MICCAI 2019

MICCAI 2019 DAILY 4 Welcome Leo, the MICCAI conference has started out very positively. Yes, I’m very impressed by the city of Shenzhen and by how well the organisation team have put the conference together in this wonderful venue. I’m looking forward to a great MICCAI. I want to extend a very warm welcome to all participants. We have about half researchers and half students from all over the world. We have an important Chinese presence and are very happy that many have joined us for the first time. Since we are an international organisation, we have people from all around the world here. I’m sure that participants will learn a lot and enjoy their stay in Shenzhen. As the new president of MICCAI, can you tell us what you will bring to the organisation? I’m fortunate to stand on very good grounds.My predecessor,WiroNiessen, did a wonderful job. The organisation is very healthy and participative. The MICCAI board helps in that. What we want to do in the coming years is to manage the growth and interest in AI and radiology, and in AI and surgery. There are specific actions that we are taking to grow and capitalise on this. Of course, we all salute Wiro for all the great work that he has done over the years. Getting back to this year’s event, what is particularly new? What you can see from the programme is the growing strength of AI and deep learning, but also diversity into different clinical niches and technical niches. You see a record number of workshops and more papers. You see a very healthy field, with a growing interest from different parts of the scientific and commercial community. What are your main expectations for MICCAI this year? I think it will be very useful for students and researchers to establish contacts with Chinese researchers. We have more than 20 companies. Most of them are Chinese, some start-ups, so it is going to be great exposure for people around the world to come and see what’s happening in China. Also, Chinese researchers and students that come to MICCAI for the first time will be exposed to a series of very interesting topics. This exchange will be particularly valuable due to the large size of the conference this year – we have about 2,300 registrations.