192. Cheryl Kreider Carey, CAE, CEO of SIIM, on Building Bridges Across Imaging, AI, and Creating a Culture of Belonging

What does it take for a 45-year-old association to continually reinvent itself in a field being transformed by digitization and AI? And how can an association bring together professionals from different specialties, roles, and organizations to help shape the future of an entire field?In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Cheryl Kreider Carey, CAE, CEO of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM). Cheryl discusses:How imaging informatics sits at the intersection of medical imaging, digital health, and technology management.How SIIM membership grew by more than 20% in 2025 as the association expands its reach across imaging specialties.How SIIM’s nearly 3,000 members represent five different personas, including clinicians across imaging specialties, scientists, developers, vendors, and imaging IT experts.How the organization’s ethos, “You Belong at SIIM,” reflects its commitment to bringing these different communities together.Why Cheryl describes SIIM as a “45-year-old startup.” The organization has reinvented itself as medical imaging evolved from film to digital and has had three different names over its 45-year history.How Cheryl works to create what she calls an “invisible culture,” inspired by successful sports coaches who build team chemistry that ultimately produces visible results. At SIIM, she describes the culture as “high emotional intelligence, low ego.”How SIIM partnered with the Digital Pathology Association to create a Bridge Pass: one streamlined payment that allows participants to attend both SIIM’s annual conference and the Pathology Visions Conference.How SIIM has been ahead of the curve on artificial intelligence, holding its first AI conference in 2017 and continuing to convene professionals around AI ever since.References:SIIM WebsiteBridge Pass Program