Minutes
2004 IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS)
Nuclear and Medical Imaging Sciences Council (NMISC) Meeting

Draft filed October 29, 2004, by John Aarsvold.

Meeting Date: October 21, 2004
Meeting Location: Ergife Palace Hotel, Rome, Italy
Attendees: Magnus Dahlbom, John Aarsvold, Joel Karp, Margaret Daube-Witherspoon, Tom Lewellen, Ron Keyser, Chris Thompson, Bill Moses, Ron Jaszczak, Grant Gullberg, Sibylle Ziegler, Ron Huesman, Lars Eriksson, Paul Kinahan, Larry Zeng, Jeff Fessler, Craig Levin, Ben Tsui, Charles Stearns, Simon Cherry, Ed Lampo, Alberto Del Querra


Call to order. Chairperson Magnus Dahlbom called the meeting to order.

2003 minutes. A vote on the approval of the minutes of the October 24, 2003 meeting was postponed. This approval vote will be conducted via email.

2003 MIC and NSS (Portland). Mike King and Steve Glick filed, prior to the council meeting, a report on the 2003 MIC. Bill Moses reported additionally that it is expected that the financial books on the Portland meeting would close shortly and that those books would be in the black by approximately $100,000.

2004 MIC and NSS (Rome). Sibylle Ziegler filed a preliminary report on the 2004 MIC. She reported that 659 abstracts were submitted, 46 oral presentations were made at MIC sessions, , 504 posters were invited, and approximately 100 abstracts were rejected (approximately 16%). In addition she reported there were 14 oral presentations at 2 joint MIC/NSS sessions and 6 oral presentations at 1 joint MIC/RTSD session, and that there were 4 MIC short courses, 2 plenary talks, and 1 dinner speaker. Meeting support was offered to approximately 65 individuals from funds obtained from 5 vendors and an NIH award (Bill Moses, P.I.). There were 111 candidate student posters for 2 outstanding student poster awards. A more complete report on the meeting will be filed within the next few months.

2005 MIC and NSS (Porto Rico). Simon Cherry filed, prior to the council meeting, a preliminary report on the 2005 MIC. At the meeting, he indicated that the meeting structure would be morning and evening sessions and that the MIC dinner will held on Saturday evening. He indicated also that the 2005 MIC/NSS is seeking to get commitments of approximately $100,000 for attendee (young investigator) support [Simon Cherry will file R13 proposal with NIH]. General Chair Tom Lewellen will visit the resort in Dec. A larger group will of the organizing committee will visit in spring 2005.

2006 MIC and NSS (San Diego). John Aarsvold reported that some of the organizing committee had met at the Rome meeting and that a pre-conference budget was being finalized for submission to IEEE--a first step for any IEEE conference. The general chair for the meeting is Graham Smith; the NSS chair is Chuck Britton. Issues the conference organizers will likely face include: number of days, parallel oral sessions, number of joint sessions, location of exhibits, location and duration of posters, number of plenary sessions and speakers, and location of MIC dinner.

2007 MIC and NSS. Ron Keyser spoke on behalf of the 2007 site/general chair selection committee. He indicated that the following were part of the criteria used in the site selection process: travel time and costs, operating costs, availability and cost of food, space (60,000 sq ft), and number/quality/cost of available rooms (1000 rooms). Three locations (Hawaii, Las Vegas, St. Louis) with 2-3 sites each were considered during the final evaluations. The site selection committee selected, on a very close vote, Hawaii. One of the stated reasons for this selection is its accessibility for potential attendees from Pacific-rim countries. A vote was called as to whether to support or reject the selection committee's recommendation to pursue the holding of the 2007 NSS/MIC in Hawaii. The vote results were 13 votes for support, no votes against.

2008 MIC and NSS. Ron Keyser spoke on behalf of the 2008 site/general chair selection process. Options discussed included: having the selection committee pursue an eastern USA location; having the selection committee investigate further Las Vegas and St. Louis; having the selection committee solicit proposals relevant to holding the 2008 NSS/MIC in Germany. It is intended that a site be selected by August 2005. A vote was called as to which direction to direct the committee. The vote results were 13 votes for having the committee solicit and evaluate proposals relevant to holding the 2008 NSS/MIC in Germany.

Change in NMISTC by-laws. Magnus Dahlbom reported that a change to the by-laws is going to be proposed. The change relates to that part of the by-laws that discusses oversight of the NSS/MIC. This issue will be addressed through email discussions and votes.

Change in name of the Medical Imaging Scientist Award. Margaret Daube-Witherspoon reported that it has been proposed to the NPSS ADCOM and to IEEE TAB that the name of the Medical Imaging Scientist Award be officially changed to the Edward J. Hoffman Medical Imaging Scientist Award.

Report by the NMISC Awards/Fellow Sub-committee. Margaret Daube-Witherspoon filed, prior to the council meeting, a report from the sub-committee. She indicated that Gerd Muehllehner had been chosen as this year's recipient of the Medical Imaging Scientist Award. On other issues, she indicated the need to continue to encourage IEEE Members to elevate their status to IEEE Senior Members; the need to continue to submit nominations for elevation of IEEE Senior Members to Fellow status (nominations due in March), if appropriate; and to nominate medical imaging scientists for any and all of the NPSS awards for which such are eligible.

Report by the NMISC Communications Sub-committee. Larry Zeng filed, prior to the council meeting, a report from the sub-committee. He indicated at the meeting that the report covered all the sub-committees activities.

Editorial leadership of the NMIS. Paul Kinahan has taken over from Ed Hoffman the editorship of the TNS-NMIS, which will be published three times a year (Feb, June, Oct). Paul indicated that Joel Karp will take over the conference editor responsibilities and that Joel will have 6 associate editors that will each handle approximately 50 papers.

2004 Breast Imaging Workshop. Craig Levin provided a brief summary of the 2004 Breast Imaging Workshop that was yet to be held in Rome. He indicated that the workshop had support from The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Philips, GE, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, and the IEEE NPSS. He indicated that in addition to numerous invited presentations, there were to be 7 proffered oral presentations and 15 posters. He also indicated that there are preliminary plans to have workshops connected with the NSS/MIC to be held in 2006 and 2008.

Election of new sub-committee chairs. By unanimous vote of those members in attendance, Ron Huesman was elected chair of the Communications Sub-committee and Jeff Fessler was elected chair of the Awards/Fellow Sub-committee.

Adjournment. Chairperson Magnus Dahlbom adjorned the meeting.

Addendum:
The results of this year's election for NMISC members have Roger Fulton, Christian More, Todd E. Peterson, Martin P. Tornai, and Charles C. Watson joining the council and serving from January 2005 through December 2007. Members ending their official terms at the end of 2004 are Magnus Dahlbom, Margaret E. Daube-Witherspoon, Lars A. Erkisson, Steven R. Meikle, and Charles Steans. Magnus Dahlbom will remain on the NMISC as Chairperson and then Most Recent Past Chairperson.