Western Angiographic & Interventional Society

A forum for advances in minimally invasive,

image-guided procedures

About WAIS

More than 54 years ago, a few West Coast Interventional Radiologists held the first annual Western Angio Club; establishing a forum for collaborative discussion about new procedures for image guided therapies. These visionaries included well-known WAIS members, Dr. Charles Dotter (OHSU), Dr. Josef Rösch (OHSU) and Dr. A. Franklin Turner (UCLA).

In 1970, the Western Angiography Society was formally incorporated by 37 founding members and 3 officers: Dr. James Lecky, Dr. Alan Davidson, and Dr. Stewart Reuter. The mission of the Society was to provide a forum to share new ideas and to learn from each other's successes, failures and innovative techniques. Many of those first pioneers made valuable contributions towards improving patient care through the development of new techniques to treat disease. Others published research findings or worked with engineers to design new catheters and implantable devices, ultimately creating a new industry where minimally invasive procedures provided alternative treatments to peripheral vascular disease, aneurysms, cancer, stroke and many other vascular and non-vascular conditions.

Today, the Western Angiographic & Interventional Society is proud to continue the legacy of its founders through an annual forum for advancements in minimally invasive, image-guided procedures. Attendees benefit from interactive discussion in the M&M Sessions, as well as a broad spectrum of topics from today's thought leaders. Although our conference delegation has grown considerably, we strive to maintain the values that the Society was founded on and that are uniquely ... WAIS. Those include

a single general session hall vs. breakouts that fractionate attendees into separate rooms,
interactive discussions between faculty and audience,
dedicated time in the exhibit hall where attendees engage with industry about products and clinical needs,
a focus on connectivity, community well-being and clinician self care.
reflect on patient populations impacted by the WAIS program to best determine how cultural and linguistic factors should be addressed.
discuss disparities in care affecting the patient populations impacted by the WAIS program, and the role implicit bias plays in these disparities.

Mission

The Western Angiographic & Interventional Society was incorporated in 1970 to maintain the highest standard of patient care, providing quality, timely continuing education programs for member physicians and allied health care professionals.

Membership Region

The WAIS membership region covers 15 Western States and British Columbia Canada, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and British Columbia Canada.

Members who joined WAIS while practicing in the member region but now reside outside the region may remain members as long as member status is maintained as active and in good standing.

For questions about membership criteria visit Membership Webpage.

Conference Objectives and Formats

The professional goal of WAIS is achieved through an annual seminar combining scientific presentations (by Society members and invited non-member experts), practical interactive discussion sessions, hands-on workshops and professional networking between members and guests.

Annual lectures include the M&M Case Presentations, Rapid Fire Clinical Rundown and The Charles T. Dotter Memorial Lecture. Each year, the Dr. Charles T. Dotter lecture is given by an invited international expert in the field of Interventional Radiology with special emphasis on visionary topics such as newer modalities, long-term results of various therapies, professional development and quality control and monitoring.

The Coons-Dotter Lecture

The Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecture has been renamed! Beginning 2024, Western Angiographic & Interventional Society will honor its longest-standing member and director, Dr. Harold Coons and its most infamous founding member, Dr. Charles Dotter with the renaming of this annual keynote lecture.

Click here to see a list of our past Dotter lecturers (1982-2023).

Click here to see a list of our past Coons-Dotter Lecturers (2024-current).

About Dr. Harold Coons

Dr. Harold Coons completed his MD and Residency at UCLA and Fellowship at the VA Hospital in Los Angeles, CA. He also served in the US Air Force in San Antonio, TX where he held the rank of Major and was the Director of Angiography. From 1973-1996, Dr. Coons served as the Director of Interventional Radiology at Sharp Memorial Hospital, San Diego, CA. He joined WAIS as a member in 1975 and has held the legacy director position on the Board since 1985. He is the longest active member of WAIS.

About Dr. Charles T. Dotter

Dr. Charles Theodore Dotter (14 June 1920 – 15 February 1985) is known as "The Father of Interventional Radiology. Having performed the first angioplasty on January 16th, 1964, Dr. Dotter is credited with developing the field of Interventional Radiology and pioneering minimally invasive procedures. He practiced at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR and was also one of the founding members of the Western Angiographic & Interventional Society in 1970 and was a member until 1985.