Dr. Maria Cristina Chammas, director of the Ultrasound Service at InRad – HCFMUSP, who is currently vice-president 2 of WFUMB, will take office as president-elect along with the new board of the institution on September 6, during the World Congress of Ultrasound, which will take place in Melbourne, Australia.
The decision for the new members of the WFUMB executive committee was taken in December 2018. Usually there is an election with at least two candidates running for office, since there are six federations representing the continents and each one can propose its candidate. “There is not always a consensus. Theoretically there is a rotation, but this is not a norm. This time, all the federations supported my election, so there was no dispute, I was unanimously elected, which made me very honored”, says Dr. Maria Cristina.
During the event in Australia there will be an assembly, which will mark the inauguration of the new board. In 2021 Dr. Maria Cristina will take over as president, when the ceremony will take place in Romania, host country of the World Congress of Ultrasound. His term will last for two years, ending in 2023.
According to the future president, the job of a world leader in Ultrasound is to bring together physicians from different specialties who use the method as a diagnostic tool and to guide procedures. “Thus united, we act to defend, through education, the best practice of its use and enable, in addition to education, access to quality Ultrasound in several remote, poor and developing areas of the planet. In these regions, with difficult access to more expensive diagnostic imaging methods, Ultrasonography can represent an excellent and often the only imaging diagnostic option,” he says.
Dr. Maria Cristina Chammas reinforces the Brazilian presence at the head of WFUMB, which already had Prof. Dr. Giovanni Guido Cerri as president from 2006 to 2009. “The feeling is one of great responsibility and, with regard to being the first woman, I believe that it should not be a highlight because, as we know, women have intellectual and leadership capacity equal to individuals male, so it is a position that should have been held by women before. However, within the historical-cultural context, which is not limited to Brazil or Latin America, we observe female empowerment globally and, in that sense, I feel honored to contribute and be part of this process. I am very flattered to be able to be a spark of inspiration for younger generations of women, encouraging them to occupy leadership positions. I always emphasize that, when there is an opportunity based on merit and competence, women must assume these positions, as well as men, and stop being, as it has been until now, a peripheral figure in this chain. I can only thank my peers for supporting me in this endeavor, especially Prof. Giovanni Cerri, who always valued and encouraged the women around him to play this role”, he concludes.
In the photo, Dr. Maria Cristina Chammas during the Flaus Congress. On his left side are Dolores Bustelo (president of the SRP), Denise Martineli, Antônio Carlos Matteoni da Athayde (former president of the CBR) and, on the right side, Dr. Alair Sarmet Santos (President of CBR) and Dr. Peter Francolin (member of CEAR)