Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. William H. Marshall

Dr. Marshall performed procedures, such as air encephalation, that he eventually replaced with angiograms, CT scans, and MRI studies, which were more accurate, much safer, and more easily tolerated by patients. Along with Les Zatz, MD, who was the first to develop neuroradiology at Stanford, Dr. Marshall was co-chief of the neuroradiology section for two years and served as the neuroradiolgy section chief for seventeen years. In addition, he published 36 refereed journal papers and was the chair of the Radiation Producing Machines Committee for twenty-two years, which was established for the protection of patients and the University.

Dr. Marshall's other accomplishments began early in his career and included winning a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Rochester in New York to study chemical engineering. After his third year as an undergraduate, he began medical school at the University of Rochester and was again awarded a full-tuition scholarship. Upon completing medical school and then an internship at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Marshall served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps.

While stationed in the Red Sea, he wrote to his medical school mentor, Dr. Lucy Frank Squires, about possible residency programs. She encouraged him to apply to the residency program at Stanford, which was then headed by Dr. Henry Jones: "I went to talk with Dr. Jones, and he kept telling me about Stanford's other exceptional applicants. I thought I didn't have a chance, so I was delighted when he sent me a letter of acceptance!"

During his residency at Stanford, Dr. Marshall received an American Cancer Society Fellowship to study at the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York where he saw a great volume of cases in neuro with Dr. Juan Taveras; in pediatrics with Dr. David Baker; and in chest with Dr. Kent Ellis. Returning to Stanford, Dr. Marshall participated in the first percutaneous coronary and renal angiographies under the direction of Herbert Abrams, MD: "We would come in the night before the procedure and make the catheters over steam, placing them in a dish of fluid. They were really floppy and hard to control, but they worked. When Herb was absent, I would keep the program running, which for a third-year resident was a tremendous opportunity. I am much indebted to Dr. Abram's continuing support down through the years."

After residency, Dr. Marshall was a radiologist for two years at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic and the Veterans Administration Hospital and then became an instructor in the Stanford Radiology Department. At that time, the idea of neuroradiology was popular on the East Coast and in Europe, but it was just beginning on the West Coast. Dr. Zatz decided that Stanford needed a separate section of neuroradiology, and he enlisted Dr. Marshall to help him: "Dr. Zatz was interested in how things worked while I was interested in how to apply them, so we made a good team."

During his career, Dr. Marshall took advantage of the opportunities offered by Stanford, which included important collaborations: "We wanted to work with the neurosurgeons and pathologists. Dr. Jake Hanbery, chief of neurosurgery, welcomed me into the operating room. Before each procedure, I would study and interpret their patients' films, and I would show the neurosurgeons in advance what the problems might be so they could plan their procedures. Once in the operating room, I could see whether my information was correct. It was the moment of truth. This collaborative support was important for the growth of our section. Similarly, we would go to the Pathology Department once a week, and the chief of neuropathology, Dr. Lucian Rubinstein, would make slices of brains in the exact same way the brains had been scanned so that we could compare the slices and scans. The pathologists were always astounded when we were able to find things they couldn't see because the slices only showed the brain surface, while our scanned images showed what was within the brain tissue."

University life offered many opportunities for growth, which included travel. During the Vietnam War, Dr. Marshall took a four-month unpaid leave of absence to serve as a surgeon/radiologist in civilian hospitals in DaNang, Vietnam, through the Volunteer Physicians for Vietnam Program. "I enlisted as a surgeon because they didn't want a radiologist. The equipment was terrible. They overexposed their patients in making the films, sometimes for as long as 45 seconds, and they under-processed the films. I was able to make high quality films in as little time as a second to one-tenth of a second. Once I demonstrated that I could increase the film quality and increase the level of clinical information, they sent me to all the county hospitals in that sector. The medical students from Hue were very eager to learn modern radiology, and they kept demanding that I hold teaching sessions every Saturday morning. They wanted the sessions to be three-hours long." During a sabbatical sponsored by the Swedish Medical Research Foundation, Dr. Marshall also traveled to Sweden to study cerebral circulation disease at the University of Lund, Sweden, with Sten Cronquist, MD, and then to Norway to study with Per Amundsen, MD. He later travelled to the University of Stellenbosch and Cape Town University in Cape Town, South Africa, as a visiting professor, and he combined this travel to South Africa with a surfing trip.

Overall, Dr. Marshall's greatest satisfaction has been providing opportunities for his trainees: "My trainees were excellent and wonderful people, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. They thought I knew more than they did, so I had to go home and read the journals and come back in the morning fresh. They kept me fresh and on my toes!"

Since he retired in 1993, Dr. Marshall enjoys spending time with his family: his wife, Jane; son, Herb; and daughter, Jenny. Jane was the unofficial secretary for the neuroradiology section: "She handled all the schedules; kept us all on track for the seventeen years I served as chief of the neuroradiology section; and held annual dinners for the outgoing trainees in our home." While Dr. Marshall was president of the Western Radiological Society, Jane also organized the annual meeting for the Society.

Although he still enjoys water skiing, snow skiing, and racquetball, Dr. Marshall gave up motorcycling due to crashes. Four or five times a week, he walks to the dish with Henry Jones, MD: "He was my professor, then my colleague, and now he's my friend. It's a friendship that has endured for fifty years."