ECIO 2023 awards and honours

May 3, 2023

ECIO attendees represent the brightest and most innovative minds in interventional oncology, and it’s the contributions from IOs around the world that ensure this meeting continues to push IO research and recognition to the next level. Every presenter, author, moderator and audience member is a valued piece in the IO puzzle that becomes more complete with every passing year.

ECIO recognizes the work of medical professionals who go above and beyond through awards and honours – read on to learn more!

The Honorary Lecture

Each year, the ECIO Honorary Lecture is given by a scientist whose contributions to interventional radiology, the development of interventional oncology, and ECIO are widely recognized. This year’s lecture was given by Prof. Dirk Arnold (Hamburg/DE).

The laudation for Prof. Arnold was given by his friend and colleague Prof. Thierry de Baere, who highlighted Prof. Arnold’s prolific career in oncology and haematology, as well as his extensive work with ESMO.

Prof. de Baere pointed out how the inclusion of a medical oncologist as the honorary lecturer at an interventional oncology congress demonstrates how essential multidisciplinary collaboration has become within the field. He concluded, “Dirk, we are very happy, we thank you for being part of us, for helping us to enlarge our spectrum and helping us to think globally.”

Prof. Arnold’s talk, entitled “Acting locally, thinking globally: the environment in the world of oncology” looked at several of-the-moment topics in IO, from oligometastatic disease and LAT, to TARE in MCRC, to ctDNA and much more. The “environment” in the title of his talk referred to the perspectives of tumour biology and clinical decisions, the organization of multidisciplinary decision making, new opportunities, and possibilities for the future. He ended the presentation on a poignant note, thanking CIRSE and Next Research (CIRSE’s contract research organization) for their commitment to forwarding IO research and suggesting that physicians keep their scientific interests nearby “in their pocket” while remembering the individuality of every patient.

You can watch Prof. Arnold’s full lecture on-demand via the congress platform here.

Dirk Arnold is the director of Asklepios Tumorzentrum Hamburg, a large network comprehensive cancer centre in Germany, and is the chairperson of the Department for Oncology, Haematology, and Rheumatology at the Asklepios Klinik Altona. To read his full bio, click here.

ECIO Poster Awards: Magna Cum Laude

The ECIO Scientific Programme committee awards the designations of Magna Cum Laude, Cum Laude, and Certificate of Merit to the most outstanding posters submitted to ECIO each year. We spoke to the winner of this year’s Magna Cum Laude distinction, Dr. Andrew Mikhail (Bethesda, MD/USA) for his team’s poster, “PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor-eluting radiopaque “immuno-beads” for “immuno-embolization” in woodchuck hepatocellular carcinoma.”

CIRSE: What motivated the research behind your poster?

Mikhail: Our team at the NIH Center for Interventional Oncology (CIO), led by Dr. Brad Wood, MD, Director, CIO, is interested in local delivery of immunotherapy using drug delivery systems such as drug-eluting embolic microspheres and gels. We believe that immune-modulating drugs delivered at the site of embolization could mitigate toxicity associated with systemic administration and better potentiate immune responses within the inflammatory, tumour antigen-rich microenvironment created by embolization.

The exquisite tumour access afforded by modern IO tools and imaging guidance systems enables numerous opportunities for temporo-spatial modulation of the tumour immune microenvironment by local delivery of immunotherapy. Our poster is an example of this emerging drug delivery framework whereby immune-modulating agents are delivered in a sustained, tumour-localized fashion directly at the site of embolization using embolic drug-eluting microspheres.

CIRSE: Why did you decide to submit a poster for ECIO 2023? What was the experience like?

Mikhail: ECIO provided a great opportunity to share our research on an international stage and, most importantly, to learn about the latest research, interventions, and global trends in IO. The conference also offered an opportunity to catch up with old friends, initiate connections and collaborations, and of course, explore beautiful Stockholm. I had a great experience as a first-time ECIO attendee.

CIRSE: Your poster was awarded Magna Cum Laude – what do you think made it stand out from the rest?

Mikhail: There were many fantastic posters and abstracts at ECIO 2023. On behalf of our team at the CIO (NIH), I’m honoured that our work received this distinction. I believe the interest in our research reflects the growing awareness and enthusiasm for local delivery of immunotherapy. I hope this recognition also reflects an acknowledgement of the importance of preclinical research in IO.

CIRSE: Anything else you’d like to mention?

Mikhail: I’d like to thank the ECIO Scientific Programme Committee for this honour. I’d also like to acknowledge all the members of our team and collaborators whose efforts, support, and contributions have made this work possible. Finally, I hope to see everyone again at ECIO 2024!

View Dr. Mikhail’s poster here. View all ECIO 2023 poster awards here.

The Best Scientific Paper Award

The Best Scientific Paper Award is given each year post-congress after consideration from both onsite congress attendees and the SPC. The winner receives free registration for an upcoming CIRSE congress of their choice and an invitation to submit a manuscript to CVIR

This year’s Best Scientific Paper Award goes to PhD candidate Florentine Timmer (Amsterdam/NL) for her talk “Pancreatic cancer resistance features during irreversible electroporation (IRE) as a biomarker for the adaptive immune response and survival.”

Congratulations to Ms. Timmer and her team! You can view her full presentation here via the ECIO 2023 platform.