ISMRM ShowCast Roundup: 'Ubuntu', the meeting's theme | The state of MRI in Africa | Using AI, fMRI

May 19, 2026

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

Last week we were in Cape Town, South Africa, covering the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine's (ISMRM) annual meeting. The gathering hosted clinicians and investigators from around the world -- but particularly from the African continent -- who shared dynamic research findings as well as ideas for how to not only best integrate MRI into the healthcare continuum but also to tackle healthcare discrepancies around the world.

The meeting's theme was Ubuntu, a South African term that translates to "I am, because we are." In a series of interviews we conducted at the conference, both in written and video form, MRI experts highlighted how their talks addressed this theme. For example, incoming president Petra Hüppi, MD, spoke of the society's interdisciplinary collaboration, and the organization's program committee chair Kathryn Keenan, PhD, discussed in particular the teamwork between radiologists and physicists. Lauterbur lecturer Kirsten Donald, MBChB, PhD, spoke on using MRI to improve children's lives; Maruf Adewole, PhD, outlined how MRI and AI can expand and improve patient care; Yaw Mensah, MD, discussed West Africa's role in the global MRI community; and Katja Pinker, MD, described advancements in breast MRI.

Key presentations during the meeting outlined the state of MRI across the African continent, reporting on challenges African radiologists face when it comes to training-related research barriers and a Kenyan radiologist's take on MRI use in that country.

We also covered research that explored how AI can be used with MRI -- for example, to track the effect of early breast cancer treatment -- and the benefits of functional MRI (fMRI) for everything from detecting asthma treatment responses and identifying brain differences tied to psychological resilience among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to measuring neural activity using a 7-tesla compatible piano.

Check out our top 10 stories from the conference, listed below -- and since there's so much content not mentioned in this note, be sure to take a look at our ISMRM ShowCast for full meeting coverage.