We are saddened to announce that Ian Smith passed away on May 9. Ian was the sole Director General of the NRC Institute of Biodiagnostics in Winnipeg (with satellite locations in Halifax and Calgary) from its opening in 1992 until it closed in 2013. Before that, some of you may have known him from his time in Ottawa, where he started as Group Leader in Molecular Biophysics at NRC in 1968 and then Director General of the NRC Institute of Biological Sciences from 1987 to 1992. Ian’s lab in Ottawa was one of the first sites in Canada to possess a clinical MRI system. Under Ian’s leadership, the NRC pioneered several technologies in biomedical imaging, including MRI, optical imaging, and EEG/MEG. Many of the developments were well ahead of their time, including near-infrared spectroscopy for measuring blood oxygenation and blood volume, cancer imaging, MRI-guided surgery, motion tracking and correction for MRI (becoming increasingly popular), and low-field MRI (now very popular!).
During and after his time in Ottawa, Ian influenced many past and present OMPI members. His obituary can be found here https://www.ethicaldeathcare.com/obits/smith-ian.