June 15, 2024

MICCAI Quarterly – Summer (June) 2024

Recent News

Message from the MICCAI Board

Linwei Wang, Executive Secretary

We hope you find our June (Summer) issue of the MICCAI Quarterly informative. It’s a very busy time for the Society, not only with planning for MICCAI 2024 (less than 100 days away!) but also with some new initiatives to help support and grow the MICCAI community.

Awards Update

The MICCAI Society Awards have been streamlined further to increase clarity, reduce overlap, and support early-career scientists to be able to attend our conference. Last month, we announced that applications are being accepted for the MICCAI Society Registration and Travel Grants, the NIH Participation Awards and the new Travel Grant for African Participants. The adjudication and notification process will be carried out on a rolling basis so apply early. Learn more in this issue or on the MICCAI 2024 conference website.

We continue to seek donations to help fund travel costs for African students and early-career researchers to attend the conference. You can make a donation when your register or online here.

New Special Interest Groups

We also accepted proposals from volunteers to create three new Special Interest Groups or SIGs. The purpose of a SIG is to bring the community of SIG-specific researchers and clinicians together for in-depth discussion and exchange of ideas at MICCAI events. We are pleased to introduce the newly formed SIG-xMedIA, SIG-FAIMI and SIG-Cardiac. Read more in this newsletter.

On behalf of the Board, our sincere gratitude goes to the MICCAI 2024 organizing committee for their commitment to deliver an exciting conference. We also thank the hundreds of area chairs and reviewers who have been working extremely hard to review an unprecedented number of paper submissions. Congratulations to the authors whose papers have been accepted! We look forward to seeing your research.

Registration for MICCAI 2024 is open so it’s time to plan your trip to Marrakesh and experience a MICCAI conference like no other. Read more in this issue to learn more about what’s in store for this year’s conference.

We look forward to seeing you in Marrakesh!

Linwei Wang
Executive Secretary, MICCAI Society

Introducing New Special interest Groups

The MICCAI Society, through the Education Working Group, financially supports the creation of Special Interest Groups, or SIGs, to increase collaboration, activities, and the exchange of ideas in a specific area of research related to medical image computing and computer assisted intervention. SIGs are managed independently by a board of directors drawn from the MICCAI Society who are representatives from the academic, industrial, and clinical communities, and experts in the SIG’s specific area of interest.

We are happy to announce that the MICCAI Society has accepted proposals to establish and support three new SIGs. If you would like to learn more about a SIG or would like to get involved, please reach out to the contact person provided.

SIG-FAIMI: Special Interest Group on Fairness of AI on Medical Imaging

During the last few years, the research community of fairness, equity and accountability in machine learning has highlighted the potential risks associated with biased systems in various application scenarios, ranging from face recognition to neural translation models and job hiring assistants. A large body of research studies has shown that, due to a variety of reasons, such as database construction, modelling choices, training strategies and even lack of diversity in team composition, such machine learning systems can be biased in terms of demographic attributes like gender, ethnicity, age or geographical distribution, presenting unequal behaviour on disadvantaged or underrepresented subpopulations. Even though fairness in machine learning has been extensively studied in decision-making scenarios like job hiring, credit scoring and criminal justice, as well as computer vision applications, it was not until recently that researchers started to study and characterize bias and design mitigation strategies for systems in medical image computing (MIC) and computer assisted interventions (CAI).

The SIG-FAIMI aims to create awareness about potential fairness issues that can emerge in the context of computerized medical imaging and computer assisted interventions. It will act as a forum within the MICCAI community to discuss such issues from a comprehensive perspective, including not only methodological advances to diagnose and mitigate fairness biases but also to understand its consequences in the clinical context, generate awareness in the medical imaging community, and provide a venue to generate consensus and guidelines on how to address them.

Goals:

Targeted engagement of active groups around fairness in AI, both internal and external to MICCAI.
Promote research within the MICCAI community on topics related to fairness of AI in medical imaging and create awareness about the importance of incorporating fairness aspects in our daily research practices.
Expand the MICCAI community and conference attendees to, but not limited to, legal and ethics experts. This will include reaching out to experts on the areas of ethics and legal/regulatory considerations of fairness.
Increase the diversity of the MICCAI workshops for those interested, by providing support, structure and access to the wider scientific community.
Create effective communication among the different communities with a web page listing useful resources to learn about fairness of AI in medical imaging, and use of social media.

FAIMI 2024: Call for Papers and Reviewers

SIG-FAIMI is hosting the second Fairness of AI in Medical Imaging (FAIMI) Workshop at MICCAI 2024. Papers that explore the critical issues of fairness, bias and ethical implications of AI in healthcare can be submitted until June 24, 2024. More information, including detailed submission instructions, are available on the workshop website.

Keynote presentation: Dr. Mercy Asiedu about “Machine Learning Fairness for Health in Africa”.

Reviewers are also needed! If you would like to become a reviewer, please complete this application form.

Contact:

Esther Puyol Anton, President
esther.puyol_anton@kcl.ac.uk

SIG-Cardiac: Special Interest Group on Cardiac Imaging, Computational Modelling and Clinical Sciences

The Special Interest Group (SIG) in Cardiac Imaging, Computational Modelling and Clinical Sciences (SIG-Cardiac) intends to bring together cardiologists, radiologists, computer scientists, and engineers to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

The mission of SIG-Cardiac is to become a dynamic and innovative forum within the MICCAI Society, dedicated to advancing cardiac care through the clinical application of research technologies. By bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and clinical practice, SIG-Cardiac ensures that technological advancements directly contribute to improved patient outcomes and more efficient clinical workflows. The vision is to create a future where cardiac care consistently benefits from the seamless integration of research innovations, ultimately enhancing the well-being of patients, supporting clinicians, and positively impacting the broader healthcare system.

Goals:

1. Foster Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Connect cardiologists, radiologists, computer scientists, and engineers to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. Recognizing the vital role each discipline plays, SIG-Cardiac aims to leverage collective expertise for the advancement of cardiac care.

2. Integrate Research Breakthroughs: Facilitate the integration of emerging technologies, such as AI, computer vision, and advanced imaging techniques, into clinical practice. By encouraging the adoption of these breakthroughs, SIG-Cardiac strives to enhance cardiac diagnostics, treatment planning, and improve patient outcomes.

3. Educate and Train: Organize challenges and tutorials at MICCAI conferences to educate and train clinicians and researchers. These initiatives are designed to enable and facilitate the latest technologies to be deployed in cardiac care.

Contact:

Dr. YingLiang Ma
Yingliang.ma@uea.ac.uk

SIG-xMedIA: Special Interest Group on Explainable AI for Medical Image Analysis

The primary mission of SIG-xMedIA is to strengthen the exchange between research groups focused on explainable AI for real-world medical image analysis. By organizing satellite events at MICCAI conferences and biennial international workshops, SIG-xMedIA aims to:

Facilitate Collaboration: Provide platforms for researchers to collaborate, share insights, and collectively drive advancements in XAI.
Curate Datasets: Organize challenges like CARE (http://zmic.org.cn/care_2024/), curating standard and public real-world medical image datasets for model development and evaluation.
Financial Support for Education: Support tutorials, workshops, and educational initiatives to encourage diverse participation and foster best practices in the field.

Through these initiatives, SIG-xMedIA aspires to make significant contributions to the development of XAI, promoting openness, transparency, and community-driven progress in real-world medical image analysis.

Goals:

Establish a Specialized Community:

Create a global community of researchers and clinicians dedicated to advancing XAI in medical image analysis.
Connect diverse perspectives and disciplines to collectively address challenges and opportunities in the field.

Promote XAI in MedIA:

Facilitate collaboration among research groups to advance the development of explainable AI in real-world medical image analysis, which also sustains high consensus with clinicians.
Encourage consensus-building on principles guiding model design and evaluation.

Provide a Platform for Collaboration and Education:

Create a platform for the exchange of ideas of explaining AI, methodologies of understanding decision-making process, and clinical practices of interpreting disease causes.
Foster collaboration through satellite events, workshops, and challenges, ensuring an open and reliable stage for evaluations and training.
Promote educational initiatives and opportunities in xMedIA to student communities by Student Board

Contact:

Dr. Shangqi Gao, University of Cambridge
sg2162@cam.ac.uk

Meet a MICCAI Fellow

Josien Pluim, MICCAI Fellow, 2017

In 2017, Josien Pluim was recognized as a Fellow of the MICCAI Society for her outstanding contributions to medical image computing and for distinguished service to the MICCAI Society.

She has served as a member of the Executive Board of the MICCAI Society, as conference chair of SPIE Medical Imaging Image Processing 2006-2009, chair of WBIR 2006 and programme co-chair of MICCAI 2010. She is also an IEEE Fellow.

View Josien Pluim's Bio

Josien Pluim is professor of Medical Image Analysis at Eindhoven University of Technology, and head of the Medical Image Analysis group. In addition, she holds a part-time professorship at the University Medical Center Utrecht and is vice-dean for the Department of Biomedical Engineering at TU/e. Her research focus is on image analysis (e.g. registration, segmentation, detection, machine/deep learning), both methodology development and clinical applications. The latter, in particular, is targeted at neurology and oncology.

Josien has co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is or has been an associate editor of five journals (IEEE TMI, IEEE TBME, Medical Physics, Journal of Medical Imaging and Medical Image Analysis).

Dr. Greenspan has over 250 publications in leading international journals and conferences and has received several awards and patents. She is a member of several journals and conference program committees, including SPIE medical imaging, IEEE_ISBI, and MICCAI. She served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (TMI). In 2016 she was the Lead Co-editor for a Special issue on Deep Learning in Medical Imaging in IEEE TMI. In 2017 she co-edited an Elsevier Academic Press book on Deep learning for Medical Image Analysis (sold 1000 copies:” Most successful Title Published” in 2018). Dr. Greenspan is ranked among the top 1-2% of cited researchers in medical imaging and biomedical engineering (Stanford University ranking). She was named among the “Top 30 Women AI leaders in Drug Discovery and Advanced Healthcare,” by Deep Knowledge Analytics.

Read the Q&A

We are grateful for Josien’s significant support and asked her to share some details about her experiences with the MICCAI Society.

Q: You’ve been a member of the MICCAI Society for many years. When did you first become involved?

A: I attended my first MICCAI conference in Cambridge, UK, in 1999. But my first contribution to MICCAI (other than attending and presenting my research) was for the MICCAI 2001 conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Back then, the conference was far smaller, and the organization was fully arranged by a research lab, without a professional organization. At the time, I was a PhD student and a member of the organizing committee. My main responsibility was to program the online paper submission and review system, together with a fellow PhD student. The year before the conference was a busy one, with the submission deadline of the conference coinciding with the submission deadline of my PhD thesis!

Q: The MICCAI community has benefitted greatly from your leadership and volunteer efforts. In what ways have you been involved?

A: Most notably as a Board Member. I was on the Board from 2013 to 2020; first as a regular member and the later years on the Executive Committee as Secretary. I have also helped to organize many of the MICCAI conferences including as Co-chair of MICCAI 2010 as well as Public Lectures Chair at MICCAI 2018, Co-organizer of various challenges: EMPIRE10, AMIDA13, GLaS15, and TUPAC 2016 and as Co-organizer of a tutorial at MICCAI 2009.

And, of course, as a reviewer and an area chair, but that is simply expected of any (more senior) attendee.

Q: The MICCAI Society and conferences have changed considerably since the first conference in 1998. What changes have you seen in the time that you've been a member?

A: The Society has grown into a mature organization that serves a large community. Although the first meetings had their own charm, being much smaller in size, the meetings nowadays are enjoyed by a far larger group and offer the attendants more in addition to the core conference. Moreover, the society has extended its activities over the years and supports the research community beyond the annual conference.It offers a great opportunity to see the latest developments in the field and meet people in our field.

Excitement builds for Marrakesh

By Julia Schnabel and Karim Lekadir, General Chairs

As we count down to MICCAI 2024 in Marrakesh, the anticipation is palpable. This year's conference promises to be a landmark event, bringing together the brightest minds in medical image computing and computer-assisted intervention to share knowledge, forge collaborations, and drive innovation.

Satellite Events

In addition to the main conference program, this year’s MICCAI Conference will see a whopping 93 (!) in-person Satellite Events, giving you a wide range of important and relevant topics to pick from! The workshops, challenges and tutorials are designed to delve deeper into specific topics, foster hands-on learning experiences, and provide valuable networking opportunities.

Several events have been specifically initiated to reflect the location on the African continent, such as the MICCAI meets Africa Workshop. We’ve also received an unprecedented number of African submissions to our events. Of our 42 Challenges, 10 have either African Organizers or are using African data, making this the highest African participation and the most diverse and inclusive MICCAI.

As another novel feature, the MICCAI Student Board are running their first own workshop called EMERGE, organized by students for students. We hope these new events are the first in a long successful series of future events.

And you can still actively participate in the Satellite Events! Submit your paper to one of the workshops by 24 June, or take part in a challenge! Take a look at our Satellite Events overview.

Support Needed for African Students

There is a lot of excellent research happening in and coming out of Africa, however due to socio-economic reasons, this research remains largely hidden. We want to help shine a spotlight on African research, and therefore we’re asking for your kind support! We’ve initiated an African Award, which will be granted to Africans affiliated with African institutions who have accepted papers to either the main conference or the Satellite events. These awards will be funded through three sources, and the more we are able to collect, the more researchers we can support. 1. We are excited to have non-commercial organizations support this initiative, 2. We have been collecting donations through the MICCAI Society and 3. Through generous donations as part of the conference registration process.

If you haven’t yet donated, all three above stated options are available, and we warmly encourage everyone to consider donating. Every Euro/Dollar counts!

NEW: Guest Program and Childcare Services

There’s no shortage of new ideas at this year’s MICCAI conference. Check out the new initiatives below!

Daytime Guest Program

The MICCAI Society is excited to be launching a new Daytime Guest Program at MICCAI 2024! This specially designed, three-day program will enable guests of delegates to meet fellow guests and explore Marrakesh in a safe and structured program. Tours can accommodate up to 18 guests each day and the cost will depend on the number of attendees.

Our experienced local guide, Youssef Garmah, will take guests on a tour of South Medina (Day 1) and North Medina (Day 2) including the Bahia Palace, Djemaa El Fna and Koutoubia Mosque. On Day 3 guests can shop in the souks and meet some craftsmen in their workshops. The souks in Marrakesh are among the most fascinating in the Maghreb.

More details, including registration information, will be available here.

Childcare Services Available

The MICCAI Society is pleased to be supporting delegates who are parents and caregivers by offering to reimburse childcare costs, utilized during the conference. The first 10 families who apply will be eligible to receive $250/child to be used towards childcare expenses. Delegates who access childcare services will be required to submit receipts for post-conference reimbursement.

In addition, the conference will have enhanced, on-site opportunities that will appeal to parents and caregivers, such as a Family Room and Comfort Room, to help create a wonderful MICCAI 2024 experience for families in attendance.

Learn more on the conference website. There, you’ll see some locally recommended options to consider, but you are not required to select these care-providers to be reimbursed. Parents and caregivers should use their own judgement when selecting a care-provider. The MICCAI Society and MICCAI 2024 Conference Organizers do not provide formal endorsement or recommendation of these services.

Thank you to the Women in MICCAI (WIM) for their work to spearhead these new childcare initiatives.

So, register today and join us on this exciting journey down the yellow brick road as we shape the future of healthcare technology together. Stay tuned for further updates, and we are looking forward to welcoming you to magical Marrakesh, Morocco for MICCAI 2024!

Julia Schnabel and Karim Lekadir
General Chairs, MICCAI 2024

MSB Coming Events

Welcome to our latest update! The MICCAI Student Board has been working hard to help improve the experiences of students within the MICCAI community. In this update, we’re excited to share a line-up of upcoming events organized by the Student Board.

Emerge Workshop

The EMERGE workshop, organized by the MICCAI Student Board, is an exciting new event at the MICCAI 2024 conference, offering a platform for early-career researchers within the MICCAI community to showcase their work.

We aim to foster the educational and professional development of early-career researchers and support them in their journey to become independent investigators and mentors. The EMERGE workshop, organized by students for students, requires early-career researchers (maximum two years post PhD) to be primary investigators and occupy the first and last author positions on an 8-page paper. These papers will be published in Springer's LNCS format, and the most outstanding contributions will be invited to expand their work for potential publication in MELBA. The deadline for submissions is 24 June. To find out more information, visit our website for the EMERGE workshop.

MICCAI Educational Challenge

The MICCAI Student Board is happy to announce this year’s MICCAI Educational Competition (MEC)!

The MICCAI Educational Challenge will be held for the sixth time, leading up to and concluding at MICCAI 2024 in Marrakesh. The goal of the challenge is to encourage members of the MICCAI community to create and share educational materials, covering fundamental concepts in medical image computing (MIC) and computer-assisted interventions (CAI). The first prize winner of the MICCAI Educational Challenge will receive a prize of $300, sponsored by the MICCAI society. A second and third-place prize of ($200 and $100) will also be awarded. The winner(s) will be decided by popular vote and announced at MICCAI 2024! Tutorials may be formatted as videos, papers, presentations, IPython Notebooks, GitHub sources or blog posts. To find out more information about the MICCAI Educational Challenge, as well as previous winning submissions for MEC, please visit our website.

MICCAI Student Board Webinar Series

The MICCAI Student Board is pleased to offer a webinar series that explores a wide range of topics of interest for students in the MICCAI community. This includes our most recent installment – Getting Ready for MICCAI 2024 in Marrakesh – which includes advice on preparing to travel to Marrakesh for MICCAI 2024. You can rewatch this webinar, along with all of our previous installments, on our YouTube channel!

Stay Connected: Join Our Online Community

RISE-MICCAI Update

We are excited to share recent updates from the RISE-MICCAI community, including the FIFAI Summer School 2024 and the bi-weekly RISE Journal Club. Plus, it's a good time to consider joining the RISE Board of Directors.

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 Board Election 2024

We are looking for enthusiastic and dedicated individuals to join the RISE-MICCAI Board. As a board member, you will have the opportunity to share your expertise, network with other professionals, and make a lasting impact on our organization and the MICCAI community. More information at RISE MICCAI Membership Board Application.

RISE Summer School 2024 - Fair Federated AI Summer School

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.

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

News from the Women in MICCAI

Women in MICCAI is excited to launch new initiatives to celebrate and amplify the voices of female researchers.

WiM announces webinar in the Health Equity in the AI Era Webinar Series

Women in MICCAI will hold the first webinar, "Health Equity in the AI Era: A Humanistic Approach to Fair and Equitable Medical AI", on June 20. In this webinar, AI ethicist Dr. Kerry McInerney will give us an invited talk: "The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism".

Dr. Kerry McInerney (co-editor of The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism and Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on AI, Algorithms, And Intelligent Machines) will explore how feminist theory, scholarship and activism can transform our approach to AI and machine learning. She explores the plurality of feminisms at work in AI, how to thread the needle between technopessimism and techno-optimism, and why AI ethics is always about power.

Join us on Thursday, June 20, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM UTC / 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PDT / 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT.

Registration (required) is free and open to anyone.

New Awards: Promoting Diversity and Inspiration

WiM proudly announces awards to promote diversity and inspire the younger generation within MICCAI community

WiM is proud to announce the launch of a series of best paper awards in conjunction with MICCAI 2024. These awards are designed to enhance the visibility of underrepresented groups, promote diversity, and inspire the younger generation within our community.

We're excited to introduce calls for applications for featured awards: The "WiM Award for the Best Oral Presentation" and another new award will be unveiled soon. These awards represent a tremendous opportunity for recognition and growth in the field. Scroll down for more details on how to apply. The application links will be available in June with deadline for application in August.

Featured Member Benefit

Did you know that MICCAI Society members receive a discount on the registration fee to attend the annual MICCAI Conference?

If you're not a member, you can join when you register for MICCAI 2024.

Important Dates and Coming Events

For a complete list, visit the MICCAI Society events page.

View MICCAI-Endorsed and Sponsored Events.

Know our Code of Conduct and Scientific Code of Ethics

The MICCAI Society is committed to promoting the highest standards of ethical conduct and ensuring a safe and welcoming experience for all who attend MICCAI Society events. The MICCAI Society Code of Conduct Policy applies to anyone involved, whether online or in-person, and includes attendees, suppliers and volunteers. Read the Code of Conduct Policy and Scientific Code of Ethics to know what's expected.

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MICCAI Quarterly – Summer (June) 2024

Recent News

Message from the MICCAI Board

Linwei Wang, Executive Secretary

Awards Update

Introducing New Special interest Groups

SIG-FAIMI: Special Interest Group on Fairness of AI on Medical Imaging

SIG-Cardiac: Special Interest Group on Cardiac Imaging, Computational Modelling and Clinical Sciences

SIG-xMedIA: Special Interest Group on Explainable AI for Medical Image Analysis

Meet a MICCAI Fellow

Josien Pluim, MICCAI Fellow, 2017

View Josien Pluim's Bio

Read the Q&A

Excitement builds for Marrakesh

By Julia Schnabel and Karim Lekadir, General Chairs

Satellite Events

Support Needed for African Students

NEW: Guest Program and Childcare Services

MSB Coming Events

Emerge Workshop

MICCAI Educational Challenge

MICCAI Student Board Webinar Series

Stay Connected: Join Our Online Community

RISE-MICCAI Update

RISE Board Election 2024

RISE Summer School 2024 - Fair Federated AI Summer School

Call for volunteers for the RISE Journal Club

News from the Women in MICCAI

WiM announces webinar in the Health Equity in the AI Era Webinar Series

New Awards: Promoting Diversity and Inspiration

Featured Member Benefit

Important Dates and Coming Events

Know our Code of Conduct and Scientific Code of Ethics

Learn More

What's New

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