Symposium in Magnetic Resonance Research

15. Annual Scientific Symposium Ultrahigh Field Magnetic Resonance: Clinical Needs, Research Promises and Technical Solutions

September 13, 2024, 8:15am - September 13, 2024, 6:00pm

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Dear colleagues and friends,

Great thanks for your interest in the 15th Scientific Symposium on Clinical Needs, Research Promises and Technical Solutions in Ultrahigh Field Magnetic Resonance, which is being held on September 13^th 2024. It is a hybrid experience that combines our established in-person meeting and setup with a virtual meeting in favour of changing scientific communication and exchange for the better.

Imaging bridges a crucial gap in space and time in life science and medicine: from atomic to anatomic objects to whole body imaging, from picoseconds to years in population studies. New molecular and cellular insights are obtained from imaging. These findings should be integrated with data science into a coherent picture of tissues, organs and organisms for early interception of disease. These fundamental developments call for hitherto unavailable research frameworks, international partnership and collaborative culture to promote strong ties across multiple research domains and imaging modalities; connecting nanoscopic views, length scales, time scales and mesoscopic pictures with mechanistic insights and macroscopic function of biological and clinical importance.

The field of Magnetic Resonance (MR) has evolved rapidly over the past quarter of a century, allowing for an ever growing number of applications across a broad spectrum of basic, translational and clinical research. One important development which is in the spotlight of MR research is Ultrahigh Field Magnetic Resonance (UHF-MR). The pace of discovery is heartening and a powerful motivator to transfer the lessons learned at ultrahigh fields from basic research into the clinical scenario. These efforts are fueled by the unmet clinical needs and the quest for advancing the capabilities of diagnostic MR imaging – today.

The development of UHF-MR is moving forward at an amazing speed that is breaking through technical barriers almost as fast as they appear. UHF-MR has become an engine for innovation in experimental and clinical research. The reasons for moving UHF-MR into clinical applications are more compelling than ever. Images from these instruments have revealed new aspects of the anatomy, functions and physio-metabolic characteristics of the brain, heart, joints, kidneys, liver, eye, and other organs/tissues, at an unparalleled quality. UHF-MR has a staggering number of potential uses in neuroscience, neurology, radiology, neuroradiology, cardiology, internal medicine, oncology, nephrology, ophthalmology and other related clinical fields. As they are developed, we will push the boundaries of MR physics, biomedical engineering and biomedical sciences in many other ways.

With 7.0 T human MRI now widely used in clinical research, there is increasing interest in exploring even higher magnetic field strengths. This includes pioneering reports on MRI technology at 9.4 T, 10.5 T and 11.7 T and corresponding in vivo applications. The MR research and superconductor science community have already taken even more ambitious steps towards future, envisioning human MR at 14.0 T. Recently, the Dutch National 14 Tesla Initiative in Medical Science received funding for the implementation of the first 14.0 T class human MR instrument. Joint efforts of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and MRI communities identified the scientific question that drives these ambitions, together with the technological challenges and prospects for achieving human MRI at 20.0 T. These bold steps will require rigorous technical developments, assessment of physiological constraints and in vivo evaluation studies, that have to be tested and validated by those who adopt the technology. The symposium offers ample opportunity for discussion and exchange on how such efforts can lead to valuable results.

Realizing these opportunities, we are very much delighted to announce the 15th Annual Scientific Symposium on Clinical Needs, Research Promises and Technical Solutions in Ultrahigh Field MR, which will be held from September 13^th, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Please save the date. The symposium is designed to provide an overview of state-of-the-art (pre)clinical UHF-MR and its connection with data science, to discuss the clinical relevance of UHF-MR, to explore future directions of UHF-MR, to foster explorations into ultrahigh field-MR and to initiate local, regional, national and international collaboration and last but not least to provide plenty of time to engage into fruitful exchange with peers and colleagues. The symposium is tailored to attract basic scientists, engineers, hardware professionals, translational researchers, applied scientists and clinicians with all levels of experience and expertise ranging from undergraduate and graduate students interested in imaging to trainees, advanced users and applications experts

Scientific Program
The scientific program comprises 4 sessions, all balancing technical developments, clinical applications and hot topics related to the synergies between imaging and data science. The scientific program is designed to lay extensive bridges between disciplines to enable the translation of multimodal AI technology into clinically-relevant imaging guided diagnostics, therapy monitoring and digital health applications. We are very much honored to present extraordinary speakers including MR technology leaders, data science specialists and distinguished clinical experts - all bridging disciplinary boundaries and stimulating the imaging and data science communities to throw further weight behind the solution of unsolved problems and unmet clinical needs.

Abstract Submission

We invite all participants to submit an abstract for consideration for a poster power pitch (approximately 2 min ).

Abstracts may be composed of a text with a maximum length of 2500 characters including spaces. The deadline for abstract submission is 22 August 2024.

Accepted Abstracts will be notified by 31 August 2024.

Poster sessions
The scientific program will be paralleled by a poster session where all posters are made available electronically. We are looking forward to your poster contributions which will be all considered for the symposium’s poster price contest. We wish to encourage those of you who are courageous to walk the extra mileage. We have included numerous slots of 3 min speedy poster power presentations into the program. This will give a large number of poster presenters the opportunity to be in the spotlight of the audience.

Professional Child Care
On a special note; many of us know first-hand how challenging it can be to balance the needs of our families with the mission to advance science. The Max Delbrück Center is devoted to offset this challenge and is a proud winner of the "work and family" award. To this end we are very pleased to offer professional child care for the course of the symposium. Please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can provide further details.

Contact

CONFERENCE OFFICE:

Dr. Timkehet Teffera
Congress Manager
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC)
Robert-Rössle-Str. 10
13125 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 94064255

Lien-Georgina Dettmann
Congress Manager
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC)
Robert-Rössle-Str. 10
13125 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 94062719

Matthias Runow
Congress Manager
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC)
Robert-Rössle-Str. 10
13125 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 94063720

E-Mail: MRsymposium@mdc-berlin.de

OFFICE PROF. NIENDORF:

Carolin Bechtloff
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC)
Robert-Rössle-Straße 10
13125 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 94063978