March 15, 2024

MICCAI Quarterly – Spring (March) 2024

Recent News

Greetings from the Board

Welcome to the March (Spring) 2024 edition of the MICCAI Society quarterly newsletter. We’ve had a busy start to the year beginning with the addition of three new Board members and saying farewell three members whose terms have concluded.

Board member updates

On behalf of the Board, my heartfelt appreciation go to Kevin Zhou for serving on the board since 2019, and being our Treasurer for the past three years. Kevin’s attention to detail and strategic foresight have ensured that the MICCAI Society is in a strong financial position for the future. We are grateful to Xiahai Zhuang, who is already a board member, for volunteering to be our new Treasurer.

Our thanks also go to Shuo Li and Dong Ni for their contributions to the Board. Shuo was the General Chair of MICCAI 2022 held in Singapore, which was the first conference to offer both in-person and virtual attendance. We also thank Dong Ni for his support having served on the board in the member-elected position since 2020.

MICCAI Society members will recall the election held in December to vote for a representative to fill the member-elected position. Congratulations to Spyridon (Spyros) Bakas who received a majority and begins his four-year term. In addition, Albert Chung was elected by the Board of Directors for the board-elected position. We also welcome Danail (Dan) Stoyanov who joins the board as he is a General Chair for MICCAI 2026 to be held in Hawaii, USA. Get to know Spyros, Albert and Dan in the announcement written in this newsletter.

MICCAI 2024 Planning

We are very excited to see MICCAI 2024 taking shape. The Organizing Committee, led by Karim Lekadir and Julia Schnabel, have been working very hard to deliver an innovative and ground-breaking experience for attendees. With the introduction of two new sessions and having received a record number of paper submissions, MICCAI 2024 promises to be exceptional. You can learn more about what’s in store in the article titled “The Road to Marrakesh”.

I invite you to read more for updates from the MICCAI Student Board, Women in MICCAI and RISE-MICCAI. Stay tuned for more news to come about MICCAI 2024 and the MICCAI Society Awards program as details become available.

See you at MICCAI 2024!

Caroline Essert
President, MICCAI Society

MICCAI Society welcomes new Board members

On February 1, 2024, Albert Chung, Danail (Dan) Stoyanov and Spyridon (Spyros) Bakas began their four-year terms as the newest members of the MICCAI Society Board of Directors. Spyros Bakas was elected by MICCAI Society members and fills the member-elected position while Albert Chung fills the board-elected position. As General Chair of MICCAI 2026, Dan Stoyanov earns a seat on the Board. In addition, Xiahai Zhuang, who has been a member of the Board since 2022, assumes the role of Treasurer, succeeding S. Kevin Zhou who has been Treasurer since 2021.

“We are very pleased to congratulate and welcome Albert, Dan and Spyros to the MICCAI Society Board”, said Caroline Essert, MICCAI Society President, “We look forward to working together to continue to achieve the Society’s objectives and build a stronger MICCAI community.”

At the same time, S. Kevin Zhou, Dong Ni and Shuo Li have completed their terms as members of the Board. Kevin Zhuo joined the board in 2019 and has served as Treasurer since 2021. Dong Ni joined the Board in 2020. Shuo Li became a board member in 2016 and was the Co-Chair of MICCAI 2022 held in Singapore.

“On behalf of the Board, we express our deep appreciation for the substantial contributions and unwavering dedication demonstrated by Kevin, Shuo and Dong”, said Essert. “Through their leadership, they have positively influenced the Society, leaving it well-positioned for the future.

Albert Chung

Albert Chung is currently a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the Director of the HKUST Research Center for Medical Imaging and Analysis. He joined HKUST after obtaining a DPhil in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford in 2001. His research interests include medical image analysis, image processing, computer vision and medical imaging. He has developed a variety of innovative approaches to image segmentation, registration and classification for the diagnosis of diseases and was awarded two Best Paper Awards and awarded first place in MICCAI challenges in 2020, 2021 and 2022, along with his co-authors.

Albert is very active in the research community, having co-chaired IPMI in 2019 and was the tutorial chair for the IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging in 2019. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the Medical Image Analysis and Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics. His involvement with MICCAI has spanned the past twenty years when he has been an active member of MICCAI program committees and attended most of the MICCAI conferences.

Danail Stoyanov

Danail Stoyanov (Dan) is a Professor of Robot Vision at the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UCL) and Director of the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS). Dan also leads the AI Centre of Excellence in Medtronic’s Surgical Portfolio. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (FIEEE), Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (FIET), and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). He first studied Computer Systems and Electronics at King's College London before completing a PhD in Computer Science at Imperial College London, where he specialised in medical image computing. His research is focused on developing surgical robotics and artificial intelligence for improving minimally invasive interventions.

Dan was bestowed with a MICCAI Fellowship in 2023 for his significant contributions to the field of computer-assisted interventions for diagnosis and surgery. Over the past two decades, he has participated and contributed to many areas of the MICCAI Society and has been a recurring member of the MICCAI Program Committee, co-organized several workshops and served as scientific program co-chair for MICCAI 2020. He is now one of the General Chairs for MICCAI 2027, which will be held in Hawaii, USA.

Spyridon Bakas

Spyridon Bakas (Spyros) is a computer scientist by training having completed a Ph.D. in Medical Image Computer & Analysis from Kingston University in London (UK) in collaboration with King’s College London (UK) and an M.Sc. in Vision Imaging & Virtual Environments at University College London (UK). He currently leads a research group at Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine, in Indianapolis (USA) focussed on developing, applying and benchmarking computational methods for medical imaging. His academic appointments include as an endowed chair Associate Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and the Inaugural Director of the ‘Division of Computational Pathology’ and of the ‘Center for Federated Learning in Medicine’, and also holds secondary appointments within other departments at IU.

Spyros has been actively involved in the MICCAI community for over a decade in multiple capacities including as an author and reviewer. He has also served on the Organizing Committee and Program Committee for many MICCAI conferences including those held in 2018, 2020, 2021. He has also led and organized various MICCAI Workshops, Challenges and Tutorials. He is a founding member of the MICCAI Special Interest Group for Biomedical Image Analysis Challenges (SIG-BIAC) which is building consensus for best practices in the field. He has been instrumental in some “first”, such as the FeTS-21 Challenge – the first ever challenge on federated learning across disciplines around the globe. Moreover, he has been leading the BraTS Challenge in 2017, which later became the first MICCAI Challenge to develop a partnership with RSNA and ASNR. Building on the team science principle, BraTS is now a cluster of 10 challenges (BraTS Cluster of Challenges), involves multiple leads and high-profile collaborating entities, and run in partnership with the clinically authoritative RANO group. He is currently the Challenge Chair for MICCAI 2024 in Marrakesh, and is working with the Organizing Committee to further engage underserved scientists in Africa.

Xiahai Zhuang (MICCAI Treasurer)

Xiahai Zhuang is our new Treasurer for the MICCAI Society, taking over responsibility from S. Kevin Zhuo. He originally joined the Board in 2022. He is currently a Professor in the School of Data Science at Fudan University (China). He obtained his Ph.D. from the Centre of Medical Image Computer from University College London (UCL). His research interests include interdisciplinary subjects from artificial intelligence, statistical learning, medical imaging, computer vision, bio-medical and healthcare engineering.

He is currently on the editorial board for Medical Image Analysis Journal and IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging Journal. He has been awarded an Elsevier-MedIA 1^st Prize and Medical Image Analysis MICCAI Best Paper Award in 2023 and was a finalist for the MICCA Young Scientist Award in 2008 (1^stauthor), 2012 (2^nd author) and 2023 (Corresponding/Senior Author). He was also a finalist for the MICCAI Best Paper Award in 2022, 2023 (Corresponding/Senior Author).

Thank you Jackie Williams!

It is with great joy and gratitude that we extend our heartfelt thanks to Jackie Williams for her outstanding dedication to the MICCAI Society over the past 20 years. Jackie has been an invaluable asset, generously volunteering her time to take minutes, mentor others, and fearlessly stepping in to help resolve challenges at our conferences.

We are immensely grateful for Jackie's continued dedication and the positive influence she has had on our community. Her legacy of volunteerism and leadership will continue to inspire others for years to come.

Thank you, Jackie, for your incredible contributions. Your spirit of generosity and service has left an indelible mark on the MICCAI Society, and we look forward to many more years of collaboration and camaraderie with you. See you at the next MICCAI in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Read more below about her experiences with MICCAI over the last 20 years.

Read the Q&A

When did you start working with the MICCAI Society?

My husband, Terry Peters, had been going to the MICCAI conferences since about 1998, and had been elected to the MICCAI Board. Alan Colchester, the then President of MICCAI, commented that they needed someone to take notes during the Board meetings - so I got volunteered. I did have a science background and I knew a little about medical imaging, so I thought it would be ok. I never thought I would still be doing the job 20 years later!

What changes have you seen in the MICCAI Society since then?

The first major change I witnessed was the formation of the MICCAI Society in 2004. The late Rich Robb oversaw this lengthy and complicated process, changing a relatively informal, annual meeting of like-minded scientists into a functioning legal entity, able to charge professional membership fees as well as conference fees. This was important, because it meant the Society would eventually be able to underwrite the annual conferences. Prior to that, each conference organizer had to assume all risks, and over the years there have been several major events that have necessitated changes in venues.

As MICCAI grew year by year, it became almost impossible for local teams to organize each conference, and a major change was to contract DEKON to be the PCO for each conference. This has been a game changer in terms of growing MICCAI and making it a fully functioning international conference.

Of course, as Board members rotated on and off, the character of the Board changed with the individuals, but always with the same dedication to strengthening the Society and furthering science.

Where have you travelled to with MICCAI Society?

I have attended at least 17 conferences, including those in Japan (Tokyo and Nagoya), Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Vancouver), France (Nice and St. Malo), USA (Palm Springs, New York, Cambridge), Denmark (Copenhagen), Germany (Munich), Spain (Grenada), Singapore, China (Beijing, Shenzhen). The only MICCAI Conference I was not able to attend was Athens because my daughter's twins were born at that time.

What have you enjoyed the most during your time with the MICCAI Society?

Traveling the world to attend MICCAI Conferences has been wonderful, but the most enjoyable aspects have been working with and getting to know the people of MICCAI. The enduring friendships (with Janette Wallace, Johanne Langford, and John Baxter) have sustained me through many challenging and frustrating issues and events, not to mention the endless fun and laughter we've shared.

It's also been a great privilege to spend time with some of the giants who grew MICCAI out of some smaller conferences. People such as Alan Colchester, Rich Robb, Nicholas Ayache, Jocelyne Troccaz, Ron Kikinis, Max Viergever, Alison Noble, Jim Duncan, Ken Mori, Karl Heinze Höhne, Russ Taylor, Steve Pizer, Gabor Fichtinger, and Terry Peters, who all brought such dedication and commitment during those early days when the MICCAI Society was born and now thrives, thanks to their foresight. It's been a joy and a privilege working on all the conferences I've been lucky enough to attend!

The Road to Marrakesh: What to expect at MICCAI 2024

By Julia Schnabel and Karim Lekadir, Co-Chairs

As MICCAI 2024 approaches, excitement is mounting for the lively discussions, new collaborations, and exciting innovations that will unfold under the African sun.

This year's conference offers new perspectives, promotes more inclusivity and equity, and promises to be an unparalleled opportunity for researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders to come together and shape the future of healthcare technology.

Keynote Speakers

One of the hallmarks of MICCAI conferences is the lineup of esteemed keynote speakers who bring unrivaled expertise and insights to the event. For MICCAI 2024, we're thrilled to announce our keynote lineup: Dr Alexandra Golby, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, Dr Aisha Walcott-Bryant, Head of Google Research Kenya at Google, and last but certainly not least Dr Michael Bronstein, DeepMind Professor of AI at the University of Oxford. These three distinguished speakers will set the stage for thought-provoking discussions and inspire attendees with their knowledge.

Paper Submissions Reach New Record

With the paper submission deadline now passed, the MICCAI 2024 organizing committee is thrilled to report a record number of submissions - more than 2800 papers were submitted which is 21% more than MICCAI 2023 and 54% more than MICCAI 2022! Thank you to all who have submitted a paper. The quality and diversity of your contributions reflect the vibrant and innovative research happening in our field. Now, our expert reviewers have started their important work to diligently evaluate each submission and provide valuable feedback. Authors can expect to receive early-acceptance notifications in mid-May.

New Additions to the Program

This year, MICCAI 2024 is introducing two new sessions aimed at enhancing the conference experience and addressing emerging needs in the field. The first is an Open Data session, a half-day track on the first conference day that focuses on data sharing and aims to create an open data repository. The session is curated by Dr. Apostolia Tsirikoglou from the Karolinska University and Dr. Martijn Starmans from Erasmus MC (Rotterdam).

The second new program addition is a “MICCAI for Health Equity” session, which will highlight new approaches and applications that enhance access to healthcare and improve health outcomes across diverse geographical, social, economic, and demographic determinants. Since the conference is venturing to an unprecedented destination, we found it fitting to showcase new solutions that can bridge healthcare gaps and offer affordable and high-quality care to under-served populations worldwide. And we’re happy to report almost 5% of our submissions ticked this box!

Upcoming Deadlines

As the conference approaches, it's essential to mark your calendars for upcoming important dates:

Early April: Conference Registration Opens

13 May: Early Acceptance Notification; Reviews Released to Authors

20 May: Rebuttal Due Date

17 June: Notification of Paper Decisions

8 July: Main Conference Camera-ready Paper Submission and Author/Presenter Registration

August: Early bird conference registration deadline

Whether you're awaiting paper notifications or planning to participate in the Start-Up Village, staying informed about key dates will ensure you make the most of your MICCAI 2024 experience. Be sure to visit the conference website for the latest updates and deadlines.

Julia Schnabel and Karim Lekadir

General Chairs, MICCAI 2024

MICCAI Student Board (MSB) Update

Hello from the MICCAI Student Board!

The MICCAI Student Board is working hard to help improve the experiences of students within the MICCAI community. A special thanks to our President Naren Akash, Vice President Moritz Fuchs and Executive Officer Anna Zapaishchykova for their significant contributions to every facet of the board's activities.

MICCAI Student Board Webinar Series

The MICCAI Student Board is proud to run a webinar series, covering a range of topics from academic life tips to career advice. Organized by our Webinar Officer, Weina Jin, our webinar series continues to produce insightful content for students in the MICCAI community. Previous instalments of our webinar series can be found on our YouTube page, including our most recent webinar with Karim Lekadir - the General Chair for MICCAI 2024. Stay tuned for our upcoming webinar instalment involving a panel discussion on the MICCAI Paper Writing/Rebuttal/Review Process planned in April 5, 2024.

Networking Opportunities & Cultural Immersion at MICCAI 2024

This October, the MICCAI conference will be held in Africa for the first time, in the vibrant city of Marrakesh! Our Student Board members Benjamin Killeen, Paul Wilson and Yanis Miracoui are working hard to organize social events that will be held around Marrakesh alongside MICCAI 2024, allowing students to experience the local culture and network with others!

In addition, our Sports Officer Constantin Ulrich is organizing sports activities that will be held in Marrakesh during the conference, offering a fun and active way to connect with peers outside of conference hours! Moreover, our Professional Events Officers, Amin Ranem and Advaith Veturi, are diligently organising events for MICCAI 2024 aimed at enhancing the professional growth of students in the community, including discussions about career opportunities in both academia and industry. The MICCAI Student Board is committed to hosting events that elevate the student experience at the conference, and more details on events held at the conference will be announced soon!

Showcase Your Expertise: The MICCAI Educational Challenge

Preparations are underway for this year’s instalment of the MICCAI Educational competition (MEC), led by our Educational Officers Amar Kumar and Ahmed Nebli. This is a competition to create educational tutorials which can help explain concepts in fields of medical image computing (MIC) and computer-assisted interventions fields (CAI), with a prize for the winning submissions! This competition aims to produce useful educational content for the community, and the submissions from previous years can be found on our website! Stay tuned for more details on this year's challenge!

Stay in the Loop

To keep up to date on all the developments of the MICCAI Student Board, and to access the educational content and webinars produced by the Student Board, be sure to follow our social media accounts - ran by our PR Officer Harry Anthony! These include our Slack Channel, for networking with others in the MICCAI community, and our YouTube channel, which includes content from our webinar series and our educational challenges.

RISE-MICCAI Update

For more about RISE-MICCAI, the RISE 2024 Journal Club, and Upcoming Events, check our website at http://www.miccai.org/about-miccai/rise-miccai/

And join our mailing list to receive updates about our RISE activities at https://bit.ly/2VMPHXc

RISE Journal Club - Opening multi-linguistic session 2024

To start the year, we had a multilingual opening session on January 13th. During this session, participants from all over the world shared their experiences, learning, and how it has helped them in their professional development. Additionally, as part of this session, we discussed the progress of the Journal Club and ideas for future events

The RISE Journal Club is a space that creates a friendly environment to discuss the latest high-quality and state-of-the-art papers in fundamental AI, machine/deep learning, medical image analysis, and computer vision. To date, we have held 19 editions. Here, you can check the latest papers covered in the sessions: https://github.com/RISE-MICCAI/Journal-Club.

Call for volunteers for the RISE Journal Club

We seek volunteers to present research papers published in high-impact journals and top-tier conferences in machine learning, computer vision, and medical image analysis to the RISE community. Your time will contribute to empowering researchers in LMICs and building collaborative bridges across countries.

The Journal Club runs fortnightly on Saturdays at 4 pm CEST (Central European Time) for 1h30 to 2hr. The next sessions will be held on:

- March 23
- April 6
- April 20

If you are interested in leading a paper discussion session, please contact esther.puyol_anton@kcl.ac.uk or fill out the attached form with all the required fields at https://shorturl.at/hqEGJ .

Women in MICCAI Update

Women in MICCAI (WiM) is excited to announce the launch of our 2024 Webinar Series titled “Health Equity in the AI Era: A Humanistic Approach to Fair and Equitable Medical AI”. This initiative aligns with the theme of MICCAI 2024, which will be held in Africa for the first time, emphasizing inclusive and equitable machine learning in healthcare. This focus is further highlighted by the new "MICCAI for Health Equity" session.

About the Webinar Series

Our webinar series aims to enrich the MICCAI community’s understanding by bringing a humanistic perspective to the development of fair and equitable medical technologies. We will explore how biases and inequalities currently present in AI systems can be recognized and corrected. The series will also promote a more equitable research environment and workplace within the MICCAI community by fostering a balanced viewpoint among technical researchers, clinical users, and patients across all races and genders.

To delve deeper into these issues, we will bring together experts from diverse fields such as gender studies, social justice, history, ethics, and science, technology, and society (STS). Their humanistic insights are invaluable in addressing the root causes of inequality and injustice in medical AI, which are predominantly issues of equity, fairness, and justice.

Each webinar in our series will consist of a talk followed by a discussion session. We are planning to conduct 2-3 webinars throughout the year in the lead-up to MICCAI 2024. Our goal is to build momentum and foster a comprehensive understanding of these vital issues among the community.

Watch your inbox and our social media channels for our announcement of the first webinar in this series.

Know our Code of Conduct and Scientific Code of Ethics

The MICCAI Society has an established Code of Conduct Policy in place to ensure that all members and participants in MICCAI-sponsored activities can enjoy a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, free from threatening behaviour such as harassment, violence, bullying and intimidation. Because there have been reports of code of conduct violations received in the past, we want to ensure all participants are aware and understand the importance of adhering to this policy.

What is the Code of Conduct Policy?

Participants are expected to know and abide by the Code of Conduct requirements as a condition of participating in a MICCAI Society event. All participants must behave professionally, ethically and responsibly in all interactions with other MICCAI participants. This includes at conferences and satellite events, formal or informal social activities, at on-site, off-site and virtual locations, in related online communities and on social media. Read the policy to learn about expected standards of behaviour and what is unacceptable behaviour.

The MICCAI Society has put in place a diverse group of Code of Conduct Officers. These respected members of the MICCAI Society act in an unbiased and confidential manner to ensure the Code of Conduct Policy is upheld.

What is the Process?

Any participant who feels harassed can and should, in all confidence and without fear of reprisal, personally report the facts directly to a Code of Conduct Officer. If a participant experiences or witnesses a Code of Conduct violation, there are two actions they can take.

1. Informal procedure: They can decide to confront the harasser personally or in writing requesting that the unwelcome behaviour is stopped. They may also discuss the situation with a Code of Conduct Officer.
2. Formal procedure: They can also send a formal, written report to the Code of Conduct Officers by completing the Code of Conduct Incident Report or by email to conductofficers@miccai.org. The report should include:

a. The approximate date and time of the incident

b. The name of the person or persons involved

c. The name of any person or persons who witnessed the incident

d. A full description of what occurred

When a complaint or incident report is received, the Code of Conduct Officers will complete a thorough investigation which includes interviewing both the complainant and the respondent as well as anyone who witnessed the incident. The Code of Conduct Officers provide a summary report, including recommended corrective actions (if applicable, to the Board of Directors. Any corrective action is then determined by the Board. Corrective action could include suspension or termination of membership, denial to attend current or future MICCAI events or revocation of awards or other recognition received from the MICCAI Society.

About MICCAI

Groups

Special Interest Groups

Resources