Society of Interventional Radiology Names James B. Spies as President

SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- James B. Spies, M.D., MPH, FSIR, chair of the radiology department at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and professor of radiology at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., assumed office as the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2014–15 president during the society's 39th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego.

"Advancing a better understanding of both the limitless potential of interventional radiology and its positive impact on patient care will be a main focus during my term as president," said Spies, who will represent the society's nearly 5,000 doctors, scientists and allied health professionals dedicated to improving health care through image-guided minimally invasive treatments. "SIR members are dedicated to improving outcomes for patients through innovation, constantly seeking new minimally invasive technologies and treatments to improve patient care," added Spies, who leads the Georgetown Uterine Fibroid Embolization Program, one of the largest and most experienced in the United States.

A leading researcher in the field of uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) for more than 15 years, Spies has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers on his research into the technique that embolizes, or blocks, the blood supply to fibroids (noncancerous growths that develop in the muscular wall of the uterus). UFE is a medical advance for women, providing a treatment option that's far less invasive than hysterectomy or other surgery—with less risk, less pain and less recovery time.

Spies has been a principal investigator in five funded research trials, including the FIBROID Registry, a study of 3,000 women, and developed the UFS-QOL, the only fibroid-specific symptom and quality of life questionnaire currently available. Most recently, he led a multicenter study comparing the relative quality of life impact of myomectomy (surgical removal of the fibroids) and hysterectomy. His research defines many parameters associated with UFE, including subsequent ovarian function, long-term outcomes, and other safety and efficacy issues. He has been invited to present more than 250 lectures on minimally invasive embolization treatment for uterine fibroids as well as enlarged prostates, varicoceles (venous abnormalities in the scrotum that may cause infertility) and postpartum hemorrhage.

Spies attended Georgetown Medical School and completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of California at San Francisco and a fellowship in interventional radiology at New York University. From 1985 to 1989, he served in the Air Force as chief of interventional radiology at Wilford Hall Medical Center (now Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center) in San Antonio. He was in private practice in interventional radiology until 1997, when he joined the Georgetown faculty.

Besides Spies, other members of SIR's 2014–15 Executive Council who took office are listed below.

• President-elect Alan H. Matsumoto, M.D., FSIR, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville
• Secretary Charles E. Ray Jr., M.D., Ph.D., FSIR, University of Illinois, Health Sciences Center, Chicago
• Treasurer M. Victoria Marx, M.D., FSIR, LAC and USC Medical Center, Los Angeles
• Immediate Past President Scott C. Goodwin, M.D., FSIR, University of California, Irvine

Executive Council councilors include Donald F. Denny Jr., M.D., FSIR, Princeton Healthcare System, N.J., health policy and economics; Brian Funaki, M.D., FSIR, University of Chicago, postgraduate medical education; Jafar Golzarian, M.D., FSIR, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Annual Scientific Meeting; Matthew S. Johnson, M.D., FSIR, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, member services; Stephen T. Kee, M.D., MMM, FSIR, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, SIR Foundation chair; Boris Nikolic, M.D., MBA, FSIR, Albany Stratton VA Medical Center, N.Y., standards; and Daniel A. Siragusa, M.D., FSIR, University of Florida, College of Medicine, Jacksonville, graduate medical education.

Councilors-at-large include Michael D. Dake, M.D., FSIR, Falk Cardiovascular Research Center, Stanford, Calif.; Laura Findeiss, M.D., FSIR, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville; and Sanjay Misra, M.D., FSIR, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, Minn. Ex-officio members include Ziv J Haskal, M.D., FSIR, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, editor-in-chief, Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, and Terence A.S. Matalon, M.D., FSIR, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, American Medical Association delegate.

More information about the Society of Interventional Radiology, interventional radiologists and how to find an interventional radiologist in your area can be found online at www.SIRweb.org. More information about SIR 2014 is at www.SIRmeeting.org.

About the Society of Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiologists are physicians who specialize in minimally invasive, targeted treatments. They offer the most in-depth knowledge of the least invasive treatments available coupled with diagnostic and clinical experience across all specialties. Using X-ray, MRI and other imaging to advance a catheter in the body, such as in an artery, they treat disease at the source internally. As the inventors of angioplasty and the catheter-delivered stent, which were first used in the legs to treat peripheral arterial disease, interventional radiologists pioneered minimally invasive modern medicine. Many conditions that once required surgery can be treated less invasively by interventional radiologists. Interventional radiology treatments offer less risk, less pain and less recovery time compared to open surgery. Visit www.SIRweb.org. Follow SIR on Facebook and Twitter and use #SIR2014 to keep up with news from SIR 2014.

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SOURCE Society of Interventional Radiology