It is now 2026, and the next ISMRM Annual Meeting will take place in just a few months! Abstract notifications have been sent. I appreciate that for many of you, abstract acceptance determines whether or not you can attend the meeting. Between abstract submission and program notifications, a lot of effort goes into the scientific planning for the annual meeting. In this blog post, I will describe the steps in this process and also highlight four ways that you, as a member of the Society, can contribute to the scientific portion of the annual meeting.
The Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) met recently to plan the scientific program. The members of this committee worked hard from mid-December through mid-January to familiarize themselves with all of the submitted abstracts and then met in person to create a scientific program with interesting content for all attendees. This year, we sorted through more than 6400 abstracts, and we accepted approximately 5100 abstracts.
When considering the merits of all these abstracts, we rely on the input provided by our reviewers. We thank the nearly 1500 members of our community who reviewed these abstracts. Your commitment and feedback are deeply appreciated.
Volunteer Opportunity #1: Review abstracts! If you are not sure where to start, look for the “how to review abstracts” sessions over the next year. You can already volunteer to serve as a reviewer for the 2027 meeting by updating your profile in 
ECHO.
During the AMPC planning meeting, the AMPC members sit in a large room around tables organized by topic to plan sessions. Each session aims to highlight impactful work, which hopefully will encourage active discussions during the annual meeting. We particularly consider current and new topics of interest for our Society. We also evaluate the quality of each submitted abstract and the potential impact of the abstract. The members of the AMPC bring their own ideas for sessions that they want to plan, and we are also inspired by the content of the submitted abstracts. Once a session is created, we select moderators to guide the session.
Volunteer Opportunity #2: Moderate a session! The Call for Moderators is typically sent out in December. Keep an eye out and add yourself as a possible moderator. For moderators, we look for scientific expertise in different topics and also the ability to serve as a language moderator. Language moderators are added to sessions when requested by our speakers to facilitate the discussion following presentations.
The AMPC itself is an amazing group of hardworking people who serve for three years and represent the breadth of our Society. They are selected to represent the Society across many diversity axes including expertise, technical and clinical skills, geography and backgrounds. Currently, there are 24 unique countries represented on the AMPC.
Volunteer Opportunity #3: Volunteer to participate on this hardworking committee by responding to the Call for Volunteers here. During the planning weekend, the AMPC sorted the scientific content for Cape Town and started planning the education, plenaries, and named lectures for the Vancouver 2027 meeting. Throughout the weekend, as we work, the members of the AMPC get to know each other better. You see familiar faces, meet new ones, and end the weekend with smiles, laughter, and wishes to see each other again soon. The AMPC itself is a great sub-community within our ISMRM community.
In Cape Town, we hope that Study Group Sunday will help you have a similar experience. Study Groups will meet throughout the day on Sunday (see the schedule here). Please join a Study Group meeting to meet people with common scientific interests and also learn what scientific content the Study Group thinks you should attend throughout the week. Then, through the rest of the meeting, you can look for your Study Group banner in sessions to find your community and build relationships. I hope that through Study Group Sunday, you will have a better meeting experience and leave the meeting with stronger relationships across the society.
Volunteer Opportunity #4: Study Groups are a great way to start volunteering within our Society. You can do something simple like volunteer to hold the banner during a scientific session, and you can consider volunteering for other roles within the Study Group.
Here I’ve highlighted four volunteer opportunities related to the annual meeting (reviewing, moderating, serving on the AMPC, working with a Study Group). However, there are many more opportunities to volunteer at the meeting and within the Society. You can submit a member-initiated session for consideration at the annual meeting and nominate members to become Fellows of the Society. I welcome you all to volunteer for the Society, and I look forward to seeing you all in Cape Town!
Katy Keenan, Ph.D.
2026 Annual Meeting Program Chair
AMPC members at their tables, working on scheduling the meeting.
Lunchtime on the last day of the AMPC meeting.
