From the Executive Director: ABR Announces Board Leadership Transitions
ABR Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA
October 2026;19(5):3
At the close of the annual ABR Board of Governors (BOG) meeting this month, Cheri Canon, MD, will complete 10 years of service as a board member and a two-year term as ABR president. Appointed as the Trustee for abdominal imaging in 2016, she transitioned to the BOG in 2018 and served four years as chair of the Professionalism Committee. Dr. Canon’s thoughtful and inclusive leadership consistently brought out the best in her ABR colleagues as they advanced the organization’s mission and vision. She currently serves as president of the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation (UAHSF) and chief physician executive of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System.
Dr. Canon will be succeeded by John Kaufman, MD, an interventional radiologist on the faculty of the Dotter Department of Interventional Radiology at Oregon Health and Science University. Recognized for his leadership in the Society of Interventional Radiology, Dr. Kaufman joined the Board in 2014 as a Trustee for interventional radiology. Through his work with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Medical Specialties, both before and during his ABR service, he was instrumental in establishing the certification pathway for interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology as a distinct specialty. Among his many ABR roles, Dr. Kaufman has served as secretary-treasurer and the Bylaws Committee chair.
In another leadership transition at the close of the BOG meeting, Anne Covey, MD, will begin a two-year term as chair of the Board of Trustees (BOT). Appointed to the Board as a Trustee for interventional radiology in 2017, she serves on the faculty of the David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The BOT chair is a unique position that includes a simultaneous appointment to both the BOT and the BOG. As the liaison between the two boards, Dr. Covey will bring together the organization’s strategic, policy, and operational elements with the assessment functions developed by subject matter experts (the Trustees and more than 1,300 other volunteers). Dr. Covey succeeds Matthew Podgorsak, PhD, who has served as BOT chair for the past four years.
I know I speak for all ABR staff when I say that we are grateful for the generous efforts and enthusiastic support of our volunteers. Transitions like these remind us how fortunate we are to have exceptional board leaders who are willing to oversee and guide the organization’s structure, functions, and direction; adapt to changing circumstances; and provide innovative solutions to new challenges.
