As the national French radiology conference, JFR 2025, looms large, radiologists can look forward to a raft of new features and topics, according to congress president Prof. Mathieu Lederlin. In part 2 of this interview, he tells us about his hopes and expectations for the meeting, which begins in Paris on 3 October.
“What I really want is a pragmatic hands-on conference, and for radiologists to return to work with knowledge they can immediately implement to improve daily practice,” he said, adding that this year’s main theme is “images through life,” covering all aspects of the patient, with a particular focus on the elderly and children. “These patients are ‘radiologically’ vulnerable because there isn’t enough imaging care provided to them, so it’s important to promote pediatric and geriatric radiology.”
To this end, the JFR will provide a series of 10 thematic courses, both in pediatric and geriatric imaging, covering all organ subspecialties.
Prof. Mathieu Lederlin discusses exciting new features at this year’s JFR. Videos produced by Christof.G.Pelz | GRAFIFANT Creation | www.grafifant.at | 2025
The second theme of the congress is “the patient experience,” covering the relationship between radiologists and patients. “Radiologists don’t always have enough interaction with patients, especially in CT and MRI. However, even a minute spent with patients to let them know that we will take the time to thoroughly look at their exam could go a long way to reassuring them that they are in safe hands,” said Lederlin, who is head of the thoracic and cardiovascular imaging department at the 1,800-bed Pontchaillou University Hospital in Rennes.
He noted that this radiologist-patient relationship has been damaged in recent years due to the increasing volume of imaging, the rise of teleradiology, and also financialization. Therefore, there will be several sessions focused on improving that relationship, including “the big conference,” a plenary session dedicated to the patient experience that was organized by Dr. Marie-France Bellin, PhD, and Dr. Alain Luciani, PhD.
Signature features
Lederlin wants JFR to be not only educational and focused on innovation that improves radiological care but also fun and artistic. He has asked all speakers to finish their talk with a “three messages that matter” slide. The goal is for every delegate to leave the JFR with clear, precise, and concise take-home messages. He also has a few tricks up his sleeve in terms of entertainment and culture.
“I want people to have fun at the JFR because I believe that’s when you learn best,” he said. “There will be eight case sessions called ‘Experts Without a Safety Net,’ which will be exciting and also a bit stressful, because the experts will discover the cases with no preparation, on a DICOM workstation, at the same time as the audience.”
These sessions on chest, musculoskeletal, neuro, urogenital, oncologic, gastrointestinal, breast, gynecologic, and cardiac imaging will be organized like a quiz, with two teams each comprising three experts aiming to diagnose a set of six difficult mystery cases, three for each team. There will also be “controversy” sessions, in which experts will debate on controversial topics, sometimes playing devil’s advocate and taking a point of view that they don’t support in reality.
Prof. Mathieu Lederlin and his colleague Dr. Stéphanie Luzi discuss their strategy and plans for JFR.
“It will be like theatre. Participants will engage in animated debate, and it could get quite loud! But there will be a moderator who will provide practical and educational messages at the end,” Lederlin said.
The congress will also provide cultural breaks to help delegates unwind. Two jazz pianists (a mathematician and a radiologist) will entertain attendees at the opening session on Saturday with duets, while on Sunday afternoon, Dr. Charles Mellerio, PhD, will present a neurology session on the impact of music on musicians’ brains. Two “twitcher” radiologists, one being renowned cardiac radiologist Prof. Jean-Nicolas Dacher, will reveal the link between recognizing birds and interpreting radiological signs in a session on radiology and ornithology on Monday morning.
This year’s honorary lecture will be given by French writer Jean-Christophe Rufin. “Rufin is not just a writer, he’s also a neurologist, pioneer in French humanitarian medical organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Action Against Hunger (Action contre la Faim), diplomat, former ambassador, and also a traveler and mountaineer. He is a brilliant author, fantastic speaker and sharp analyst of the big issues we face today,” noted Lederlin.
The main focus of all Rufin’s work -- the human being -- resonated strongly with the JFR’s themes of the patient and the radiologist-patient relationship, according to Lederlin. “Rufin will talk about the human being in medicine, in politics and in literature, bringing a breath of culture and adventure to all delegates, especially the younger generation. I would like the radiologists of tomorrow to be more than experts behind their screens using AI tools. I also want them to be connected to their patients, and open to humanity and to the world around them.”
President’s choice
And of the 450+ sessions at the JFR, which would Lederlin recommend as his top three?
“It's almost impossible to select just three sessions, but I’m really looking forward to modern imaging of epilepsy led by Dr. Charles Mellerio on Saturday afternoon. It’s a fascinating topic that spans the whole age spectrum and details what is expected of radiologists,” he noted. (Imagerie de l'épilepsie - de l’enfant à la personne âgée, qu'attend-t-on du radiologue? Saturday 4 October, 2 pm, Room 252).
Prof. Mathieu Lederlin reveals why Saturday’s JFR session on imaging of epilepsy is one of his “must-sees.”
In addition, he pointed to a Sunday morning session on elderly patients in emergency departments, led by Dr. Ingrid Millet, which aims to highlight the specific needs of this fragile population to improve imaging for them. (Le sujet âgé aux urgences: mieux comprendre pour mieux imager, Sunday, 5 October, 8.15 am, Room 241)
“I’d also mention the session on care pathways for patients with prostate conditions, with Profs. Marc Sapoval and Vincent Vidal on Sunday at 1pm. It’s a very relevant topic because interventional radiology of the prostate will replace surgery in a number of indications. Radiologists need to promote it to patients as it’s more efficient, less invasive, and has fewer adverse effects,” Lederlin said. (Radiologie interventionnelle prostatique: le parcours patient, Sunday, 5 October, 1 pm, Agora)
International program
JFR 2025 will welcome attendees from around 70 nationalities each year, and the organizers have created an entire program in English. The “Your JFR” program allows any non-French speaker to attend the whole four days of the congress. It will include the following: What's new about cardiomyopathy in 2025, prostate cancer imaging, infectious pneumonias upon return from travel, new insights of brain metabolism in clinical practice (a Chinese and French joint session); two American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP) sessions (intratesticular tumors and major scrotal pitfalls; key pathologic and clinical concepts for prostate MRI); an executive leadership session on AI in global focus; and a joint session from the French and Korean Societies of Abdominal Radiology.
There will also be three “International Benchmark” roundtable discussions in French, in which radiologists from four countries (three European countries and France) will discuss resident training, the organization of teleradiology, and the radiologist-patient relationship.
Strategic plan for radiology
A lively topic that seems likely to crop up at JFR is the recent opposition to the new strategic plan for radiology written by two French government bodies, the IGAS (general inspectorate of social affairs) and the IGS (general inspectorate of finance).
“The report was negatively received by the profession because it contained numerous factual errors and it demonstrated a profound ignorance of what radiology is, of its central and crucial role in the healthcare system,” Lederlin said. “The authors of this report have not understood how important radiology is to the quality of healthcare in France. For every patient, radiology improves, accelerates, and simplifies the care pathway. In 2025, it is impossible to provide healthcare without strong and efficient radiology.”
Expanding congress
Like last year, delegates will have access to the Interventional Radiology Village, the Ultrasound Village, and, new to JFR last year, the simulation space. This area was such a big hit in 2024 that this year it will be twice as large. Delegates will be able to train on phantoms or virtual flow simulators under the guidance of experts in both endovascular and percutaneous simulation.
The JFR Agora, with its boxing ring setup, will still host debates and roundtables, but there will also be a new Clinical Cases Agora, where experts from all subspecialties will present their most interesting cases.
Back by popular demand is the Data Challenge, this year focused on stroke, and the JFR escape game themed on the mysterious disappearance of a fictional medical student.
Wrapping up
Overall, Lederlin encourages radiologists to attend the congress due to its strong focus on patients and the thrilling “experts without a safety net” and controversy sessions, as well as its comprehensive international program. “Honestly, with all that, if you’re still not coming to JFR, I’m not sure what else I can do!” he said.
When he is not organizing the JFR or caring for patients, how does Prof. Mathieu Lederlin spend his time? This sports enthusiast divulges his post-conference promise.
