RSNA Goes Virtual for 2020

The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) announced Tuesday that its annual meeting for 2020 will be held as an all-virtual event.

Intially, the 106th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting had been planned for Nov. 29-Dec. 4, at McCormick Place in Chicago. The new dates are Nov. 29-Dec. 5. This year will mark the first virtual meeting.

“As RSNA holds the world’s largest radiology meeting with over 50,000 attendees from 137 countries, our ability to conduct RSNA 2020 in Chicago is impacted by global public health considerations,” said RSNA President James P. Borgstede, M.D. “With a mission that foucses on health and patient care, the primary consideration for RSNA is the health and safety of attendees, presenters, exhibitors, staff, and, by extension, the global community.”

Consequently, he added, it was decided that RSNA 2020: Human Insight/Visionary Medicine will be exclusively virtual. The goal is to augment an already robust virtual meeting presence in place from years prior to offer a more rewarding experience for conference participants, presenters, and exhibitors. To date, there are already more than 11,000 scientific and educational abstracts that have been submitted to the conference, setting the stage for significant science learning and education potential amidst a pandemic.

“We proudly recognize that our attendees rely on the RSNA annual meeting as a source for the latest research, premier professional education and cutting-edge radiologic innovation,” he said. “Connecting medical imaging professionals from around the world is more important than ever during this time, and RSNA is doing this in the best and safest way possible.”

RSNA has canceled its physical meeting only twice before – both associated with World War II in 1943 and 1945 due to transportation and gas supply issues.

Registration for RSNA 2020 begins July 22 and will be free to members. More information on signing up and receiving annual meeting updates is available on RSNA.org