I am pleased to announce that Mark G. Watson will become the Society's executive director on April 1, 2009. Mark comes to this position with nearly 20 years of experience working at RSNA on significant projects and in key capacities, including service as the interim executive director since September 2008.

Mark G. Watson
RSNA Executive Director

Assistant executive director (AED) for finance and administration at RSNA for the past 15 years, Mark was selected after a thorough search and from a field of candidates reviewed by Korn/Ferry International, the Executive Director Search Committee and the Board of Directors.

The Board's selection of Mark as executive director indicates not only its recognition of his history of distinguished service with RSNA but also its confidence in his ability to provide the good counsel and effective leadership needed to realize the promise of RSNA's future.

Mark graduated from Western Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in business and accounting. He began his career in 1986 at KPMG Peat Marwick. In 1990 he was hired by RSNA as the director of finance. Two years later, he became the director of finance and business affairs and, in 1994, became AED for finance and administration.

During his 15 years as an AED, Mark was responsible for all membership, financial and accounting activities for RSNA, including the development of long-term financial forecasting models that have proved critical to the Board's strategic plans and decisions.

Mark has also been responsible for Society business and administration, including reviewing and negotiating all Society agreements and contracts with outside parties and developing and administering all personnel policies. Mark was involved in every detail of the development of the RSNA headquarters building—from site selection and financing through construction and move-in. During RSNA management of a number of radiology societies in the 1990s, Mark served as the executive director of the Radiation Research Society and North American Hyperthermia Society, working closely with the governing boards and committees of these societies and overseeing their administration.

After years of working with the RSNA Research & Education Foundation, in 2005 he was named director of the Foundation, enabling him to work even closer with the Board of Trustees and staff in planning and executing the Foundation's Silver Anniversary Campaign.

His depth and breadth of knowledge of RSNA operations and his leadership skills made him the natural candidate for the position of interim executive director.

Members of successive RSNA Boards of Directors have long noted Mark's considerable business and financial acumen as well as his administrative skills. He shares information and knowledge, enabling informed decision making by Society leadership. He has demonstrated integrity, sound judgment and the ability to make decisions at strategic and operational levels. His understanding of and commitment to the RSNA mission, coupled with his genuine affinity for the volunteers and staff who carry it out on a day-to-day basis, have impressed all who have worked with him.

Mark was born in Iowa and has made the Chicago area his home since 1988. He and his wife of 23 years, Annamarie, have two children, Sarah and Matt.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the membership, I thank the Search Committee, chaired by Hedvig Hricak, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. h.c., and consisting of Sarah S. Donaldson, M.D., Gary J. Becker, M.D., Ronald L. Arenson, M.D., and C. Douglas Maynard, M.D., for their careful and expeditious work. I also thank the RSNA staff, who, under Mark's leadership, have kept our Society functioning at such a high level during this transition period.

Finally, I ask you to join me in congratulating Mark and wishing him every success in the important role of Executive Director of RSNA.

Burton P. Drayer, M.D.
Chairman, 2009 RSNA Board of Directors

"Listen In" to RSNA News Interviews

Starting with the April 2009 online edition, hear selected segments from interviews for RSNA News stories. Look for the "Listen In" icon in the print edition to identify stories with accompanying audio. Links are embedded within online articles at relevant points. RSNA News is available online at RSNANews.org.

"Listen In" segments are offered this month with coverage of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE^®) Connectathon in Chicago and will accompany a May 2009 article on the Academy of Radiology Research. Segments will be archived.

Radiology Community Urged to Help Reverse CMS Decision on CTC

Concerned medical societies, industry representatives, patient groups and legislators have joined forces in an effort to persuade the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reverse its preliminary decision to not cover CT colonography (CTC) as a screening test.

The American College of Radiology (ACR), American Gastroenterological Association, Colon Cancer Alliance and American Cancer Society responded to the decision with a joint letter to CMS, citing a 2008 ACR Imaging Network trial that indicated CTC is as effective as optical colonoscopy for detecting polyps greater than 10 mm that require removal. Representatives Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), as well as Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) and 10 other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, also submitted letters emphasizing CTC's potential to save lives by encouraging more patients to undergo screening. ACR is asking the radiology community to follow suit by calling their respective House members and asking them to sign the Granger-Kennedy letter.

In its preliminary decision, CMS noted that consideration of screening tests involves factors different than those for diagnostic or therapeutic tests. A relatively high rate of subsequent referral for optical colonoscopy in patients found to have polyps in CTC would limit CTC's utility as a screening test, CMS noted. In addition, no published screening study has focused on CT colonography in an older population—"more representative of the Medicare population"—and polyp studies have shown that the proportion of individuals with polyps 6 mm or smaller increases with age, indicated the CMS summary report. The report took into account the undetermined impact of factors including radiation exposure and extracolonic findings.

CMS welcomed public comments providing further evidence about the efficacy of CTC screening before the release of the final decision in May. More information about the decision and group and legislative efforts are available at acr.org.

NIH Launches New Process for Funding Tracking

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun a new process—the Research, Condition and Disease Categorization (RCDC)—for providing detailed funding information to healthcare providers and the public.

RCDC is an addition to NIH's Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) Web site, intended to keep Americans informed about how their tax dollars are spent to support medical research. A data table on the RCDC Web page indicates funding amounts in 215 major areas, the same categories historically requested by and reported to Congress and the public at the end of each fiscal year.

RCDC does not reflect the entire NIH research portfolio and budget, nor will it change the grant or award process or affect the way NIH determines research priorities or funding. To learn more about RCDC, visit report.nih.gov/rcdc.

QIBA Presentations Now on RSNA.org

Presentations are now available online from Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA) activities at RSNA 2008. The presentations examine the goals of QIBA's focus areas—fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT, dynamic contrast-enhanced MR and volumetric CT—for quantifying the effects of novel therapeutic candidates for cancer.

The QIBA mission is to help transform radiology from a qualitative to a quantitative science, helping patients benefit from accelerated development and dissemination of new pharmacologic, biologic and interventional diagnosis and treatment approaches. View the slides at RSNA.org/research/qiba_videos.cfm.

Advanced Simulation Training Proposed to Congress

A bill recently submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize medical simulation enhancement programs.

H.R. 855, the Enhancing Safety in Medicine Utilizing Leading Advanced Simulation Technologies to Improve Outcomes Now Act of 2009, proposes to establish "medical simulation centers of excellence" to provide leadership and training resources, conduct research and improve efficiency of medical simulation programs. The bill was sponsored by Rep. J. Randy Forbes (D-Va.). Proposed grants will support research, aid in acquisition of simulation technology, help introduce simulation into medical and interdisciplinary curricula and assist professional organizations by means of a Federal Medical Simulation Coordinating Council.