December 2008

Awards and Honors II: December 19, 2008

Pablo Rodriguez, CRT, ARRT, received the Wingspread Award this September 2008 because of his outstanding work in Radiology. This award is given by one employee to another who has proven that he or she is a "special performer" by demonstrating exemplary performance in areas such as job knowledge; work ethics; communication skills; inter- and intradepartmental relationships; versatility; and judgment. Mr. Rodriguez graduated from Foothill College with an AS in radiological sciences and completed part of his X-Ray School Rotation at Stanford Hospital, where he has been working full time for the past three years. He currently works weekends and as part of the CT team. He is also the radiologic technologist for a local college football team and a professional football team in the Bay Area.

Mr. Rodriguez describes his experience as follows:

"I have learned a lot at the Hospital because we are a trauma center. In addition to the Trauma Department, my training enables me to work in all areas of the Radiology Department such as the Operating Room, Gastrointestinal Emergency Department, Orthopedic Department, and the Cancer Center. Because of this, I have also supervised all of these areas. In addition, I supervised X-Ray North for one year, which is the head of the radiologic diagnostic areas in the Hospital. I gained a lot of experience by doing this job, and I grew a lot as a radiologic technologist. Most importantly, I learned to be a team player and to respect all people with whom I work. My motto is: Treat others as you like to be treated. I'm really thankful to have the opportunity to work at Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and I like the challenges that come with my work. With all the traumas that a technologist sees, he or she has to become creative to get the best X-ray image or CT scan for the physician to make the most accurate diagnosis. I have also met my close friends here at work." As a result of his dedication, Mr. Rodriguez was voted as the 2007 Radiologic Technologist of the Month by his departmental co-workers. The Wingspread Award is another way in which his co-workers have recognized that he "has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his usual duties." Wingspread awardees can keep the award for as long as they wish or until they discover another "special performer." Monthly awarding of the Wingspread honor is encouraged as part of the SHC departmental staff meetings.

Mr. Rodriguez moved to the United States from Mexico when he was twelve years old and is the youngest of four children. In high school, he held various leadership positions including Student Body Publicist and ESL Coordinator. In recognition of his service, he received a Rotary Award as well as an award for community involvement. In addition, his senior class voted him as the one who had "Contributed the Most" and as the Homecoming King. In his free time, Mr. Rodriguez enjoys going to the movies and working out. However, spending time with his family is his main priority: "I love my family and really close friends, and I will do anything I can to help them out. My family is the foundation of who I am now."

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Awards and Honors I: December 19, 2008

Joong-Ho (Johann) Won, PhD, MS, received a Bio-X Travel Award for travel to the 94th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the 2008 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) to give a presentation on his work entitled, "Towards a Single Uncluttered View of the Abdominal Aortic Vessel Tree from CTA or MRA: Method and Preliminary Results." Based on his dissertation research, Dr. Won's RSNA talk focused on the development of two-dimensional visualization methods, which do not introduce crossings among the branches, for the abdominal aorta and its branches. As a member of Professor Sandy Napel's research group, Dr. Won is also exploring statistical signal processing and large-scale inference problems in biomedical applications. He is a recent graduate of the doctoral program in electrical engineering, where he also earned his master's degree in 2003. Outside of the lab, Dr. Won likes to spend time running, swimming, and traveling with his newly-wedded wife.

New Faculty Hires and Promotions: December 17, 2008

Daniel Rubin, MD, MS, was appointed as an assistant professor of radiology in 2008. He was recruited to Stanford Radiology to participate in building a new section in the information sciences called ISIS (Information Science in Imaging at Stanford). Dr. Rubin's background is in clinical and investigational radiology as a radiologist and as a researcher. He attended Stanford Medical School and received his master's degree in biomedical informatics. He also completed his residency as well as his body and research fellowships at Stanford University. Dr. Rubin's academic focus is on the intersection of biomedical informatics and imaging science where he is developing computational methods and applications to access and integrate diverse clinical and imaging data; to extract information and meaning from images; to enable data mining and the discovery of image biomarkers; and to translate these methods into practice by creating computer applications that will improve diagnostic accuracy and clinical effectiveness. He is also chair of the RadLex Steering Committee of the RSNA, an effort to create a standard terminology for all of radiology; chair of the Informatics Committee of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN); and co-chair of the Medical Imaging Systems Working Group of the American Medical Informatics Association. For Dr. Rubin's prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/08/ncis_invivo_ima.html.

Did You Know?

Stanford physicist Fernando Sanford may have discovered the X-ray prior to German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen, who was credited with its discovery in 1895. In an 1894 article entitled "Some Experiments in Electric Photography" published in the Physical Review (V. 11; No. 4), Dr. Sanford described an experiment from 1891 in which he developed "a negative image upon a piece of bromide paper" as well as his method for photographing a coin. He described this later experiment in more detail in an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 31, 1893, entitled "Without Lens or Light." For more information, please see the Stanford Alumni Review from October 1948, pages 10-11, and May 1949, pages 14-15.

Awards and Honors: December 15, 2008

Daniel Rubin, MD, MS, assistant professor, was awarded a Cum Laude Award from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) for his exhibit, "'Saying It in Pictures': Annotation and Image Markup in Radiology." Of the 1,663 exhibits at the 2008 RSNA, Dr. Rubin's was one of only 56 selected for an award. Dr. Rubin also appears on Radcast@RSNA, along with Dr. Eliot Siegel, discussing his work on the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Rubin's background is in clinical and investigational radiology as a radiologist and as a researcher. He attended Stanford Medical School and received his master's degree in biomedical informatics. He also completed his residency as well as his body and research fellowships at Stanford University. Dr. Rubin was recruited to Stanford Radiology to participate in building a new section in the information sciences called ISIS (Information Science in Imaging at Stanford). His academic focus is on the intersection of biomedical informatics and imaging science where he is developing computational methods and applications to access and integrate diverse clinical and imaging data; to extract information and meaning from images; to enable data mining and the discovery of image biomarkers; and to translate these methods into practice by creating computer applications that will improve diagnostic accuracy and clinical effectiveness. Dr. Rubin is also chair of the RadLex Steering Committee of the RSNA, an effort to create a standard terminology for all of radiology; chair of the Informatics Committee of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN); and co-chair of the Medical Imaging Systems Working Group of the American Medical Informatics Association. For Dr. Rubin's prior blog posting, please see http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/08/ncis_invivo_ima.html.

Did You Know?

The functional MRI group is developing strategies to help people mitigate pain, depression, addiction, and impulse control. These MRI techniques provide real-time feedback of the brain during an exam.

Awards and Honors: December 8, 2008

Geoffrey D. Rubin, MD, professor of radiology; chief of cardiovascular imaging; associate dean for clinical affairs; and vice chief of staff, has been awarded a 2008 "Minnie" as the "Most Effective Radiology Educator" from AuntMinnie.com, which annually recognizes two outstanding imaging scientists or physicians in this category with individual Minnies. With 147,000 members, AuntMinnie.com is the world's largest and most comprehensive online medical imaging community. For Dr. Rubin's prior award posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/10/awards_and_hono_58.html.

Awards and Honors II: December 5, 2008

Yi Gu, MS; Frances Lau, MS; Guillem Pratx, MS; Paul Reynolds, MS; and Arne Vandenbrouke, PhD, members of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), received Medical Imaging Conference Trainee Grants to attend the 2008 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Medical Imaging Conference (IEEE MIC) in Dresden, Germany.

Yi Gu, MS, is researching the development of ultra-high resolution 3D positioning PET systems that use the semiconductor cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) instead of scintillation crystals for photon detection. For Mr. Gu's biography, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/12/awards_and_hono_62.html.

Frances Lau, MS, is a PhD candidate at Stanford, where she researches circuits and devices for biomedical applications. Ms. Lau is currently working on the design and development of hardware for a breast cancer imaging PET system. For her prior award posting, please see http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/12/awards_and_hono_24.html .

Arne Vandenbroucke, PhD, postdoctoral scholar, is researching the design of a high sensitivity, high resolution PET scanner for breast cancer imaging. For Dr. Vandenbroucke's biography please access his earlier award postings at http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/03/march_27_2008.html ; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/12/awards_and_hono_24.html ; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/12/awards_and_hono_23.html.

Awards and Honors I: December 5, 2008

Yi Gu, MS, PhD candidate in electrical engineering and a member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), was awarded the Bio-X Travel Award for travel to the 2008 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Medical Imaging Conference (IEEE MIC) in Dresden, Germany, where he delivered an oral presentation entitled "Study of a High Resolution, 3-D Positioning Cross-Strip Cadmium Zinc Telluride Detector for PET." This presentation was based on Mr. Gu's dissertation research, which focuses on the development of ultra-high resolution 3D positioning PET systems that use the semiconductor CZT instead of scintillation crystals for photon detection. His other research interests include developing signal processing, modeling, as well as machine learning algorithms, and investigating their applications in medical instrumentation. Prior to entering the PhD program, Mr. Gu received his master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford in 2005. Outside of the lab, he likes to spend time hiking, participating in social dance, playing tennis, and traveling.

Announcements: December 4, 2008

Free Noon Concert by the Voice Students of Claire Giovannetti: 12:15 PM on Friday, December 5, 2008, at the Campbell Recital Hall in the Braun Music Center. Bring your lunch with you and listen to some great music! For more information, please contact Raina Cornejo.

Did You Know?

Stanford Radiology has one of the largest 3D medical imaging laboratories in the U.S. and averages 900 exams per month. The lab converts CT and MRI scan information to a 3D format to improve diagnosis and treatment planning.