Sydney is set to welcome the latest cutting-edge magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) global leaders and technology at an international conference secured for Australia. The New South Wales (NSW) Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Stuart Ayres, and Business Events Sydney (BESydney) CEO, Lyn Lewis-Smith, today jointly announced the high-profile win, worth more than A$19 million in direct expenditure for the State.
“The annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM 2020) will draw up to 6,000 of the world’s top scientists and technologists to NSW during the seven-day event in 2020. Sydney continues to be Australia’s leading host city for international medical and technology conferences, which in turn bolster our economy,” Mr Ayres said.
Ms Lewis-Smith confirmed Sydney faced fierce international competition.
“BESydney worked tirelessly to secure this event, competing with four other major cities in Asia. It will feature top clinicians, physicists, engineers and biochemists as they explore the latest life-saving technologies, such as new MRI techniques that are leading to reduced need for brain surgery,” Ms Lewis-Smith said. “Hosting this event will boost industry and showcase local innovation while increasing the profile of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics which are crucial for the future.”
On 19 February, Minister Ayres met ISMRM Executive Director, Roberta Kravitz, in San Francisco. Conversation ranged across the organisation’s goal to promote global innovation, development and the application of resonance techniques in medicine, including how Sydney can play a greater role in the future of the sector.
NSW has an impressive record of achievement in health and medical research, making significant contributions to discoveries internationally. The State is also at the forefront of emerging fields such as genomics, biobanking and bioinformatics. Sydney is headquarters to many large pharmaceutical, medical suppliers and device companies such as Pfizer Australia, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Resmed, Cochlear and Leica Biosystems.
The opportunity to bring a global conference to Australia provides an opportunity to create a lasting impact on health issues in the host country. Sydney hosted the International Congress of Obesity in 2006 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event showcased Australian research to more than 2,200 delegates from 56 countries around the world and helped raise awareness of obesity on the Australian Government agenda. Indeed the Charles Perkins Centre (CPC) owes its very existence to that impact. Through this new focus, funding was secured for the Centre of Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Sydney which led to the $385 million building that is the Research and Teaching Hub of the Charles Perkins Centre.
The world-leading research and education hub is the focal point of Australia’s efforts to address humanity’s greatest health challenges and is the heart of CPC. Cardiovascular disease alone is a major killer of post-reproductive women in Australia and around the world. It’s never been more important to find real-world solutions to cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.
