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From 26 February to 2 March 2025, we attended the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna, one of the largest radiology conferences in the world.
This year’s theme, Planet Radiology, underscored the role that imaging plays in healthcare across the globe and the urgent need to make Radiology more sustainable. A key feature of the event was the In Focus programme, which highlighted innovative radiology initiatives making a difference in underserved regions, an area of work central to our mission.
Our role at ECR 2025
At this year’s Congress, our Founder and Director Dr Liz Joekes, and Professor Tinu Agunloye, Chair of the Faculty of Radiology of the West African College of Surgeons, represented Worldwide Radiology in key discussions on global health radiology.
They presented on Prof Agunloye’s work preparing the first radiologist training programme in The Gambia and on the growing role of teleradiology and Global Health partnerships in supporting under-resourced healthcare systems.
Liz and Tinu also took part in an engaging studio discussion, introducing the In Focus programme. They explored how Imagers worldwide, including those in well-resourced settings, can contribute to improving access to imaging through volunteering, research collaborations, advocacy, and financial support.
“Imagers can make a positive impact in a whole variety of ways. The most obvious ones people tend to think of are volunteering time for teaching or maybe donating equipment. Those are really valuable contributions when well-planned and aligned with the needs of our partners. We have many volunteers providing such education, but we also have projects where imagers participate in research and in clinical service, for example by remotely contributing to a Multidisciplinary Cancer Team meeting.” – Dr Liz Joekes
Together, they presented during the session on “Teleservices: supporting care from afar”. Sharing our experiences on safety and sustainability in international tele-services, a key pillar of WWR’s work.
Our interactive poster exhibition in the In Focus Lounge also provided an opportunity to showcase WWR’s tele-services model and how structured Global Health partnerships can foster ethical and sustainable radiology collaborations.
Key takeaways and learnings
For Liz, one of the most exciting aspects of ECR 2025 was the first-time, dedicated focus on bringing together and recognising such a range of inspiring people and projects, all working towards solutions to improve access to imaging in under-resourced regions.
“Some are doing very similar things to our projects at Worldwide Radiology, like Point of Care Ultrasound training for doctors in remote areas of Brazil. Others are working on very different projects that we can take inspiration from.” – Dr Liz Joekes
One of the biggest challenges in achieving the WHO’s goal of Health for All is how to reach the large majority of patients who cannot access services, whether due to distance, financial barriers, or lack of infrastructure and staff. This especially applies to Radiology, which is traditionally hospital based.
“Some of the solutions presented in the In Focus Programme I found particularly exciting as they really targeted the challenge of reaching this large and neglected group of patients.” – Dr Liz Joekes
One example was a presentation on the development of AI-enabled Point of Care Ultrasound for the assessment and triage of women presenting with a breast lump.
This solution, which can be delivered at community healthcare level, shows great promise as a viable alternative in the fight against breast cancer in regions where mammography is not feasible or appropriate.
Tinu’s first experience at ECR
For Professor Tinu Agunloye, attending ECR for the first time was an inspiring and rewarding experience.
“The special In Focus session on Global Radiology highlighting various innovations to improve access to imaging for underserved populations was an eye-opener and inspirational. Different individuals, groups, NGOs… ordinary but concerned people … are tackling the problem from many angles.” – Professor Tinu Agunloye
Tinu was particularly intrigued by ECR’s sustainability sessions, which addressed the environmental impact of radiology—an area often overlooked.
“The contrast media we use in MRI Radiology apparently can pool in the waters, and learning of the various ways to reduce or eliminate this contamination was empowering. I learnt different AI solutions like image synthesis and alternate ways of collecting urine post-imaging to reduce water contamination.” – Professor Tinu Agunloye
A special highlight for Tinu was meeting a former student from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, who is now a radiology resident in the UK.
“He was in the first set of students who went through the revised medical school curriculum, which increased the exposure to Radiology from 2 weeks to 8 weeks. He confirmed quite a few of his classmates are in Radiology residency within and outside Nigeria, because of the increased exposure they had.” – Professor Tinu Agunloye
For her, this reinforced the impact of early exposure to radiology in medical education as a means of addressing the global shortage of radiologists, particularly in West Africa.
Tinu also attended the Student Session 2 at ECR and was impressed by the research presentations from medical students around the world, including one from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She believes that student involvement in imaging research is another effective way to increase interest in radiology careers.
Looking ahead
WWR’s participation in ECR 2025 was a great opportunity to engage with like-minded professionals, share insights, and explore new collaborations. We were glad to see participation from remote locations, including online attendees from Uganda and Somalia, reflecting the growing global connectedness of the imaging community.
Tinu emphasised the importance of encouraging greater participation from West Africa and other LMICs at future ECRs, suggesting that a discount incentive for attendees from lower-income countries could help make this possible.
“Very few colleagues were present from Nigeria and West Africa. It would be nice if there is a discount incentive for participants from LMICs to attend more.” – Professor Tinu Agunloye
Reflecting on our time at ECR, Liz noted:
“It was a fantastic and important opportunity for Imaging in fragile and limited resource healthcare settings to be in the spotlight. We thank the organisers for their vision to select this topic as the In Focus programme. My hope is that this initiative will continue to grow and ultimately become a recognised sub-speciality area in Radiology. Led by and in close partnership with our colleagues across the world who are the ones responsible for delivering these imaging services for their patients” – Dr Liz Joekes
We look forward to continuing these conversations and collaborating on innovative solutions to improve global access to radiology.
If you’d like to learn more about our work or get involved, please contact us at admin@worldwideradiology.org.
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