Welcome to the 2021 Virtual 63rd AAPM Meeting!

Due to continuing health concerns related to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and resultant travel restrictions, the 2021 AAPM Annual Meeting will be held July 25-29, 2021 as a fully virtual event. All times listed below are in Eastern Standard Time.

The virtual experience will offer great Annual Meeting content, including SAM credits and MPCEC hours and engagement with vendors. We learned from our 2020 experiences that there are indeed some true benefits to a virtual meeting - including broader participation and more flexible access - which we will continue to enjoy this year.

Scientific Program

• New for 2021! Interactive ePoster Discussion Sessions: Come see a select group of high-scoring posters identified by the Program Directors to be of special interest to attendees! These Interactive ePoster presentations will occur in a format promoting lively discussion and scientific exchange over a video chat interface during the program.
• Distinguished Lectureships
  • The Carson/Zagzebski Distinguished Lecture on Medical Ultrasound – (Wednesday, July 28, 1:00 PM) Elisa Konofagou, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, at Columbia University. She will present "Ultrasound-based neurotherapeutics and imaging of cardiovascular disease and cancer."
  • The Anne and Donald Herbert Distinguished Lectureship in Modern Statistical Modeling – (Tuesday, July 27, 2:00 PM) Nancy Obuchowski, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, and statistician for the Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance (QIBA), will share her expertise on use of quantitative imaging biomarkers in the design and analysis of clinical trials.
• Featuring AI and Data Science in Imaging Scientific Symposia:
  • AAPM-CMIMI Joint Symposium on Machine Intelligence in Medical Imaging (Sunday, July 25, 10:30 AM)
  • Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center Symposium with a discussion on imaging in COVID (Sunday, July 25, 1:00 PM)
  • Contributed scientific abstracts on AI for image enhancement and synthesis in CT (Tuesday, July 27, 2:00 PM) and AI in Imaging (Thursday, July 29, 2:00 PM).
• Featured Therapy Scientific Symposia:
  • New Developments in Flash RT Symposium highlighting the latest technology developments and clinical trials in FLASH RT. (Monday, July 26, 10:30 AM)
  • Radiomics and Outcome Prediction Symposium introducing the advances in radiomics analysis and applications, including state-of-the-art multi-omics. (Tuesday, July 27, 1:00 PM)
  • Symposia for AI in radiation therapy: Adaptive Radiation Therapy in the Era of Big Data with Artificial Intelligence (Thursday, July 29, 10:30 AM), Advances in Automatic Segmentation, Treatment Planning and QA (Sunday, July 25, 1:00 PM)
  • Joint AAPM-EFOMP Symposium: Non-conventional Treatment in Radiation Therapy (Tuesday, July 27, 3:30 PM)
• Featured Multi-Disciplinary Scientific Symposia:
  • Symposia introducing the latest AI development in imaging and therapy: Solid State PET in Radiology and Radiation Oncology: from SiPM to AI in the Clinic (Sunday, July 25, 10:30 AM), Frontiers in AI and Its Applications in Medical Physics (Monday, July 26, 10:30 AM), AI in Image Guided Radiation Therapy (Wednesday, July 28, 10:30 AM), Grand Challenges: Deep Learning Sparse-View CT and DBTex (Wednesday, July 28, 10:30 AM)
  • Symposia featuring advances in image guided radiation therapy: State-of-the-art in MRI-guided Radiotherapy (Sunday, July 25, 3:30 PM) and Functional Image-guided Targeting and Avoidance in Radiation Therapy (Tuesday, July 27, 10:30 AM)
  • Symposia highlighting novel imaging technologies in radiology and radiation oncology: Novel Imaging Technologies for Motion Management in Radiotherapy (Sunday, July 25, 1:00 PM), Novel Algorithms for High-quality Diagnostic and On-board Cone-beam CT (Thursday, July 29, 1:00 PM)
  • The Science Council Session is featuring the latest in “Innovative Technologies to Advance Diagnosis and Treatment”
• The Ultrasound Specialty Program highlights recent advances in diagnostic ultrasound imaging, ultrasound image guidance for interventions, and therapeutic ultrasound. In addition, there will be a Diagnostic Ultrasound QA/QC Hands-on Workshop (Wednesday, July 28, 10:30 AM)
• Please join us for the John Cunningham Memorial Symposium (Wednesday, July 26, 3:30 PM) and the Session in Memory of Ed Jackson (Monday, July 26, 11:30 AM)

Imaging Education Program

• Emerging imaging technologies: Educational and scientific sessions on Biophotonics! (Monday, July 26, 10:30 AM)
• Finally, a topic we can all agree on: Patient-specific effective dose?! Tune-in for a presentation on ICRP 147 (hot off the press!) and updates to the concept of effective dose (Thursday, July 29, 1:00 PM)
• Everything you want to know about the first CPT billing code for diagnostic medical physics (Sunday, July 25, 1:00 PM)
• Hot topic (pun intended!): Multidisciplinary session on Nuclear Medicine Dosimetry in Imaging and Therapy. Everything from Tc-99m to Lu-177. (Tuesday, July 27, 1:00 PM)
• How do we demonstrate value beyond compliance testing? Drop in for a back-and-forth discussion between physicists and administrators. (Monday, July 26, 4:30 PM)

Therapy Education Program

• Proton Therapy SAM sessions: Bottleneck issues in the clinic implementation of Monte Carlo method in proton therapy and Current status of proton thoracic radiotherapy (Sunday, July 25, 1:00 PM)
• Hands-on Workshop - Simulated Error Training for the Physics Plan Review (Thursday, July 29, 10:30 AM)
• Not for the Faint of Heart: Functional Radiosurgery (Thursday, July 29, 1:00 PM)
• A hot topic for the new AI era: Artificial Intelligence in the Clinic – Is It Going to Help or Hurt Our Productivity? (Wednesday, July 28, 1:00 PM)
• The Evolving Paradigm of Patient Specific QA (Wednesday, July 28, 3:30 PM)
• And finally, an opportunity to catch up on this very important topic as we expand our treatment techniques: Radiation Biology for Radiation Therapy Physicists (Sunday, July 25, 3:30 PM)

Professional Program

This year’s Professional program will feature symposia across diverse topics to enhance your professional and clinical practice.

• This year we have several sessions dedicated to mentorship, ethics, and the role of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts across medical physics, from education and training to patient care including a follow-up from the “Picture a Scientist” video.
• Hone your systems-based practice knowledge with strategies and tips for medical physics integration across multi-site networks and practice changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Don’t miss our career development offerings including the “Secrets to Your Success” panel from the Medical Physics Leadership Academy, writing letters of reference, survey science and patient facing roles!
• Need some input on personal finance? Interested in the status of the Medical Physics workforce? It’s all here.
• How about Global outreach? Topics include global mentoring and increasing the contribution imaging physicists to global initiatives.

Students and Trainee Events

• MedPhys Slam is back again! Come support students, postdocs, and residents as they compete to effectively convey their research and its significance to a lay audience with only 3 slides and 3 minutes each. Be sure to attend and vote for your favorite presentation to receive the People's Choice award!
• Join this year’s Annual Student Meeting, titled “Beyond the Clinic: Medical Physics in Industry,” where we will be discussing the role of medical physicists in the industrial workplace and the necessary skills required to succeed in such an environment.
• Looking to socialize with other trainees? Don’t miss your chance to register for this year’s virtual Student Night Out: "Game Night with the Students and Trainees", featuring both trivia and interactive games! Registration for SNO is available through the AAPM Annual Meeting registration.