When we first conceived of this issue’s cover story weeks after Hurricane Sandy, it seemed that the country might breathe a collective sigh of relief. Sandy had struck, and stakeholders started pulling together a response. The next hurricane season lay a distant eight months or so in the future. Many believed the next disaster wasn’t imminent.

But experts continue to remind us that disaster can strike at any time. Although many of us have acclimated to the milder winters of the last decade, Sandy was followed by a winter of epic proportions, with near-weekly blizzards pummelling the Northeast, providing a chilling reminder to take disaster readiness seriously.

The cover story brought a second surprise. We anticipated an IT story, bursting with tried-and-true formulas to help prepare for and ride out hurricanes, blizzards and tornadoes. And NYU Langone and Beth Israel Medical Center provide strategies to help others ready imaging and IT systems. However, the larger lesson focuses on human resources. The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy showed imagers that human capital is mission critical, a sound investment and sometimes, unrecognized.

One storm-shattered NYU Langone staff member bicycled to work for three days to join 60 colleagues to haul workstations to a new site three blocks away. And NYU radiologists, who aren’t exactly renowned for their chumminess, reported they preferred working in a communal reading environment over siloed, sub-specialized pods. CT staff upped productivity with one less scanner and one more technologist. The experience led the department to revise its reading room configuration and imaging workflows. 

In this issue, Health Imaging also dives into the research and practice of molecular medicine. Experts explain the process and potential barriers in “Imaging Frontiers: Theranostics.” Meanwhile, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, University of Arizona College of Medicine and Translational Genomics Research Institute have partnered to launch the Ronald A. Matricaria Institute of Molecular Medicine and aim to bring genomics research to the forefront of pediatrics. The photo essay illustrates the flip side of the research methods profiled in the theranostics feature.

We’ve packed this issue with other important updates on CT angiography training, lung cancer screening, stroke imaging and much more.

Finally, as you recover from winter’s wallop, please stay in touch. What storms has your practice faced? How have you revised operations in the wake? Please let us know.

Lisa Fratt, Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @LisaFrattHI
Email me: editor@healthimaging.com