Annual Report of The Chandigarh Chapter of IRIA for the year 2023
The total membership strength of Chandigarh Chapter of IRIA as of now stands at 327 (Emeritus members =9, Life members =226 and PLM=92). The current Executive Committee is headed by Dr Ravinder Kaur, as the President, Dr Sameer Vyas as Secretary, Dr Naveen Kalra as President-Elect and Dr MS Sandhu as Immediate Past President.
The 11th Annual Conference of the Chandigarh Chapter of IRIA was organized on 9th and 10th December 2023, at the Nine Auditorium, PGIMER Chandigarh. The theme of the conference was “Neuroradiology and Recent Advances in Radiology.” The conference was inaugurated on 9th December 2023 by Dr MS Sandhu, Professor and head, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging PGIMER Chandigarh. Dr L Murali Krishna, Secretary General of Indian Radiology and Imaging Association (IRIA) was guest of honour for the conference. The Organizing Chairperson of the conference was Prof. Ravinder Kaur, Prof. Sameer Vyas was the Organizing Secretary, and Dr. Harish Bhujade was Treasurer. Certificates of Honour were presented to Dr Ravinder Kaur, Dr Naveen Kalra, Dr Kushaljit Singh Sodhi, Dr Mahesh Prakash,
Dr Manphool Singhal, Dr Tulika Singh and Dr Chirag Ahuja for their contribution to Radiology in different capacities in the year 2023. The scientific program of first day of conference covered topics on neuroradiology and on second day the recent advances in radiology. The eminent national faculties were Prof Shailesh Gaikwad, Prof Ajay Garg, Prof Atin Kumar, Prof Jyoti Kumar, Prof Jitender Saini and Dr Pankaj Sharma. It was a very successful two-day meeting and was attended by about 190 delegates from the Chandigarh Chapter and neighboring states, UP, Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. Punjab Medical Council had accredited 8 CME hours for the conference.
Three quarterly academic meetings were organized by the Chandigarh Chapter of IRIA during this year. First quarterly meeting of the chapter was held at Hotel KC Residency, sector 35 Chandigarh on 11th march 2023. It was a theme-based meeting on “Emergency Radiology”. There were about 120 attendees for the meeting. The second quarterly meeting of the Chapter was organized on 20“Basics of Radiology. There were about 150 attendees for the meeting. The third quarterly meeting of the Chapter was organized on 2nd September 2023 at Hotel Hyatt centric, Sector 17 Chandigarh. It was a theme-based meeting on “Women’s Imaging”. There were about 140 attendees for the meeting. In all these meetings, residents and fellows participated actively by presenting interesting cases.
Dr Akshay Saxena and Dr Mandeep Kang were nominated for best teacher award by the Chandigarh chapter for the National IRIA teacher’s day celebration and they were honored during the teacher’s day celebration on 5th September 2023 by Central IRIA. Many members of our chapter have received many national and international awards and positions and kept the Chandigarh chapter flag high. Dr. Ravinder Kaur was elected as secretary of the society of chest imaging and interventions. Dr Akshay Kumar Saxena was awarded the honorary fellowship of royal college of radiologists, most prestigious award to non fellows of RCR, awarded to those who have made exceptional contributions to or promoted the interest of radiology. He is also chief advisor and coordinator of Trade committee for 76th annual conference of IRIA, 2024. Dr Naveen Kalra was awarded the fellowship of Indian National Association for the Study of Liver (FINASL, only radiologist from India). He was also awarded as Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS). He also served as the General Secretary of the Society for Emergency Radiology and as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Interventional Radiology (the official journal of ISVIR). Dr Kushaljit Singh Sodhi was elected as the Vice-President of Asian Oceanic Society of Pediatric Radiology (AOSPR) and as the Vice -Secretary of World Federation of Pediatric Imaging for this year. He also served as Vice-President of Indian Society of Pediatric Radiology and as Associate Editor, IJRI for 2023. Dr Mahesh Prakash was elected as the National Vice Chairman of Indian college of Radiology and Imaging association (ICRI). He was also appointed as Asian Coordinator for International Skeletal Society (ISS) outreach program committee and as Chairman, Education and training committee of Asian Musculoskeletal Society (AMS). Dr Veenu Singla was elected as Vice-president of Breast imaging Society of India. Dr Manphool Singhal was Awarded Dr Ram Rishi Oration for the year 2023.
The branch members actively participated in the activities of the IRIA and received recognition at the national level. Many faculty members were invited as faculty in various IRIA-ICRI symposia including IRIA national conference held at Amritsar in February 2023. Many members were bestowed with the Chairman’s Appreciation Award for the year 2022-23 during the Award and Convocation Ceremony of IRIA held on 3rd February 2023. Many of our members are in the editorial board of national and international journals.
The Chandigarh Chapter was also very active at the Raksha front and conducted activities quarterly. Dr Tulika Singh worked as convener of the Raksha initiative for the year 2023. First activity was conducted at Kansal Village on 10th March 2023. School bags, tiffin and bottles were distributed to underprivileged/ poor school children. Second activity was done on 19th may 2023. Dress material for school uniform was given to girls at Jyoti Sarup Kanya Asra Society Kharar, Punjab. Third activity was conducted in Asiana Girls Orphanage, Sector 15 Chandigarh. Text books, stationary items and educational material were donated.
Dr Sameer Vyas
Secretary, Chandigarh Chapter of IRIA