The North American Society for Cardiac Imaging (NASCI) is an
international organization dedicated to the advancement of cardiovascular imaging.

The next NASCI Meeting, Cardiovascular Imaging 2003 is to be held in DALLAS, September 13-16 2003. The venue will be the Four Diamond/Four Star Hotel Adolphus in Downtown Dallas. The abstract submission deadline for the Scientific Sessions for oral presentations is May 30, 2003. Abstracts may be submitted electronically through the NASCI website after January 15, 2003.

Limited financial support (up to $1000 per person) is again available to attend the NASCI Scientific Sessions. This funding is provided by the Cardiovascular Imaging Council of the American Heart Association. This funding is provided to encourage participation by YOUNG INVESTIGATORS (students, trainees, fellows, Ph.D-candidates, etc). Abstracts must be submitted via the NASCI web site by May 30, 2003 for consideration. Award winners will be chosen from the oral presentations at the meeting. Please include a cover letter from the Chairman or Program Director verifying the applicants status for competitive evaluation by the NASCI selection committee.

There were 185 individuals who attended Cardiovascular Imaging 2002 Course and 189 who attended the 3rd International Workshop on Coronary MR and CT Angiography. Participants at the workshop heard a wide variety of presentations on cardiac MR and CT and discussed the roles of the two modalities in the present and future.

Young Investigators Awards – sponsored by the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention. These investigators each received travel support for travel to and from the NASCI meeting. Winners and their abstracts are as follows:

Ricardo Cury, MD, Beneficencia Portuguesa Hospital, MedImagen/Radiology Dept., Vila Mariana, Sao Paulo 04120
Alexander W. Leber, MD, Department of Cardiology, Klinikum Grosshadern, Univ. of Munich, Munich, Germany	Photo not available
Gina K. Song, BA, Medical Student, Dept. of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Berlex Best Presentation Awards were sponsored by Berlex Laboratories, Inc. Winners of the Berlex Best Presentation Awards 2002 were:

From Left: YI winner R. Cury, YH Choe, N. So, F. Kashanian (Berlex) and N. Wilke

1. Yeon Hyeon Choe, MD
   The fate of necrosis-avid MR contrast material (Gadophrin-2)-enhanced area of acute reperfused myocardial infarction as determined by MR imaging with Gd-DTPA enhancement and TTC staining after four weeks in a rabbit model.
   Yeon Hyeon Choe, MD1, Jong Min Park, MD1, Hanns-J Weinmann, PhD2
   1Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, 2Shering AG, Germany
2. Robert Gallegos, MD
   Myocardial Perfusion Reserve to Assess Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy.
   Robert Gallegos MD1, Xiaoen Wang M.D.3, Avinash Jayaswal2, Tina Clarkson DVM2, Eric Rahrmann2, Zach Kastenberg2, Imran Al-Aminv3, Ravi Teja Seethamraju Ph.D3, R. Morton Bolman III MD1, Catherine Verfaillie MD2, Norbert Wilke MD3
   1University of Minnesota Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery; 2Stem Cell Institute; and 3Division of Cardiac MRI
3. Nina MC So, MBBS
   Imaging coronary artery with 3D Magnetization-prepared trueFISP compared to conventional coronary angiography.
   Nina M.C. So1, Wynnie W.M. Lam1, Anna K.Y. Chan2, John E. Sanderson2, Constantine Metreweli1
   1Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging & 2Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, HK, Chin
   

Become a Member of the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention. This Council of the AHA gives is the channel for cardiovascular radiology-directed initiatives of the American Heart Association.

Join the ACR (American College of Radiology) - In order to gain representation on the ACR council, sixty percent of a society's membership must also be members of the ACR. If you are a NASCI member help us gain ACR representation by becoming a member of the ACR. If already an ACR member, please maintain your ACR membership. All domestic members who are board certified radiologists should join the ACR if not currently enrolled. Benefits to NASCI include support in advancing cardiac imaging within the radiology. Benefits to ACR members as a whole include reimbursement initiatives, education on CPT coding, and political representation. ACR, in conjunction with the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) and ARRS (American Roentgen Ray Society) has already offered tremendous support in helping NASCI advance educational initiatives in cardiac imaging. The Cardiovascular Imaging 2001 and 2002 Courses are an example of this collaboration.

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