminous strength you had Jacqueline, a light which inspired everyone around you, a light which transported and thus helped every single one of your students, no matter their predicament. This light defined your career because it defined you Jacqueline.

I tried to follow your example Jacqueline. I tried to follow in the footsteps of your light. I fiercely tried. I poured all my heart in this endeavour, I put all my strength in it, and, most of all, I put in it all my admiration for you Jacqueline, but I think I lacked the inner peace that informed and gave shape to that light of yours and every action you lit up to be successful.

With my students, I humbly believe that I was successful in following in your footsteps, but where I failed to emulate you, no matter how hard I tried, Jacqueline was in keeping my peace when nefarious lobbies tried to humiliate you towards the end of your leadership. At the end of a breathtakingly shining international career, your accomplishments recognised by scientists around the world, odious lobbies tried to shadow your light. At that moment, once more, your inner peace prevailed and outshined the vilipending, shadowing behaviour of the lobbies. In the obscurity, you were dignity lighting up turpitude.

I know you forgave them because you told me. How could you not because light can never and will never be tarnished by obscurantism, by any moral, intellectual, spiritual disappointment. Dignified and proud, this is how you left the FOR, despite the sad, disparaging winds of vileness sweeping its doorstep during the last years of your mandate. They still swept on the date you left, but honour and dignity were yours to be kept, unsuccessful of your light their theft. Dignified and proud you departed, your colleagues and friends from the Hôpital du Val de Grace welcoming you, your immense knowledge and incandescent peace a gift to them, and here I am mostly thinking of and thanking Professor Yves Cordoliani.

Jacqueline, this homage as an ode to your image, to the magnificent person you were, to the magical essence you embodied is the truth. A truth admittedly simple it is, but, in meaning, strong often is the simple truth. It is a truth from which I hope those who hear it can derive motivation, imagination and innovation to keep the beautiful flame of French neuroradiology burning because that flame is a special one: it was a flame kindled by the spark of the light of a truly enlightened woman, the kind we too little encounter in history. The country has honoured Jacqueline, Jacqueline became Knight and Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 1998, but today it is her spiritual son that has the privilege to honour her to tell you about her inner peace that was legion across and beyond the nation.

Jacqueline, I miss you and I love you like a son.

Professor Jacques MORET

March 22, 2017

Prof. dr. Paul M. Parizel receives the Honorary Member Award of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR)

Prof. dr. Paul M. Parizel, Full Professor and Chair at the Department of Radiology at Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp, received the “Honorary Member Award” from the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The award was handed over by Prof. Howard Rowley, ASNR President, during the ASNR Annual Meeting in Long Beach, CA, USA. Prof. Parizel is currently the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the European Society of Radiology and a past-president of both the ESR and the ESNR.

Prof. dr. Parizel is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (2002), Honorary (Founding) Member of the Russian National Society of Neuroradiology (2012), Honorary Member of the Serbian Society of Radiology (2013), Honorary Member of the Societatea de Radiologie si Imagistica Medicala din Romania (2015), Honorary Member of the Sociedad Española de Radiología Médica (SERAM, 2016), Honorary Member of the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR, 2016), Membre d’Honneur of the Société Française de Radiologie (SFR, 2016), Honorary Member of the Israeli Radiological Association (ISRA, 2016) and Honorary Member of the Hellenic Radiological Association Society (2016).

In memory of Othmar Schubiger: 1942-2017

On the 27th of March 2017 the honorary member and long-standing former member of the executive committe of the ESNR, Dr. Othmar Schubiger passed away after a 10 years fight against his aggressive disease. Othmar Schubiger was a dedicated neuroradiologist and contributor to the development of the ESNR.

Othmar Schubiger was born in 1942 in Degersheim, a village near St-Gallen in Switzerland. His father was a country general practitioner, a circumstance which influenced him to study medicine. After finishing his medical school at the University of Zürich in 1969, he became a resident at the University Hospital of Zürich and trained consecutively one year in pathology, radiology and general surgery. Based on these experiences he decided to specialize in radiology. During his training he was impressed by the pioneering work of the microneurosurgeon, Prof. Gazi M. Yasargil and of the otologist and pioneer skull base surgeon, Prof. Ugo Fisch. This experience led him to the decision to specialize in neuroradiology. After an additional year of training in Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medecine as was the custom in these years, he settled as a Senior physician in Neuroradiology at the University Hospital of Zurich. During the following years he followed several one month visiting fellowships in different neuroradiological departments in Europe and the USA such as those of Prof. René Djindjan in Paris, Prof.Jacqueline Vignaud in Paris and Prof. Hans Newton in San Francisco. During his training he experienced the transition of the classic invasive neuroradiology consisting of pneumoencephalography, cisternography, myelography and cerebral angiography by direct puncture techniques to modern neuroradiology brought about by the introduction of computed tomography in the 1970’s.

In 1980 he accepted the invitation to become Chief Physician of Neuroradiology in the Cantonal Hospital of Aarau, Switzerland and in 1986 he was finally installed as Chief physician of the Neuroradiological and Radiological Institute of the AMI-Klinik Im Park that later became Hirslanden-Klinik Im Park in Zürich, where he stayed until his retirement in the year 2013.

Othmar devoted his entire professional life to his beloved field, neuroradiology including head and neck radiology. His special scientific interests were the neuroimaging diagnosis of sellar tumors, spinal degenerative diseases, intracranial aneurysms and otological neuroimaging. In these topics he published important papers.

He was, together with Peter Huber, Ernst Wilhel Radue and Anton Valavanis founding member of the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology, where he served several offices as treasurer, president and past-president. Based on his special interest in ENT and particularly otological imaging he was also founding member of the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology. In addition, he was full member of the German, Austrian, European and American Societies of Neuroradiology and he considered it as his duty to attend almost all annual meetings of these societies. He was particularly interested in the further growth and development of the ESNR, which culminated in his election in 1993 as member of the ESNR ececutive committe in the office of treasurer, a duty which he fulfilled with a high sense of responsibility until 2006. In recognition of his accomplishments he was elected in 2009 Honorary Member of the ESNR and in 2013 Honorary Member of the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology.

The European neuroradiological community and particularly the ESNR and the Swiss Society of Neuroradiology lose a great supporter of neuroradiology, a colleague who was a true friend, a modest person and a real gentleman.

Anton Valavanis, M.D.
Professor and Chairman
Department of Neuroradiology
Director, Clinical Neuroscience Center
University Hospital of Zurich
CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Antonios.Valavanis@usz.ch