On March 23–28, 2014, the Society of Abdominal Radiology held its 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting and Education Course in Boca Raton, Florida in conjunction with the European Society of Urogenital Radiology. The meeting was an overwhelming success by any metric. There were 883 registered participants from 34 countries and 42 States. The Sunday Scientific session had 53 Oral Presentations and there were 143 Scientific and Educational Electronic Posters on display throughout the meeting. The 280 international Faculty spoke in 46 Plenary presentations and 195 Workshops. In addition to the traditional workshops, there were three Hands-On Workshops in Dual Energy CT, Small Bowel Imaging, and prostate MRI featuring real-time interactive review of complete, computerized cases with expert faculty.

Following the Sunday morning Scientific Sessions, the SAR business meeting was held. The SAR New Horizons lecture entitled “Navigating the Transition from Volume to Value: Leveraging Meaningful IT Innovation in Radiology” was given by Paul J. Chang, M.D. from the University of Chicago. The SAR Cannon Lecture entitled “Imaging in the Age of Precision Medicine” was given by James H. Thrall, M.D., from the Massachusetts General Hospital. Other highlighted lectures included The Asian Society of Abdominal Radiology lecture entitled “Acute Right-sided Colonic Diverticulitis: Imaging and Interventional Techniques” given by Yi-Hong Chou, M.D. from Taipei, Taiwan; the European Society of Urogenital Radiology lecture entitled “Endometrial and Cervical Uterine Neoplasms,” given by Teresa Margarida Cunha, M.D. from Lisbon, Portugal; and the European Society of Gastrointestinal Abdominal Radiology entitled “The added Value of Liver Specific MR Contrast Agents,” given by Giovanni Morana, M.D. from Verona, Italy. The “In-Camera” session was entitled “The Molecular Imperative, Pursue It or Perish” moderated by Bruce J. Hillman.

Plenary Sessions at the meeting included topics on “Adding Value in the Era of Personalized Medicine,” “Quality and Safety for Abdominal Radiologists,” “Interactive Sessions on Missed Cases,” “New MRI Techniques,” “Algorithmic Approaches to Imaging Dilemmas,” and “Advanced Imaging Techniques.” Because of the large number of presentations, sessions were color-coded according to subspecialty (including Essentials of the GI Tract, Urinary Imaging, Small Bowel Workshop Tract, Dual Energy Workshop Tract, and Ultrasound) which allowed participants easy access to subspecialty focus as desired. True to tradition, the unknown film panel was both informative and highly entertaining.

From the scientific session, award-winning abstracts were chosen and, as in 2013, the top GI and GU abstracts will be printed in Abdominal Imaging. Awards were also presented for lifetime achievements in both GI and GU Radiology. These recipients were as follows: The Howard M. Pollack medalist was William Bush, M.D., from Seattle, Washington. The Walter Cannon Medalist was Robert J. Stanley, M.D., from Birmingham, Alabama; The GI Lifetime Achievement Awardee was J. William Charbonneau, M.D. from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; and the GU Lifetime Achievement Awardee was Robert Mattrey, M.D., from the University of California, San Diego. Alex J. Megibow, M.D., from NYU Medical Center in New York concluded his term as President of the SAR, having presided over the largest meeting in the history of the organization. Deborah A. Baumgarten, M.D., from Emory University in Atlanta assumed the Presidency. In addition, Bernard King, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota was appointed to the SAR Board, becoming the new Second Director in succession.

Overall, the meeting was an extraordinary success, bringing participants from around the world to our energized and growing society. We all enjoyed the camaraderie as well as the warm weather, particularly given the harsh winter most have faced in 2014. We thank all speakers and the numerous committee members, including the Educational Program Committee, Scientific Program Committee, and other meeting coordinators for their tireless efforts on behalf of the SAR.