November 2008

New Faculty Hires and Promotions: November 26, 2008

Xiaoyuan (Shawn) Chen, PhD, head of the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL) has been promoted to associate professor (research) of radiology. Dr. Chen was born in China and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Nanjing University. In 1999, he received his PhD in chemistry from the University of Idaho and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Syracuse University, New York, and another at Washington University, St Louis, before joining the faculty of the University of Southern California as an assistant professor of radiology. In 2004, he joined our Department to help build the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS). His research group currently includes 10 postdoctoral fellows as well as several medical students and visiting scholars. Major areas of Dr. Chen's research include the development of novel molecular imaging probes to visualize and quantify the fundamental molecular processes in cancer and cardiovascular diseases; the application of state-of-the-art imaging technologies to guide and monitor molecular therapeutics; and the application of nanotechnology in molecular cancer diagnostics and therapy.

In addition to his research, Dr. Chen has published over 150 papers and numerous book chapters, and he sits on the editorial board of 10 journals and is a regular reviewer for over 30 journals. He is currently funded through the pharmaceutical industry and two federal government foundations: the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD). He also serves as a regular study section member on multiple foundation panels, such as those of the NIH, DOD, and Susan G. Komen Foundation. Dr. Chen describes his hobbies outside of work as follows: "I am so focused on surviving at Stanford that I have lost pretty much all of my hobbies. I still hope to find some time for Chinese calligraphy, which I have practised for some 20 years."

Awards and Honors I: November 25, 2008

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, has received the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Junior Faculty Grant for his highly innovative basic science research. As a member of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), Dr. Wu's lab focuses on cardiovascular gene and cell therapy.

For Dr. Wu's prior awards, please see http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/10/_joseph_wu_md_p.html ; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/06/awards_and_hono_42.html ; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/04/awards_and_hono_1.html.

Awards and Honors II: November 25, 2008

Yueyi Irene Liu, PhD, recently won the RSNA Trainee Research Prize for her project, "Bayesian Approach to Decision Support for Evaluating Thyroid Nodules Based on Multi-Variate Features," which she is researching in collaboration with Drs. Aya Kamaya, Terry Desser, and Daniel Rubin. She has also received a Stanford Medical Scholars Award to support further research with Dr. Kamaya. Dr. Liu is currently a fourth-year medical student at Stanford, where she also earned her PhD in biomedical informatics using computational methods to identify regions important in gene regulation. She received her BS in biochemistry from Peking University in Beijing, China. When Dr. Liu is not working, she enjoys traveling and hiking.

Awards and Honors: November 24, 2008

Shin Kamaya, BSE, was recently awarded a 2008 Radiological Society of North America Research Trainee Scholar Award for his scientific paper entitled, "Manganese-Enhanced MRI (MEMRI) Functionally Highlights Injured Peripheral Nerves in Neuropathic Pain," which he completed under the mentorship of Dr. Sandip Biswal. Mr. Kamaya grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is currently a third-year medical student at the University of Colorado-Denver. Prior to starting medical school, Mr. Kamaya received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, spent some time testing cars at GM, and built bridges in Nepal.

To view Mr. Kamaya's prior award posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_37.html.

Awards and Honors: November 21, 2008

Juergen K. Willmann, MD, assistant professor of radiology (abdominal imaging), has received the Radiology 2008 Editor's Recognition Award with Distinction. Dr. Willmann was chosen to receive this highly selective award, which only 105 of approximately 1,000 reviewers have received this year. Prior to becoming an assistant professor at Stanford, Dr. Willmann was a research fellow in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) while concurrently an assistant professor of diagnostic radiology at the Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. He received his MD from the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany, and was the chief resident of diagnostic radiology at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. His research interests include multimodality molecular imaging of angiogenesis and stem cell therapy and the development of new ultrasonic imaging approaches for the early detection of cancer. When he is not working, Dr. Willmann enjoys fitness training, hiking, and playing the piano. To read Dr. Willmann's prior award postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/05/awards_and_hono_38.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/12/awards_and_hono_21.html; and
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/awards_and_hono_18.html.

Awards and Honors: November 20, 2008

Adam de la Zerda, PhD candidate in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory (MMIL), has won three awards in support of his PhD progress: the Young Investigator Award as well as the Student Travel Award from the World Molecular Imaging Congress 2008, and the Bio-X Travel Award. Each of these honors was bestowed on him for his novel work on photoacoustic molecular imaging and its application for tumor molecular imaging using carbon nanotubes. From a group of over 300 candidates, Mr. de la Zerda was selected to receive the Young Investigator Award, which included a competition with oral presentations.

Mentored by Dr. Gambhir, Mr. de la Zerda researches photoacoustic molecular imaging and its broad applications for cancer. He is the PI of two predoctoral grants: one supported by the Department of Defense (DOD) Breast Cancer Research Program and the other by Bio-X. He holds a number of publications and patents and is also a professional reviewer for Nature Nanotechnology and Medical Physics. Prior to coming to Stanford, Mr. de la Zerda received his BScs Summa Cum Laude in computer science, electrical engineering, and physics from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

For Mr. de la Zerda's prior award announcement regarding the DOD Predoctoral Fellowship and the Bio-X Graduate Student Fellowship, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_45.html.
To read about Mr. de la Zerda's accomplishments in the Bay Area Entrepreneurship Contest, please see
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/06/awards_and_hono_6.html.

New Staff Hires and Promotions: November 18, 2008

Shannon Walters, RT (R)(MR), was recently hired as a 3D technologist in the 3D Laboratory. Prior to joining our Department, Mr. Walters worked for Stanford Hospital & Clinics in MRI for two years. He earned his bachelor's degree in the radiologic sciences and is ARRT registered. Mr. Walters and his wife, who works at Stanford in the SHC Ultrasound Section, have a daughter who is twenty-one months old. Besides his daughter, Mr. Walters' other hobbies include mountain biking, camping, and hiking.

The 2008/2009 Annual Update Has Arrived!

Our new 2008/2009 Annual Update has arrived from the printer! This six-page marketing brochure highlights our Department's overall achievements during the past year. Please view our 2008/2009 Annual Update by clicking here: download file.

Stanford Hospital & Clinics Radiology Department Food and Fund Drive

We are proud to announce our 2008 Holiday Food and Fund Drive to support Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Our drive will assist Second Harvest to feed those struggling during these tough economic times.

Since July, Second Harvest has experienced a 55% increase in food requests. For many callers, this is the first time they are tapping into the Food Bank's services. Let's do our part to make sure no child, senior, or family goes hungry this holiday season. I invite you to participate in supporting our community.

Where and How?
To participate . . .

ONLINE: Go to www.virtualharvest.net to make a monetary donation. Every dollar donated can provide two meals. Choose COMPANIES UNDER 250 and choose our organization's name STANFORD HOSPITAL & CLINICS RADIOLOGY DEPARTMENT.

ONSITE: Place food donations in the barrels located at North, AMC, or Blake Wilbur.

North: CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Diagnostic, Nuclear Medicine, and Administration/Film Library staff

AMC: All AMC clinic employees

BW: Blake Wilbur clinic employees

Most needed foods include the following:
Meals in a can (stew, chili, and soup)
Peanut Butter

100% Fruit Juices
Canned Fruits
Canned Vegetables

Tuna/Canned Meat
Low-Sugar Cereal
Cans with pop-top lids

When?
Now! Bins will be arriving Monday, November 17, 2008, for distribution. There is no time like the present to participate. Our barrels will be present until Wednesday, November 26, 2008.

The Need
This holiday season is a critical time. If your cupboards are full, please help others who don't know where their next meal will come from. No donation is too small; giving as little as $10 is enough to provide 20 individuals with the most basic human need: food. We are asking everyone to give what they can so that we have 100% participation.

Share
This holiday marks an important time to reach out. Share our event with others who work with us. To help fill your department bin, motivate people in ancillary departments and neighboring clinics such as transporters, ED staff, and physicians. Active participants will be rewarded!

Because 96 cents of every $1 donated to the Food Bank is used to feed hungry people in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, you can be assured your contribution will make a difference. Visit their website at www.SecondHarvestFood.org.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Linn Dee Barrientos
Business Systems Analyst--Radiology
Stanford Hospital & Clinics
300 Pasteur Drive
Stanford, CA 94305-5513
Tel: (650) 736-8566
Pager: (415) 607-2398 or 13760

Congresswoman Eshoo Visits Stanford Radiology

(Images courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

On October 23rd, Anna Eshoo, democratic representative for California's 14th congressional district, visited the Department of Radiology to learn more about the vital role that radiologists play in health care and what makes Stanford Radiology the leader in the field. Congresswoman Eshoo has represented Stanford and the surrounding area for over 15 years. She is also a member of the Health Care Subcommittee and one of the founders of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).

Chief Resident Pat Auveek Basu, MD, MBA, met Congresswoman Eshoo and cultivated her interest in Stanford Radiology while he was a Fellow last summer in Washington D.C. as part of the J.T. Rutherford Government Relations Fellowship sponsored by the American College of Radiology (ACR) (to read more, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/09/dr_basu_complet_1.html).

Recently, Dr. Basu invited Congresswoman Eshoo to visit our Department. He described the three goals for her visit as follows:

"1. Congresswoman Eshoo has been a champion of patient and physician issues since she took office. We wanted to give her a glimpse of what we, as radiologists, do; how we provide cutting-edge care; and how we make a paramount impact on health care that often occurs behind the scenes.

2. In particular, we are very proud of our Department of Radiology here at Stanford and as constituents, we wanted to show her some of our exciting developments. While our field is famous for recent advances in MRI, high-resolution CT, and new minimally invasive techniques, we are pioneering further breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment. As she saw at our new outpatient imaging facility, Stanford Medicine Outpatient Imaging Center on Sherman Avenue, we are also leaders in the patient-centered radiology movement. Traditionally, radiologists have been physician consultants or "doctor's doctors," which is still the most important function we serve. However, in order to give quicker and more accurate results to patients, radiologists are returning to a more face-to-face role with patients.

3. As healthcare costs soar, medical imaging has been one of the areas that is being called into question due to its rapid growth. However, like the transition from typewriters to computers or from VHS to DVD, our profession embodies a true progression to better, improved care. Given that our specialist consultations don't occur in front of patients or leaders such as Congresswoman Eshoo, our radiologists have erroneously been lumped in with some efforts to cut physician services. However, we have replaced invasive surgeries, made earlier diagnoses, decreased prolonged hospital stays, and, quite frankly, have rendered many medical services obsolete. As an extension of the two points above, we wanted to remind Congresswoman Eshoo that our practice model does not self-refer patients and, thus, has little control over the recent growth in imaging. Furthermore, while most of this growth is a move in the right direction, we certainly agree that inappropriate and self-referred imaging is a misuse of resources, and it needs to be eliminated."

Highlights from Congresswoman Eshoo's two-hour visit include the following:

--She spoke briefly to several residents and fellows about her views on health care, education, and technology. A couple of resident physicians described why they chose radiology as their medical specialty. She fielded questions from residents and graduate students on issues of healthcare reform and research.

--She briefly saw the Breast Imaging Section and then visited Interventional Radiology where she saw a stent placement and chemoembolization procedure. She was so interested in seeing this live that she changed into scrubs!

--Drs. Glazer and Basu facilitated a lengthy, productive discussion on the challenges radiologists and their patients face and how government can improve the system for both. Congresswoman Eshoo was knowledgeable and genuinely interested in these issues.
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--Finally, Drs. Glazer, Atlas, Van Dalsem, and Basu gave Congresswoman Eshoo a tour of Stanford Medicine Imaging Center on Sherman Avenue. They showed her 3D images of neuroradiology MRAs, cardiac CTs (3D), breast MRIs, and a 3D body case. She asked questions about patient-centered radiology, the role of screening, and how our expertise can be brought to more parts of the country. She was so interested that her visit ran over the allotted time.

--Overall, her visit was a great success, and it was just as valuable for us to meet her as it was for her to get a glimpse of our profession.

In her correspondence after her visit, Congresswoman Eshoo remarked that "[t]he visit was fantastic and the info. invaluable--I was very impressed. Thanks so much. We could have spent all day with you!" and that she would "continue to do everything in support of medical imaging research, as well as working for the necessary resources and reforms to give patients and doctors access to effective technologies that improve quality and reduce costs of care."

Awards and Honors: November 17, 2008

Jill Lin, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in Dr. David Paik's laboratory, was recently granted a travel award by the Helena Anna Henzl Gabor Young Women in Science Fund for travel to the 2009 World Molecular Imaging Congress in Montreal, Canada. Henzl-Gabor Travel Fellowships are awarded to postdoctoral scholars who demonstrate a positive attitude through professional teamwork and collaborations. Dr. Lin's work focuses on mathematical modeling regarding the phenomenon known as oncogene addiction using imaging of conditional expression mouse models, which has led to a quantitative understanding of the biological mechanisms of oncogenes. Her latest work is focused on translational applications including directly applying the model to human lung cancer response to directed therapeutics. The work is done in close collaboration with Dean Felsher in Oncology. Dr. Lin is a member of both MIPS and the newly formed ISIS section, which is focused on information sciences approaches in radiology.

Dr. Lin received her PhD in biomedical and health informatics from the University of Washington where she worked on the image analysis of craiosynostosis skull deformities with Dr. Linda Shapiro. She also received an MS in epidemiology from Stanford and a BS in mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) Retreat 2008

At this year's MIPS retreat on October 8th, approximately 116 people gathered at the Fogarty Winery in Woodside, California, located on Skyline Drive. One of the retreat highlights was the "Words of Wisdom" session, in which faculty shared some of the lessons they have learned along their career paths. Chris Contag, PhD, introduced the key speaker, Stanford Professor of Chemistry Paul Wender, who is also a professor (by courtesy) of chemical and systems biology as well as a member of the Bio-X Program and the Cancer Center. Dr. Wender's address was entitled "The Molecular Revolution and Our Molecular Future." Opening and closing remarks for the one-day retreat were delivered by Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor of radiology and bioengineering, director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, and chief of the Nuclear Medicine Division.

Other highlights included a special presentation on the new departmental section, ISIS (Information Sciences in Imaging at Stanford), by Sylvia Plevritis, PhD; a roundtable discussion; wine tasting; and a prize drawing.

To view retreat photos provided by courtesy of Fred Chin, PhD, please access http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=0f6271b12853bb07&sid=0AaNG7ZqzbN2LDvg. You can read the 2007 MIPS retreat posting by accessing http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/01/2007_mips_retre_1.html.

Celebrating 20 Years of Service at Stanford: Laura J. Pierce, MPA, RT(R)(CT)

Laura J. Pierce, MPA, RT(R)(CT), manager of the Stanford Radiology 3D Laboratory, has served Stanford for 20 years. She began working in the CT Department of Stanford Health Services in 1988 as a CT technologist, where her job duties included 3D imaging. In 1997, Ms. Pierce began working in our Department as manager of our 3D Lab. Prior to coming to Stanford, she worked in the Department of Radiology at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo, first as the senior radiologic technologist and then as a CT technologist. Ms. Pierce earned her Master of Public Administration from California State University, Hayward; her Bachelor of Arts in the management of information systems from Menlo College in Atherton, CA; and her Associate of Arts Degree in radiologic technology from Canada College in Redwood City, CA. She has co-authored 10 publications, and her numerous awards and honors include a Hounsfield Award from the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance.

Ms. Pierce describes her Stanford experience as follows: "I started working in Radiology at SHS in the CT Department, in August of 1988, when my daughter was five and my son was two. Now my daughter has graduated from Menlo College and is getting married, and my son is in his last year at Arizona State. It seems like time just really flies! I started doing 3D imaging with Dr. Geoffrey Rubin in the early 90s, and this led to the creation of the 3D Lab and my present position as manager of the Lab."

When she isn't working, Ms. Pierce can be found reading (she's in two book clubs), and staying physically active through activities such as swimming, skiing, and Pilates.

Did You Know?

Stanford interventional radiologists were the first in the Bay Area to perform radioembolization of liver malignancies.

Institute of Medicine Elects Dr. Gambhir to Membership

Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, has been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies as one of its youngest members: "election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service."

As chief of the Nuclear Medicine Division, director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), and professor of radiology as well as bioengineering, Dr. Gambhir has made exceptional contributions to advancing the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

In recognition of this very prestigious award, the Department held a celebration in Dr. Gambhir's honor on Wednesday October 22nd, from 4:00-6:00 PM in the Lucas Center courtyard. Below, please find photos, courtesy of Mark Riesenberger. For Dr. Gambhir's prior blog postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/06/awards_and_hono_41.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/07/nobel_symposium.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/07/stanford_radiol_1.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/04/the_center_for_1.html; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/awards_and_hono_18.html.