SSIMA is the oldest and most prestigious Summer School for Medical Imaging in Eastern Europe. With MICCAI endorsement, and world-class speakers, we are happy to come together in person again, this year in Oradea, Romania, 5-9 September 2022. Please see the detailed description of the scientific, business and policy program below.
SSIMA is supported by the highest level officials of Romania (3 Ministers will address the audience). For students: free accommodation is available (conditions and registration: see www.ssima.eu).

This year’s edition is focused on:

• Medical Image Computing
• Robotic Surgery
• Deep Learning Applications
• Design Thinking
• Explainable Deep Learning

The confirmed Speakers and Panel participants can be visualized at www.ssima.eu/#speaker.

Registration: https://ssima.eu/application before 15 August 2022.

Fees (whole week): Students: 150 €, PhD Students and residents: 250 €, Researchers and doctors: 350 €, Business & Corporate: 600 €. Single-day tickets: 100 €. Financial assistance is available based on need and merit.

For information and group discounts (5-10-15 pp) please contact us at: contact@ssima.eu.

The program in a nutshell:

> For residents, clinical experts, researchers, PhD students and MSc students: dedicated tutorial lectures, and much informal interaction with the speakers. This is an ideal opportunity to get up-to-date, get and exchange new ideas with colleagues and find new collaboration partners.

> For companies, investors and start-ups: a dedicated day with pitches, hands-on demos, head-hunting and exploring commercial opportunities.

>For healthcare institutions and public policy professionals: 2 high-level panels, covering crisis management as well as investment opportunities in healthcare, and networking opportunities with relevant actors from all over the world (including Government Ministers, Secretaries of State, Hospital Directors and Investors from multiple countries)

The academic week focuses on Deep Learning principles and applications, Computational Image Analysis and Robotic Surgery, starting off with Deep Learning principles and connecting its application to the hottest topics of today. The second and third day will dive deeply into this year’s themes: computational image analysis and robotic surgery. Thursday will provide insights into the transformative trends in healthcare that are happening right now and into the future. Friday morning will focus on the tools needed to critically analyze current problems and solve them using the Design Thinking methodology.

Day-to-day Schedule:

SSIMA 2022 starts with a full-morning lecture on Explainable Deep Learning: what is it, how does it work, and how can I build and deploy it? Lecturer is prof. Bart Romeny, EMBS distinguished lecturer, a gifted tutor with multiple awards for his teaching. This lecture touches on one of the hottest topics of this time: uncovering the “magic” behind successful algorithms.

The afternoon is filled with sessions by professors Alejandro Frangi, Alex Bronstein and Tammy Riklin-Raviv, going into detailed medical applications of Deep Learning methods, using current real-world challenges and opportunities, such as the corona pandemic and protein memory in genetics.

The second and third day in SSIMA:Tech will focus on specialized applications of Deep Learning principles and Robotic Surgery. Topics such as computational oncology and pathology (prof. Ron Kimmel, Technion Institute of Technology), polyp image analysis (prof. Edmond Sabo, Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center), improving colonoscopy with AI (prof. Ehud Rivlin, Verily Research (a Google company)), personalized cardiology through AI (prof. Natalia Trayanova, Johns Hopkins) and geometric deep learning (prof. Michael Bronstein, Oxford University) will be covered on the Deep Learning side.

This year’s focus on Robotic Surgery is represented by prof. Alon Wolf, Technion Institute of Technology, prof. Nabil Simaan, Vanderbilt University, prof. Lihi Zelnik-Manor, Technion Institute of Technology and prof. Marco Zenati, Harvard Medical School. An example of such topics is the context-aware surgical operating room, an exciting new development which is at the forefront of the emerging application of engineering principles in the field of surgery.

Additionally, the official launch of a brand new initiative in collaboration with the Romanian American Foundation and Technion Institute of Technology, BIOdyssey, for aspiring entrepreneurs in Romania will take place: the ideal place to find out more about this program.

In parallel with the afternoon lectures on Wednesday, following the launch of BIOdyssey, there will be an extraordinary panel led by mr. George T. Haber on Investing in the Digitalization of Healthcare. High-level policy makers and leaders from the world of healthcare and business will discuss opportunities, challenges and trends. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, mr. Iurie Turcanu and the Minister for Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Romania mr. Sebastian Burduja will participate, as well as prof. Richard Passov (former Treasurer at Pfizer Inc.), dr. Irit Idan (Investment Advisor at Softbank Israel), mr. Dudi Klein (Co-founder and managing partner at ALIVE Israel Healthtech fund) and mr. Moshe Dunie (former Vice President at Microsoft, Windows Division).

The Thursday is dedicated to the transformative trends that are taking place in the healthcare domain and the mutual benefits of collaborations between the medical and engineering communities. The speakers are all working within the applied medical field (dr. Dorin Comaniciu, dr. Alexander Leemans and dr. Ayelet Akselrod-Ballin), who have leading positions at varying types of institutions (multinational corporation Siemens Healthineers, University Medical Center Utrecht & the successful Israeli startup Zebra Medical Vision), who will tell about their current projects and visions for the future from the perspectives of their particular vantage points.

Another extraordinary panel will also take place on Thursday, focused on the Management of Emergency Situations, led by prof. Michael Halberthal, General Director of the Rambam Health Care Campus. Many high-level policymakers will participate, such as dr. Diana Paun, Presidential Advisor for Healthcare in Romania, mr. Raed Arafat, Secretary of State for the Interior Ministry of Romania and Head of the Department of Emergency Situations, the Presidents for Anaesthesia and Intensive Care of Israel and Romania (prof. Idit Matot and prof. Serban-Ion Bubenek-Turconi) and the Vice President of Technion Institute of Technology, prof. Alon Wolf.

Friday morning will be completely focused on providing participants with the tools needed to critically analyze the current situation in the healthcare domain, and to come up with novel ideas, using their technical and medical expertise. Speakers include prof. Ezri Tarazi (Director of T-Hub at Technion Institute of Technology) and prof. Masakazu Yagi (Osaka University, Japan and President of Japan Stanford Design).

SSIMA is organized in partnership with the University of Oradea and University Politehnica of Bucharest, and is the leading event of its kind in Eastern Europe: it is the first and only conference in this broad region to receive MICCAI endorsement (for the 3^rd consecutive edition), combining these high academic standards with business opportunities for startups, multinational companies and healthcare institutions, as well as policy discussions between highest-level Government officials and policy-making professionals in the public sector from multiple different countries.

As is tradition at SSIMA, a gala-dinner on Thursday evening is held at an atmospheric location near the conference venue, including traditional Romanian food, drinks and entertainment into the early hours (see here pictures of last edition’s gala dinner).

Other social events, such as a beer evening in the Oradea Medieval Fortress or morning runs are being organized.

Oradea, internationally known as the Art Nouveau capital of Romania, boasts beautiful Habsburg-era architecture, as well as picturesque river-side views with restaurants, bars and quaint little shops alongside it and within its historical center, creating a context highly conducive to an intellectually inspiring week!