October 2007

New Staff Hires and Promotions: October 30, 2007

Aloma L. D'Souza, PhD, joined the Department in July of 2007 as the laboratory manager for Dr. Gary Glazer, MD. Together with Dr. Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, she has been busy establishing the new research laboratory that focuses on the study of prognostic cancer biomarkers. Dr. D'Souza received her doctorate degree and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry at Rush University, Chicago, where her research centered on cartilage biomarkers, in vitro engineered cartilage, and osteoarthritis. Prior to Stanford, Dr. D'Souza worked at Genentech, Inc., in the Department of Molecular Oncology. Her work included the functional identification and characterization of tumor over-expressed proteins and the evaluation of potential targets for intervention with therapeutic agents. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, painting, and art and architecture appreciation.

2007 RSL Post-Retreat Update

By Julie Ruiz, PhD
(thanks also to Donna Cronister and David Paik, PhD, for their contributions to this article)

The RSL had another productive and fun retreat at Asilomar this past September (for the pre-retreat blog article, please see http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/09/2007_rsl_retrea.html). Among the highlights were the group introductions. Like last year, the group introductions were informative as well as entertaining. This year, each RSL group was asked to create an advertising campaign--a TV, radio, web, or print ad--to explain what the group does and why it is important. You can view the introductory presentations from the groups of Drs. Norbert Pelc and Dan Spielman at http://www.stanford.edu/~smazin/pelcgroupintro2007/inversitis.wmv and http://www.stanford.edu/~pritib/MRSvsMRI.wmv, respectively.

Our guest speakers included Thorne Lay, PhD, professor in the Earth Sciences Department and director of the Center for Studies of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Dr. Kelly Skeff, professor of medicine (general internal medicine). Dr. Lay delivered our key note address on geophysical imaging. He discussed how scientists infer the structure of the earth's core by looking at the seismic data collected worldwide; he also addressed the challenges involved in the visualization of their data. Dr. Skeff's presentation on good teaching practices produced a very interactive discussion about teaching, which was applicable to all kinds of pedagogy.

Other highlights included RSL Family Feud; karaoke night; a photo contest; an RSL sweatshirt for retreat participants; and a productive town hall meeting.

Norbert

Wendy

Donna Cronister summarized the items raised during the RSL town hall meeting as follows:

"1. Key operator for printers, copiers/fax machine: Designate a person on each floor to maintain the printers/copiers. This does not mean simply replacing empty toner cartridges but keeping an eye on the equipment to insure that the proper supplies are on hand and that the equipment is operating properly (i.e., high copy quality, not jamming, etc.).

2nd floor: 4 printers/1 copier/1 fax (Marlys is the key operator).

1st floor: 4 printers (1.5T and 3D Lab--soon to be 5 printers when the second 3T comes online; 1 copier (1.5T). Keesha is responsible for the 3D Lab printers. Anne, Sandra, and Romi are responsible for the printers located in magnet suites.

Basement: 3 printers (including the 3T magnet suite)/1 copier/1 fax. Sharon will be the key person for the copiers at this level. Marlys will keep an eye on the copier.

Sublevel: 2 printers (including the 7T magnet suite)/1 copier (Lanzie's office)/1 fax. Lanzie will be responsible for the copier, fax, and printer in PS055. Anne, Sandra, and Romi will be the contacts for the 7T magnet.

2. Stocking kitchens: Designate a person on each floor to keep the kitchen stocked with plates, napkins, cups*, utensils, and coffee/tea supplies. Marlys has an order for regular delivery of coffee, creamers, etc. If we run low on supplies, please contact her. Marlys will maintain the kitchen on the second floor. Sharon is our basement stocker, and Lanzie is our sublevel stocker!

*The subject of paper cups stirred a rousing conversation about conservation. We would like to change our attitudes about using paper cups. Everybody must have a mug at home they can donate (e.g., 'World's Best Mom'; 'I Heart You'; etc.); you know the mugs I am talking about. If you do not have a cup or cannot afford a cup, then a cup will be provided to you free of charge. Of course, a real cup requires real washing, but we are adults, and nobody would have to be reminded to wash their cup and put it away!

3. Recycling: We have recycling bins/barrels located in strategic areas throughout the center. Please use them. At the entrance of each galley located on the Medical School Lab Surge (MSLS) side of the building are large recycling barrels for cans/bottles and mixed paper. If you do happen to see an overflowing recycling bin in our area, please do not hesitate to empty them into these barrels. The barrels are on wheels and, therefore, are mobile, and they can be moved to your area if you have a large scale paper clean up. The reason I do not have them located on our side of the building is because of the following: 1) SPACE and 2) Since the second floor is carpeted, I would rather that the dirty recycling barrels, which are emptied weekly by the Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc. (PSSI), are not wheeled across the carpeting, especially in the muddy, rainy season. A small electronic waste receptacle is located near the basement elevator. If you need to recycle CDs, cell phones, pagers, small drives, zip drives, and memory sticks, this is the place to do it. These receptacles are emptied biweekly. Also, please recycle batteries in the small canister on the second floor. There are also battery recycling containers located at the MSLS galleys next to the large recycling barrels.

4. PCards and Reimbursements: I have asked Luis if he and I could present, at an RSL group meeting, a quick overview of what can and cannot be purchased with the PCard. Also, we will provide a travel 'cheat sheet' for you in order to reduce the amount of time for your reimbursement. This will explain what we can pay in advance, what documentation you will need when you have returned from the trip and request reimbursement, and WHY we need this documentation.

5. John has hung up two of the large pictures that were littering the hall.

6. John is looking into the best way to make the water cooler taller (6" or so) to accommodate some of our taller friends.

7. Somebody requested that Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM) and Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI) be added to the library. There is almost an entire MRI set down there already, including the really old ones when it was not a full-sized journal. Norbert offered to lend his bound set to the library as long as they do not walk off."

Awards and Honors: October 23, 2007

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology, was recently awarded the President's Medal for Outstanding Research in Bone and Joint Disease at the 2007 meeting of the International Skeletal Society. The President's Medal is given to members of the International Skeletal Society in honor of their outstanding scientific achievements on an international level. Recipients also receive a monetary award to support their research efforts.

New Staff Hires and Promotions: October 23, 2007

Eugenio L. de Hostos, PhD, became the new lab manager for the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) on September 1, 2007. As a senior research scientist, his background is in cell and molecular biology, particularly the biology of the cytoskeleton. Dr. de Hostos received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and earned his PhD from the Stanford Biology Department and the Carnegie Institute at Stanford in 1989. After graduating, Dr. de Hostos worked as a postdoctoral scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, and at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He was subsequently hired as an assistant professor at Rice University, but left academia to work in the biotechnology industry at Exelixis and Cytokinetics in south San Francisco. At Cytokinetics, he worked on the development of anti-cancer drugs that target mitosis. He enjoys traveling and spending time with his daughter and wife, who is also a scientist at Stanford.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Celebrating 5 Years of Service: Yi-Shan Yang

Yi-Shan Yang, PhD, began working at Stanford in 2000 as one of the T32 "Advanced Techniques for Cancer Imaging" postdoctoral trainees under the mentorship of Mark Bednarski, MD, PhD, after receiving her PhD in chemistry from Stanford. Dr. Yang's PhD research focused on applying high-field optical spectroscopy to study the oxygenation mechanism of metal containing proteins. In 2002, she joined the Lucas Center scientists as a research associate. At the Lucas Center, Dr. Yang's research centers on MR-guided genomic and proteomic analysis for target and biomarker identification; imaging characterization of vasculature development upon tumor progression; genomics and bioinformatics; anti-angiogenic therapy; and contrast agent development. Despite her busy schedule, she loves to spend time with her husband, who is a lawyer specializing in intellectual property, and her two sweet daughters, who are six and three and a half years old. She also likes to swim, do yoga, play the piano, and read.

The Vol Guy: A Conversation with Volney Van Dalsem, MD, Director of Outpatient Imaging at Sherman Avenue

Dr. Volney Van Dalsem and his wife, Jeanine

By Julie Ruiz, PhD

Chatting with Dr. Volney Van Dalsem was historical--we were sitting just a few feet away from where he had received his inspiration to become a radiologist 30 years earlier. In S-084 of the Grant building, the site of our staff lunches, Dr. Van Dalsem took his first medical school radiology class from Drs. Henry Jones and Norm Blank to prepare for his first surgery rotation so that he could become a surgeon like his father. And a few months later in an office down the hall, he remembered viewing an arteriogram of a rat kidney with what he characterized as "a geekish longing," and, at that moment, he realized that he wanted to be a radiologist. "What is so wonderful about radiology are the images," he told me. "I love the pictures! So when I saw the X-ray of the rat kidney, I thought 'Oh God, this is so cool; this is really fun!' I think I was the only guy who wanted to go into radiology in my class, but now it's very popular."

I could tell that he liked images because he emailed me several during our chat to show me other famous "Shermans" over the course of time; our center is in good company. As he pointed out to me, one of the earlier "Shermans" was the cartoon character "my boy Sherman" of "The Bullwinkle Show" (1961), which had a talking dog genius named Mister Peabody who had a pet boy named Sherman (http://www.toonopedia.com/peabody.htm). Sherman Avenue is also the namesake for the famous General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was criticized for his "scorched earth" policies (http://ngeorgia.com/ang/William_Tecumseh_Sherman). General Sherman fought in the Civil War and led his troops on the "March to the Sea," in which they basically burned Atlanta to the ground and burned and pillaged their way to Savannah, Georgia. Dr. Van Dalsem assured me that currently, "arson of our competitors doesn't figure prominently in our business plan, but that's only currently. If push comes to shove, we have a model in place." I know he was only kidding, but he did reveal to me that he was the chairman of the bonfire committee when he was an undergraduate at Stanford.

While he contemplated hanging pictures of these two famous "Shermans" in the lobby of Sherman, I asked him about his experience as a resident at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where so many of our faculty were his peers. He told me that when he was at UCSF 30 years ago, the chairman, Alex Margulis, MD, "who is a wonderful person and one of the really great figures in radiology, gathered a group of people around him who were brilliant but still personable, human, and fun. Now, it's 30 years later and it's the same thing. Gary [Glazer] has recruited some wonderful people to Stanford who had been at UCSF with me: Brooke Jeffrey, Bob Herfkens, Graham Sommer, and Rich Barth. So it's been a very comfortable transition for me and everyone has been so very welcoming."

Practicing for 27 years at El Camino, 11 of those as medical director, Dr. Van Dalsem fostered a close relationship with Stanford by working collaboratively on the interpretation of radiology examinations. While he really enjoyed working at El Camino Hospital, Dr. Van Dalsem could not turn down such a great opportunity to lead our Sherman Avenue outpatient imaging center at Stanford. Serving at El Camino has prepared him well for leading our center, and he brings exceptional clinical skills, local knowledge, and administrative expertise to our unique, new efforts in outpatient imaging: "I've had experience with the outside community by trying to provide for the consumers, not just the patients, but also for the physicians and the physicians' offices." While everyone at Stanford has made the transition very smooth and enjoyable for him, Dr. Van Dalsem did note that there were some adjustments he had to make: "I used to go to work in my dockers and scrub shirts, what I call my 'blood and barium' clothes. But here, I have to look vaguely professorial, so I had to go buy Oxford shirts and ties again." He pointed to his shirt and tie, which I noticed had small images of baseball fields that no longer exist.

I asked Dr. Van Dalsem about his goals for developing patient-centered radiology at Sherman. "When you are able to sit down with patients and go over their findings," he said, "it's really very helpful; people can take charge of their care. As radiologists, we have been willing to be very passive by not talking directly to the patient. Obviously, there are caveats. I think you need to be somewhat selective in the information that you give, whom you give it to, and what kind of follow-up you suggest. While we're part of the healthcare team and we share in the care of all patients, you have to remember that there is a bond and trust between a physician and his or her patients that has been built over time, and you don't want to intrude on this trust, so you need to be selective, and you have to tailor the consultation."

At the Sherman Avenue outpatient imaging center, Dr. Van Dalsem does envision direct communication between radiologists and their patients: "It may be possible to have a menu that a patient can choose from so that patients can receive their results by email, or email with a follow-up telephone conversation, or a consultation where they can come in and look at their images and discuss them with one of the radiologists." Toward this goal of developing more patient-centered care, Dr. Van Dalsem has worked locally on the healthcare arm of the Smart Valley Initiative by trying to establish a regional health information organization (RHIO) so that patients can transfer healthcare information among their healthcare providers.

Dr. Van Dalsem would also like to improve patient scheduling at our Sherman center. "I'd really like to try to implement some online system of scheduling so that patients can choose a time that works for them and not the other way around. I know there are scheduling issues, and Radiology is very complex. I think that Sherman will be fairly simple. There are only two modalities, so I think it's going to be easier for us to do something about scheduling. I'd like it to be a pilot for what scheduling in the rest of the Department could become."

In addition to patient care, volunteerism is also very important to Dr. Van Dalsem. He is currently the president of the California Radiological Society (CRS), and he is very involved in the American College of Radiology (ACR). His commitment is a way of "ensuring the quality and viability of the specialty," he told me. "I'm just so impressed with the leadership of the ACR and the physicians who care enough about the specialty that they are willing to put in extra time to maintain the quality and integrity of diagnostic imaging. I feel very privileged to be involved in the CRS and the ACR."

Given his commitment to volunteerism, it's fitting that he has a picture of "The Vol Guy" taped to his office door. "The Vol Guy" is the Vols (or "Volunteers") quarterback from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville football team. As a former Cal graduate, I couldn't resist asking about the Cal-Stanford Big Game, and I knew that he would probably appreciate, and maybe even welcome, a question about the Big Game because he was a former Stanford rugby player (he broke his left ulna in a rugby match weeks before his San Francisco General Hospital [SFGH] internship). Here's the X-ray of his fracture that he gave me to include with this article.

"Last year, they [Cal] kicked us around, but that's okay because every year, we have a couple more Nobel Prize winners, and we kicked Cal's XXXX in rugby routinely when I played for Stanford," he told me. "Even though I went to Cal's radiology program [UCSF], I still bleed Cardinal red, but I hate the tree. I do enjoy the band, though."

He met his wife of 33 years, Jeanine, at Stanford when she was a psychology major. She now does interior design. Although neither his son, Matt, nor his daughter, Kate, went to Stanford, Kate works at Stanford in travel/study in the Alumni Department. She is a University of California, Santa Barbara, graduate who may return to school for her degree in landscape architecture. His son, Matt, went to the University of California, Los Angeles, and then to Pepperdine for his MBA. He currently works in media marketing.

At the end of the interview, Dr. Van Dalsem did leave me with some words of wisdom, the same wisdom he shared with his children many times when they were growing up: "There is always going to be someone who is better, stronger, smarter, faster, and funnier than you, but don't ever let anyone outwork you or be nicer than you. Besides, if you're nice, you can get away with almost anything."

Announcements I: October 2007

The Radiology Interest Group Presents "Careers in Radiology: Panel and Meet and Greet": Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at 6:15 PM. The Radiology Interest Group and the Department of Radiology will be holding the second annual "Careers in Radiology: Panel and Meet and Greet." The purpose of the event is to introduce medical students to what life is like as a radiologist. Members of the Radiology faculty, along with fellows and residents, will be there to answer medical students' questions such as Why become a radiologist? What is the balance like between home, life, and work? What are the subspecialties in radiology? What does an interventional radiologist do versus a diagnostic radiologist? The event will be held at Nexus Cafe at the Clark Center on October 30 at 6:15 PM (a light dinner will be served). Please email Rebecca Rakow-Penner (rakow@stanford.edu) to RSVP or to ask any questions about the Radiology Interest Group.

Celebrating 10 Years of Service: Sondra Horn

Sondra Horn, accounting associate, worked at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as the financial coordinator for the Iacocca Institute before coming to Stanford. At Stanford, she was initially hired to manage the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) grant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with Dr. William Reynolds. From there, she joined the Computer Science Department where she worked with the Theory Group. When her family moved up to Elk Grove, California, she took a brief hiatus to get them settled. She returned to Stanford a few months later and began working as the division administrator in Pediatric Surgery at the School of Medicine. She next joined Dr. Gambhir's group, assisting Dr. Gambhir with managing his grants and contracts. She enjoys being at Stanford and being a part of the Department of Radiology and Dr. Gambhir's group. Sondra adds the following about her background: "I attended Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland. Being a native Californian, I wanted to see the world, and the school provided me that opportunity. I was a member of an elite choral group, and we toured exclusively on the East Coast. It was very exciting for a young kid from Hollister, California. I'm proud of my family heritage. I am a fourth-generation Californian! I'm married (my husband works in Student Housing at Stanford as a manager of technical trades), and we have two children. My daughter, Robyn, is 20, and she will graduate from Fresno State in May of 2008. My son, Ian, who is 19, is currently living at home and attending a community college, but he will start at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in the fall of 2008. I also live with three Golden Retrievers and a cat. My hobbies include quilting, traveling, and music."

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

New Staff Hires and Promotions: October 15, 2007

Deborah Burgstrum became the grants manager for our Department on July 16, 2007. She received her BS from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California, in business/accounting. Ms. Burgstrum has worked for Stanford for a total of 14 years, which includes 7 years in research administration. She spent 10 of the 14 years in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and then moved to the Medical School, spending approximately 4 years in Pathology and Infectious Diseases before moving to Radiology. However, she says that "Radiology is the 'keeper'" and that she's "planning to be here a long time." In her spare time, she makes jewelry as a hobby, and she has an interest in ancient history and the arts, which includes a love for wandering through art museums. She is also a cat person.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

New Faculty Hires and Promotions: October 8, 2007

Patrick Barnes, MD, became a professor of radiology on September 1, 2007. Dr. Barnes received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he was also a resident. After completing his residency, he became a fellow in pediatric neuroradiology and cardiovascular radiology at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts. Before coming to Stanford in 2000, he was an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and director of neuroradiology and MRI at the Boston Children's Hospital. At Stanford, he has been the section chief of pediatric neuroradiology and the medical director, MRI/CT, at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital since 2002. He was chosen as the Senior Faculty of the Year for 2002-2003, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006 for his outstanding contributions to resident education, compassionate patient care, and research. Dr. Barnes has provided outstanding clinical, educational, and administrative leadership for the Neuroradiology and Pediatric Radiology Programs in the Department of Radiology, and he continues to help build the Developmental Neuroscience Program in the Department and at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Celebrating 5 Years of Service: Shalyce Johns

Shalyce Johns, administrative associate of special projects, has worked for Stanford Radiology for five years. Prior to Stanford, her first "real" job after earning her degree was in human resources and recruiting for Siemens Information and Communications Networks (ICN) in San Jose for two years. After Siemens ICN, she came to Stanford Radiology in February of 2002 as the administrative associate in the Chairman's Office. In January the following year, her husband, who had been in chiropractic school, took an internship in Vancouver, Washington, where she grew up. In a sense, part of her job as an administrative associate moved with her to Vancouver, and she continued to work part-time on administrative projects. Shalyce adds the following about her five years of service: "Some of the projects I work on include completing salary and productivity surveys that assist in benchmarking and keeping our faculty compensation competitive; pulling together faculty evaluation packet components each year; generating spreadsheets, spreadsheets, and more spreadsheets on faculty compensation and productivity; and helping with the budget. Over the years, I've also been able to assist with aspects of the faculty recruiting/interviewing/appointment process, clinical schedule, resident education calendar, and all kinds of other 'fun' things. So no, I don't just order lunches for the third Friday of each month and update the radiology directories and email lists." Outside of work, Shalyce enjoys spending time with her four year-old daughter, Sage, and her husband, Coby. She loves going out to new restaurants and collecting recipes, and she says that sometimes she actually tries cooking the recipes she collects! She enjoys sports, especially volleyball, as well as running, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

New Staff Hires and Promotions: October 3, 2007

Pam Hertz, RVT, joined our Department on August 6, 2007, as the new research veterinary nurse. She earned her certificate and diploma as a licensed registered veterinary technician in June of 1999 from Foothill College. Prior to coming to Stanford, she had been working in small animal veterinary practices since 1996. Her immediate supervisor will be Wendy Baumgardner, RVT, LATg, who will train her in the various areas of animal research and policy. Ms. Hertz says that she looks "forward to working with and learning from Wendy; she has been a great teacher." In her time off, she enjoys snow skiing, day hikes, golfing (she still needs lots of practice), and spending time with family and friends. Although she does not have any pets of her own now, she enjoys spending time with her friends' pets.

Celebrating 15 Years of Service: Keshni Kumar

Keshni Kumar, CRT, has worked at Stanford University for 15 years. At seventeen years of age, she began volunteering at Stanford Hospital and Clinics (SHC), when Dr. Rubin was a resident, to get exposure to the hospital environment. She attended Foothill College and Santa Clara University, and she graduated as a radiologic technologist. She has been working for Stanford Hospital and Clinics since 1992. Soon after, she was the lead technologist at Cowell Student Health Center (currently the Vaden Health Clinic) for two years and then served as the senior CT technologist at SHC for seven years. During Technologist Week, she won the Employee of the Year Award, which was a trip to Hawaii. She is now one of the top producers of the 3D lab, where she has been a radiologist assistant for three years. Ms. Kumar takes pride in her work: "I am very proud of how I contribute to patient care, which is why I still work at the Hospital as a relief CT technologist twice a month. I love challenging and intriguing new technologies." Her hobbies include teaching, running, hiking, and cooking.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Awards and Honors: October 1, 2007

Craig Levin, PhD, associate professor of radiology and leader of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), has been awarded a new R01, "Enhancing Molecular Cancer Imaging with Cadmium Zinc Telluride PET" from the National Cancer Institute. This projects consists of studying novel imaging sensors comprising a semiconducor material known as cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) and incorporating these sensors into an innovative configuration for an advanced positron emission tomography (PET) system designed for imaging small laboratory animal cancer models. The proposed system built with these CZT imaging sensors promises to enhance substantially the capabilities of PET to detect, visualize, and quantify low concentrations of molecular cancer probes reaching their target on or within cells of diseased tissues. If successful, this work will impact the development of new cancer imaging assays and help to guide the discovery of novel treatments for cancer. In the MIIL, Dr. Levin's research involves the development of novel instrumentation and software algorithms for in vivo imaging of subtle molecular processes associated with disease in the clinic as well as in small laboratory animal research. The goals of the projects are to enhance the photon sensitivity and spatial, spectral, and/or temporal resolutions in order to advance the ability to accurately detect and measure lower concentrations of molecular signal. The ultimate goal is to introduce these new imaging tools into studies of molecular mechanisms and treatments of disease within living subjects.