Member Spotlight: Cristian Montalba

MR always caught my attention since one could acquire astounding images with anatomical and physiological information without causing any harm to the patients. I like everything related to MR, especially flow velocity and neuroimaging. What do I love from my work? Getting involved in multiple tasks and research projects with different kinds of professionals, by acquiring and processing images, from a point of view of my profession.

When I was studying medical technology, I realized that I would like to work in healthcare and research areas. Both fields always caught my attention, especially in medical imaging, since it is not a common area to get involved in in Latin America. As a student at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile, I had the opportunity to present my undergraduate thesis in nuclear medicine at national and international conferences (2014). Since then, I have joined the Biomedical Imaging Center at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) as research assistant and lab manager under the supervision of Sergio Uribe, Ph.D. In this lab, I have the opportunity to interact with electrical engineers, computer scientists, physicists, mathematical engineers, and healthcare professionals in MR research.

I have been a member of ISMSM since 2016 and SMRT since 2021. I joined both societies because both are the place to be! The Annual Meetings are such a great places to share ideas, know the latest trends in MR, and from the very first day, everyone makes you feel part of this big family. I have the chance to interact with people from different countries and share knowledge and consider points of view from different professionals who are involved with MRI. I have the opportunity to interact with both societies: participating at the Secret Sessions, reviewing abstracts, and moderating poster sessions for ISMRM; and contributing as part of the Global Relations and Division Meetings Committee for SMRT.

What I did like the most? The Secret Sessions! It’s because no other conference has this kind of session where everyone can give their opinion on a variety of interesting topics and interact directly with the panelists from different countries. It’s quite challenging to organize these sessions. I like teaming and working with someone from a different country. After all the hard work, I enjoy it when I see a great number of people attend the session and I see their smiles.

ISMRM-SMRT annual meeting is the conference that I am looking forward to participating in every year. I hope to get involved in presenting scientific abstracts and organizing different kinds of events in both societies.

Every day in my life is different, but my most common activities include a workout at the gym, drinking coffee (especially Starbucks!), preprocessing images, scientific writing, scanning patients and research volunteers, and attending group reunions.

I am the youngest of the family. I have two brothers and one sister. I enjoy playing with my dog and my two cats. My hobbies include hanging out with my friends, playing video games, watching series to learn different languages, listening to music, working out, and traveling. When I travel, I love to get involved with the culture in different ways like meeting new people, eating the local food, taking pictures, and visiting local attractions.