The Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR) announced the dedication of its 2006 Annual Meeting to Roger A. Bauman, MD, a pioneer in imaging informatics who passed away in November.

Dr. Roger Bauman’s career can be described as inclusive of a number of “firsts” -- helping realize the first radiology reporting system to use barcodes, leading the team that developed the first computer-based automated radiology scheduling system, transitioning from the Radiology Information Systems Consortium (RISC) to be among the first members of SCAR, being elected one of the first Fellows of SCAR, and serving as the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Digital Imaging.

Though being first in many endeavors is illustrative of Dr. Bauman’s great interest in radiological informatics, it is hardly sufficient to convey even a sketch of his visionary professional career.  Roger had an unusual clinical training background, having served with the Public Health Service aboard an oceanographic ship at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Alaska and with Native Americans on Annette Island.  This certainly shows that he had a willingness to work in both diverse and challenging environments.  That he later went on to pioneer informatics projects in radiology (when only very few others were doing so) bespeaks the same sort of spirit.

It was Dr. Bauman’s combination of a vision for the future, his interest in academic medicine, and his dedication to RISC and SCAR that led him to accept the position as the first Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Digital Imaging.  He did this knowing how much effort it would require and that he would have minimal staff.  It is remarkable that he was able to get JDI accepted by Index Medicus within a year of the start of publication; most new journals require from two to four years to accomplish this.  This acceptance resulted in a tremendous benefit for authors who had papers accepted by the Journal, in that it provided a way for the many thousands of Medline users to find relevant JDI papers and a validation of the Journal as a peer-reviewed publication.

Roger also helped act in a “translational” role when he saw that research he was conducting could form the basis for new commercial products or would help enhance products already in use.  Speech recognition systems, radiology information systems, and PACS all benefited from work that Dr. Bauman and his colleagues did.

For those SCAR members fortunate enough to have known and worked with Roger, we will miss his friendship, guidance, and wit and we will remember him with great fondness.  For all of us, we should understand how much of modern radiological informatics Roger influenced either directly through his years of research or indirectly through the Journal of Digital Imaging. 

It is quite fitting that we dedicate this year’s SCAR Scientific Program to his memory and continue to remember him by naming the best student paper award in his honor.