Awards and Honors

Awards and Honors: November 10, 2009

Gang (Tiger) Ren, MD, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Laboratory (CMICL), has a recent research publication featured on MDLinx.com: "Melanin-Targeted Preclinical PET Imaging of Melanoma Metastasis" (J Nucl Med. 2009 Oct;50(10):1692-9. Epub 2009 Sep. 16).

Dr. Ren received his medical training from the Tongji University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, and a PhD in advanced radiological sciences from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Working primarily with Professor Zhen Cheng in the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Lab, he brings his expertise in small animal imaging using microSPECT and microPET to the In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Center at Stanford (ICMIC) Program. Dr. Ren's research centers on the development of different molecular probes, including both small molecules and peptides, to target specific tumor biomarkers such as the MC1R receptor; melanin contents in malignant melanoma; and HER2/EGFR in breast cancer. He has already successfully demonstrated the potential of the molecular probes ReCCMSH, Benzamide Analogs, and Affibody molecules in preclinical animal models using microPET. He continues to work on the development of new probes as well as a novel image-guided theragnostic scheme for the management of breast cancer and lung cancer.

Awards and Honors II: October 9, 2009

Kim Butts Pauly, PhD, associate professor of radiology and of Bioengineering (by courtesy), was recently elected to the board of the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU) for a period of three years. The ISTU is a non-profit organization "founded in 2001 to increase and diffuse knowledge of therapeutic ultrasound to the scientific and medical community, and to facilitate the translation of therapeutic ultrasound techniques into the clinical arena for the benefit of patients worldwide." Dr. Butts Pauly's current research interests are focused on image-guided minimally invasive therapies, including MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound and MR-guided cryoablation. She has published her work in over 75 peer-reviewed publications. When Dr. Butts Pauly is not working, she enjoys gardening, traveling with her family, and reading with her kids.

Awards and Honors I: October 9, 2009

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, was one of four Stanford scientists to receive a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Transformative R01 Award designed to "support exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional research projects that have the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms."

According to a recent Office of Communication & Public Affairs article, Dr. Wu's award will support his research regarding "ways to keep the body from rejecting human embryonic stem cells. For many years, researchers assumed that these undifferentiated building blocks would be ignored by the body's defense system. Wu's recent research in mice shows that this is not the case. 'It's getting harder and harder to believe that these cells are immunoprivileged,' said Wu. 'Now we need to know what to do about it.'" He will use his award to devise ways to "coax the immune system to tolerate the foreign cells, allowing them to regenerate or heal damaged tissues" (from "Stanford Nabs 13 Top NIH Awards for High-Stakes Research" by Krista Conger, Erin Digitale, Bruce Goldman, David Orenstein, Ruthann Richter, and Tracie White; download PDF at Stanford Nabs 13 Top NIH Awards for High-Stakes Research.pdf). To learn more about Dr. Wu's research, please access the Cardiovascular Gene and Cell Therapy Lab website at http://mips.stanford.edu/research/lab?lab%5fid=2883.

Awards and Honors: October 1, 2009

Arundhuti Ganguly, PhD, research associate in the Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL), received an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award for her research proposal entitled "High Performance CMOS Based X-Ray Detector for C-Arm CT Imaging." The objective of this award is to "prepare qualified individuals for careers that have a significant impact on health-related research." Her proposal aims to improve image-guided interventions for the treatment of stroke by using a novel solid-state X-ray detector, which is based on CMOS technology that will allow faster imaging at an increased resolution. Dr. Ganguly plans to use the detector in conjunction with a conventional angiographic C-arm system to provide high frame rate projection images as well as 3D image volumes. Beginning in June of 2009, this grant will enable Dr. Ganguly to complete two years of mentored research with Professor Rebecca Fahrig, followed by three years of independent research.

Awards and Honors II: September 23, 2009

Scott W. Atlas, MD, professor and chief of neuroradiology and senior fellow at both the Hoover Institution and Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies, has received an international honor on September 12, 2009, at the Annual Meeting of the Sociedade de Radiologia de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, for his "important contributions to radiology and to education in Brazil."

Dr. Atlas is recognized as a world leader in both education and clinical research and has been on the Nominating Committee for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for several years. His research has centered on advanced applications of new MRI technologies in neurologic diseases, and he has authored more than 120 scientific publications in leading journals. Dr. Atlas is also the editor of the best-selling textbook Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, which was recently released in its 4th edition and officially translated from English into Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is also editor, associate editor, and an editorial board member of numerous scientific journals, and he has been a member of the boards of many major national and international scientific societies over the past decade. In recognition of his leadership in the field, Dr. Atlas has received many awards and honors. He has been named by his peers in The Best Doctors in America every year since its initial publication, as well as in regional listings, such as The Best Doctors in New York, Silicon Valley's Best Doctors, and other similar publications. He recently received the Alumni 2008 Comeback Award from his alma mater, the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

In addition, Dr. Atlas' work includes investigations into the effects of the changing healthcare marketplace on technology-based innovations in medicine, and he has lectured throughout the world on a variety of topics, most notably advances in MRI of the brain, and the key economic issues related to the future of such technology-based advances. During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Dr. Atlas was a senior advisor for health care and the coordinator of the Health Policy Team for one of the major U.S. presidential candidates. At the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies, he has particular interests in the evolving healthcare system of emerging economies, and he recently received a Fulbright Award to collaborate with Chinese academic leaders on structuring healthcare solutions for China. Dr. Atlas has also participated with leaders from government and academia on the World Bank's Commission on Growth and Development, and he is an adviser to major industry leaders in medical technology.

To read his prior blog articles, please access "Awards and Honors: March-April 2007"; "Awards and Honors: September 29, 2008"; "Sanford/Atlas: Alternatives to Government Health Takeover"; "Dr. Atlas' Commentary on Our Healthcare System Featured in The Washington Times"; and "Commentary by Dr. Atlas: 'Mr. Health Care: Ted Kennedy's Lifelong Passion' and 'Why Are These Health Care Fixes Ignored?'"

Awards and Honors I: September 23, 2009

Guillem Pratx, PhD, doctoral candidate in electrical engineering and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory, recently published an article in Physics in Medicine and Biology entitled "Bayesian Reconstruction of Photon Interaction Sequences for High-Resolution PET Detectors," which has been selected as a Featured Article by the editors of the Institute of Physics Journals. Dr. Pratx's article was chosen for its "novelty, high level of interest and potential impact on future research." To view his article, please access http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/-featured=jnl/0031-9155/54/17/001.

Dr. Pratx completed his undergraduate work in engineering at the Ecole Centrale in Paris, France. At Stanford (MIPS), he is completing his dissertation esearch, which centers on the development of practical algorithms hat exploit graphics processing units (GPU) for fast medical image reconstruction in ultra-high resolution PET systems under development at the University. For more details regarding his biography, please see Dr. Pratx's earlier award postings by accessing "Awards and Honors: August 2, 2007"; " Awards and Honors: December 17, 2007"; "Awards and Honors II: December 5, 2008"; and "Awards and Honors II: July 18, 2008."

Awards and Honors: August 11, 2009

Sandra Rodriguez, BS R(RT)(MR), MR research technologist, has been awarded the UPS Foundation Scholarship from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. This scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis to assist students, who have a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0, in obtaining their educational objectives. Ms. Rodriguez earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Administration (BSHA) in an online program through the University of Phoenix in September of 2008. She is currently enrolled in the Master's Program in Health Administration and will receive her degree in November 2010. As an MRI technologist at the Lucas Center, Ms. Rodriguez helps users set-up for their studies and facilitates their scans, providing support whenever necessary. She also does quality assurance on our three scanners and makes sure they are running smoothly. In her free time, Ms. Rodriguez enjoys cardio kickboxing; reading; and trying to keep up with a teenage girl (her daughter).

For her prior awards listings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_35.html and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/04/awards_and_hono_1.html.

Awards and Honors: July 28, 2009

Avnesh S. Thakor, MA, MB Bchir, PhD, a visiting scholar in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has been awarded an American Cancer Society International Fellowship for Beginning Investigators (ACSBI) from the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) for his research on Raman spectroscopy using SERS nanoparticles. One goal of ACSBI fellowships is to foster a bi-directional flow of research knowledge, experience, expertise, and innovation between countries. Dr. Thakor was awarded ACSBI fellowship for his research on Raman spectroscopy using SERS nanoparticles.

Dr. Thakor completed his PhD, in oxidative stress and vascular physiology, and his medical degree at the University of Cambridge. Currently, he is pursuing an MSc in cancer therapeutics at the University of London during his radiology residency. At Stanford, Dr. Thakor is applying his knowledge in oxidative stress and vascular biology to the molecular imaging of tumor biology. He has 20 published articles and over 30 peer-reviewed abstracts. In addition to the American Cancer Society International Fellowship, Dr. Thakor has received numerous other honors, including a 2009 European Association for Cancer Research Fellowship, 2008 British Institute of Radiology Philips Fellowship, and 2008 PEEL Medical Research Award.

Awards and Honors: July 24, 2009

John Ronald, PhD, a post doctoral scholar in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab (MMIL), has received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship, which is a three-year award that provides support for highly qualified candidates to complete health research either in Canada or abroad. Dr. Ronald received the Fellowship for his proposal, "Multimodality Cell Trafficking Imaging Using Optical Bioluminescent Imaging, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)."

Dr. Ronald received his BSc in physiology from the University of Western Ontario (UWO), graduating with honors. He remained at UWO to complete his MSc in anatomy and cell biology and his PhD thesis, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging Characterization of a Cholesterol-Fed Rabbit Model of Atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's Disease," in medical biophysics. Prior to coming to Stanford in June of 2009, Dr. Ronald was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Western Ontario in anatomy and cell biology. As a member of the MMIL, Dr. Ronald researches new techniques for improving the ability to non-invasively track cells or cell products in various diseases, particularly atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship is just one of his many awards, which include the 2009 Canadian Governor General's Academic Gold Medal. He has also published over 10 peer-reviewed papers and more than 25 peer-reviewed abstracts.

In addition to his research, Dr. Ronald enjoys traveling, reading, poker, movies, golf, soccer, and rollerblading.

Awards and Honors: July 23, 2009

Qizhen Cao, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory, received a Travel Award to attend the 56th Society of Nuclear Medicine's Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada from June 13th to June 17th, where she presented her study, "Phage Display Peptide Probes for Imaging Early Response to Antiangiogenic Treatment." Because her project demonstrates novel advances in molecular imaging, Dr. Cao's abstract was also chosen for presentation at the Basic Science Summary Session of the SNM. She received her PhD in molecular and immunological pharmacology from the Peking University Health Science Center in China, where she specialized in tumor angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis therapy. In 2005, she joined Dr. Shawn Chen's laboratory, where she develops molecular imaging probes for the treatment monitoring and target therapy of tumor angiogenesis.

Awards and Honors: July 21, 2009

Anne Marie Sawyer, BS, RT(R)(MR), manager of the MR Whole Body Research Systems at the Richard M. Lucas Center for Imaging, has been appointed as member of the Food and Drug Administration's Circulatory System Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee. The Circulatory System Devices Panel "reviews and evaluates data concerning the safety and effectiveness of marketed and investigational devices for use in the circulatory and vascular systems and makes appropriate recommendations to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs." Ms. Sawyer was appointed to this panel in recognition of her enduring contributions to the safe and efficient operation of MR systems.

She began her career in magnetic resonance imaging in September of 1985 as . . .

an MR applications specialist for GE Medical Systems providing education on-site for customers with new installations and system upgrades. In 1987 and 1990, respectively, she served as supervisor (MR) and then manager (MR, CT, X-ray, nuclear medicine, and mammography) for applications specialists in the western region of the United States. In 1991, Ms. Sawyer became a member of MR Advanced Applications and Customer Support at GE Medical Systems headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where her primary responsibilities included assistance in the design and implementation of software, hardware, and imaging accessories; support for pre-product clinical evaluations; customer education; organization and direction of educational symposia; and development of educational material and tools.

In 1993, Ms. Sawyer began in the Stanford Department of Radiology as the manager of MR Whole Body Research Systems in the Radiological Sciences Laboratory at the Richard M. Lucas Center for Imaging. For over 16 years, she has provided technical, scientific, and educational consultation to researchers, as well as assistance in the design and direction of research studies conducted at the Lucas Center on the 1.5T, 3.0T#1, 3.0T#2 and 7.0T whole body MR systems. To support Lucas users and distribute MR-specific documentation, she maintains a website of her own design and conducts Stanford MR technologist symposia.

Ms. Sawyer has been a member of the Section for MR Technologists (SMRT) of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) since 1991 and has served as past president as well as chair and member of numerous committees. Because of her dedication to SMRT, she has been honored with elevation to Fellow of the Section and with the prestigious Honorary Membership of the SMRT in recognition of her major achievements in the field of magnetic resonance imaging. She is currently the editor of the SMRT accredited Home Study Program, Educational Seminars. Her published articles include over 50 peer-reviewed publications. In addition, she has delivered more than 50 invited lectures and co-authored three book chapters. Among Ms. Sawyer's numerous awards are the Crues-Kressel Award from the SMRT for her outstanding contributions to MR technologist education and a 3rd Place Poster Award at the 2006 Annual ISMRM Meeting. As manager of our Lucas magnet systems, she is nationally consulted regarding all aspects of MR safety and systems operation.

Awards and Honors: July 20, 2009

Christoph Lee, MD, has been named 1 of only 29 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars for 2010-2012, a highly prestigious and extremely competitive two-year fellowship in health policy. Through the Fellowship, outstanding young physicians "conduct innovative research and work with communities, organizations, practitioners and policymakers on issues important to the health and well-being of all Americans." Dr. Lee is the only radiologist to have been selected this year and is one of very few radiologists selected to participate since the beginning of the program in 1969. To read the press release announcing his award, please access http://rwjcsp.unc.edu/resources/pressreleases/2010-12_CSP_New_Scholars.pdf or Download file.

Dr. Lee earned his BA, graduating cum laude, from Princeton University, and received his MD from Yale University where he also graduated cum laude. He is currently completing his residency in diagnostic radiology at Stanford University. Prior to coming to Stanford, Dr. Lee managed a global tuberculosis initiative for Ralph Nader in Washington, D.C., and was an analyst for the Lewin Group, a national healthcare policy research and consulting firm. He has helped lead more than 10 different service organizations at the community, state, national, and international levels over the last decade. In addition, Dr. Lee is the author of multiple medical board review texts distributed internationally by McGraw-Hill & Co., and he is the first author of several original research articles regarding medical imaging health policy, which are published in leading peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Lee has also served on several national editorial and executive boards and is a recipient of numerous research and leadership awards, including the 2009 American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award. As a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, Dr. Lee plans to examine diagnostic imaging from the perspectives of cost effectiveness, clinical effectiveness, and resource utilization. For his prior blog award, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/03/awards_and_hono_82.html.

Awards and Honors: July 17, 2009

Andrei Iagaru, MD; Erik Mittra, MD, PhD; and Michael Goris, MD, PhD, have received the 2009 Society of Nuclear Medicine Image of the Year Award for their image comprised of two sets of before-and-after PET scans of two patients, one of whom was treated with Iodine-131 tositumomab, and the other, with Yttrium-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan. The scans examine the effectiveness of two radioimmunotherapy agents in treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). To view the image, please access http://interactive.snm.org/img/SNM-2009-Image-of-the-Year.jpg. Please see biographies for Drs. Iagaru and Mittra below.

Andrei Iagaru, MD, instructor of nuclear medicine, completed medical school at the Carol Davila University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania, and an internship at Drexel University College of Medicine, Graduate Hospital, in the Department of Medicine. He began his residency at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, in the Division of Nuclear Medicine, where he was the chief resident. He finished his residency and completed a PET/CT fellowship at Stanford University's School of Medicine in the Division of Nuclear Medicine. He is currently an Instructor in the Department of Radiology and his current research interests include whole-Body MRI and PET/CT for early cancer detection; Zevalin/Bexxar radioimmunotherapy; optical imaging of breast cancer; clinical translation of novel PET radiopharmaceuticals; and PET-CT imaging for thyroid/breast cancers, melanoma, lymphoma, and sarcoma. For his prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/05/awards_and_hono_91.html and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_47.html.

Erik Mittra, MD, PhD, instructor of nuclear medicine, attended Stony Brook University Medical Scientist Training Program where he received his MD and PhD degrees in biomedical engineering as well as a master's degree in the anatomical sciences. After completing his internship in the Department of Internal Medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital, he finished his residency and fellowship in the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Stanford University Hospital and Clinics. In addition to the 2009 Society of Nuclear Medicine Image of the Year Award, Dr. Mittra has received the 2007 Radiological Society of North America Trainee Research Prize (co-author); was awarded 2007 Norman D. Poe Memorial Scholarship Award for Outstanding In-Training Oral Abstract at the 32nd Annual Western Regional Society of Nuclear Medicine Meeting (co-winner); and served as the Chief Nuclear Medicine Resident for 2007-2008. He has also published over 10 published manuscripts and 25 abstracts.

Awards and Honors: July 14, 2009

Laura Sasportas, PhD candidate in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory, has been awarded a Student Fellowship Award by the Society of Nuclear Medicine . She received this award for her proposal, "In Vivo Molecular Imaging of Circulating Tumor Cells and Early Invasion in a Human Cancer-Stem Cell Based Model of Breast Tumor." SNM Student Fellowship Awards support full-time participation in clinical and basic research activities for students who demonstrate outstanding competence in nuclear medicine and/or molecular imaging research.

A native of Strasbourg, France, Laura Sasportas completed two years of math and physics studies at the bachelor's degree level before entering Ecole Centrale Paris, which is a multidisciplinary engineering school. She was then selected for the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (T.I.M.E.) master's double degree program, Europe's leading network for the training of bi-cultural and bilingual engineers. In 2007, Ms. Sasportas received a Master of Science Engineering Diploma from the Ecole Centrale Paris, and a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). At ETH Zurich, she specialized in bioimaging, magnetic resonance imaging, and molecular imaging. Dr. Sasportas completed her master's thesis at the Harvard Medical School Center for Molecular Imaging Research (MGH) in Boston, Massachusetts. Her thesis aimed at developing and imaging in vivo an anti-angiogenic therapy for malignant brain tumors using human neural stem cells as a delivery vehicle.

In 2008, Ms. Sasportas worked as a scientific associate at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research/Center for Proteomics Chemistry on the lead discovery platform in Basel, Switzerland. She was in charge of cell-line engineering and support of the imaging-based cellular assay development for high-throughput drug screening. Later that year, Ms. Sasportas was also awarded an International Fulbright Science and Technology Award grant to pursue a PhD in bioengineering at Stanford University, where she is currently enrolled.

Her hobbies include literature, theater, drawing, painting, swimming, hiking, and traveling.

Awards and Honors: July 7, 2009

Francis Blankenberg, MD, associate professor of radiology and associate professor (by courtesy) of pediatrics, has been awarded stimulus funds by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project, "scVEGF Targeted Radiotherapy of Primary and Metastatic Mammary and Colonic Carcinoma."

Dr. Blankenberg received his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After finishing a general surgical intership and his residency at Stanford University Hospital, . . .

he completed a pediatric fellowship at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital. Dr. Blankenberg left Stanford to become a clinical instructor of computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in the Department of Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In July of 2001, he returned to Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital as an assistant professor of radiology. Dr. Blankenberg has over 95 publications and 3 U.S. and foreign patents.

Dr. Blankenberg's research grant, "scVEGF Targeted Radiotherapy of Primary and Metastatic Mammary and Colonic Carcinoma," focuses on tumor vasculature, which has a unique set of markers including vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) receptors. Prior efforts to starve tumors by attacking these blood vessels with new, highly selective anti-VEGF drugs as single agents have been largely unsuccessful. Dr. Blankenberg and his colleagues propose to attach radiotherapeutic isotopes to a new form of VEGF known as scVEGF and to use this radiolabeled material to attack not only the tumor blood vessels/supply but also tumor cells. Successful completion of this proposal will be critical in laying the preclinical groundwork for a new class of tumor vessel radiotherapeutic agents that, by attacking a tumor on two fronts, will be more effective than current anti-VEGF drugs.

The grant will support the hiring of Helen D'Arceuil, PhD, visiting assistant professor from Harvard and former researcher at the Lucas Center, who has expertise in small animal imaging with MRI of ischemic injury and brain development. Dr. D'Arceuil will now be assisting with the current award by employing her over twenty years experience in small animal modeling and imaging. The grant will also support the continued work of Zoia Levashova, PhD, who has over twenty years of experience in biochemical and animal model work at NIH. Dr. Levashova has spent the last four years with Dr. Blankenberg in the Nuclear Medicine Imaging Laboratory, and she has performed most of the pilot work for the current grant application and will play a major role in the successful execution of our proposal.

To read more about the award, please access "First Round of NIH Stimulus Funds Includes 18 Projects at Stanford School of Medicine."

Awards and Honors: June 25, 2009

Jin Xie, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), has been awarded a Travel Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM). The purpose of the SNM Travel Awards is to provide support to nuclear medicine scientists for presenting innovative work at the SNM Annual Meeting. Dr. Xie will use his award to attend the 56th Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting from June 13 to June 17 in Toronto, Canada.

In June 2008, Dr. Xie received his PhD from Brown University, where his research centered on magnetic nanoparticle synthesis, characterization, and surface modification as well as the magnetic nanoparticle interplay with biomolecules and their applications in molecular imaging and drug delivery. Moving to Stanford in July 2009, he joined Dr. Xiaoyuan Chen's group as a Stanford postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), where he has been working on the development of magnetic nanoparticle-based probes for MRI. Since then, Dr. Xie has extended his research interests to many other areas, such as NIRF, PET, stem cell, etc., and he is currently working on developing nanoparticle-based activatable probe development and on creating probes that are suitable for multi-modality purposes. When he is not in the lab, Dr. Xie enjoys electronic games. He is also a fan of soccer and karaoke.

Awards and Honors: June 22, 2009

Sri-Rajasekhar (Raj) Kothapalli, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has been appointed to a Hamalainen Pelican Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Sir Peter and Lady Michael Foundation. This postdoctoral fellowship supports innovative research, clinical trials, and applied methods for improving the detection, management, and non-invasive treatment of prostate cancer, with a particular focus on the development of multimodal (photoacoustic, optical, and ultrasound) molecular imaging techniques for obtaining rigorous and comprehensive information about early stage prostate cancer.

Dr. Kothapalli received his bachelor of science degree in mathematics, physics, & chemistry from Nagarujuna University, India, followed by his master of science degree in nuclear physics from Andhra University, India, and his master of technology degree in applied optics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Before receiving his master of science in applied physics from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Dr. Kothapalli worked for an Indian defense organization developing optical pattern recognition techniques. While at the University of Massachusetts, he applied these pattern recognition techniques to medical imaging processing in areas such as mammography. His master's work piqued his interest in medical imaging, so he attained his PhD in biomedical engineering at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, where he focused on developing a hybrid imaging modality that combines the advantages of both optics (high contrast) and ultrasound (excellent resolution and penetration depth). Working under the mentorship of Dr. Sanjiv Gambhir, Dr. Kothapalli plans to apply his background in physics and engineering to develop multimodal molecular imaging techniques for the early detection of cancer, with a particular emphasis on prostate cancer.

In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis in the summer; squash in the winter; and listening to inspirational music.

Awards and Honors: June 15, 2009

Keren Ziv, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has received a Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship (LSRF), which is bestowed upon young scientists who perform the highest quality of research.

Prior to joining Dr. Gambhir's Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, Dr. Ziv was a postdoctoral scholar in Professor Michal Neeman's lab at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. She received both her PhD and master's degrees from the Department of Biological Regulation of the Feinberg Graduate School at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Her PhD research focused on the functional and molecular imaging of gene expression.

Dr. Ziv is the coauthor of seven publications as well as the recipient of many honors including the 2007 Auto Swartz Award and the 2008 AFLACAACR International Scholar-in-Training Award supported by Aflac, Inc.

Awards and Honors: June 10, 2009

Gang Niu, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), has been awarded a Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) Travel Award to attend the 56th Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting from June 13 to June 17 in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the SNM Travel Awards is to provide support to nuclear medicine scientists for presenting innovative work at the SNM Annual Meeting. Dr. Niu received his PhD in free radical radiation biology from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, where his research focused on molecular imaging and tumor gene therapy, mediated by the human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS), to investigate the role of hNIS as a reporter gene monitoring gene transfer and expression. After arriving at Stanford in 2006, he began working in the MIPL under the supervision of Dr. Xiaoyuan Chen. Dr. Niu's current research interests include the investigation of tumor initiation and the progress and response to various therapies with non-invasive molecular imaging strategies, including optical and radiological modalities.

Awards and Honors: June 9, 2009

Jeremy Pearl, Stanford medical student and member of the Cardiovascular Gene and Cell Therapy Group, has been awarded a second-year fellowship to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Fellowship recipients are selected because they have shown "the greatest promise for future achievement in biomedical research" and "have demonstrated superior scholarship." Mentored by Joe Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, and Mark M. Davis, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology, Mr. Pearl was initially awarded a first-year HHMI Fellowship in 2008. In 2009, he was one of a few select fellows who was given a second-year HHMI fellowship because of his outstanding biomedical research on the immunogenic properties of human embryonic stem cells.

Before beginning medical school at Stanford, Mr. Pearl graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, San Diego, with a BS in human biology. In addition to the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Medical Student Fellowships, he was acquired numerous honors, including the 2007 Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Research Fellowship. Mr. Pearl is also the first named inventor on the patent "Methods for the Control of Macrophage-Associated Inflammation" (S07-398 (STAN-593) 12/397, 925), and the co-author of over 15 abstracts, posters, and oral presentations as well as 5 publications, including "Seeing Is Believing: Tracking Cells to Determine the Effects of Cell Transplantation" (Pearl J, Wu JC) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (2008;20(2):102-109). When he is not working, Mr. Pearl enjoys playing and watching all sports, particularly basketball.

Awards and Honors: June 3, 2009

Amelie Lutz, MD, PhD, clinical instructor of Radiology and research scientist in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has received the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research Scholar Award for her project "Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer Using Targeted Microbubble-Enhanced Ultrasound." To promote career development, the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research Scholar Award is bestowed upon young researchers in the field of ovarian cancer, whose projects have translational potential.

Before becoming a CE and research scientist, Dr. Lutz was a postdoctoral fellow in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory at Stanford. She received her medical degree from the University of Freiburg, Germany, and completed her internship in internal medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology at the University Hospital in Freiburg, Germany. Dr. Lutz did her training in diagnostic radiology at the University Hospital in Zurich and at the Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, Kantonal Hospital, in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.

In addition to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research Scholar Award, Dr. Lutz has received numerous honors, including the 2008 Bronze Award from the European Society of Gastrointestinal Radiology (co-author) and the 2004 Swiss Society of Radiology Research Award for her paper "Ultra Small Superparamagnetic Oxide (USPIO) Enhanced MR Imaging for Detection of Macrophage Activity in an Experimental Model of Antigen-Induced Arthritis," which is one of her 27 peer-reviewed publications. Her clinical and research interests include: musculoskeletal radiology and interventions; body imaging with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging; molecular imaging in oncology; cellular imaging of musculoskeletal inflammatory diseases; and kinematic musculoskeletal imaging. When she is not working, Dr. Lutz enjoys life as a new mom with her family.

For her prior blog award posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/awards_and_hono_18.html.

Awards and Honors: June 2, 2009

Juergen K. Willmann, MD, assistant professor of radiology (abdominal imaging) and head of the Translational Molecular Imaging Laboratory, has received the highly prestigious Walter Friedrich Award at the 90th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Radiology in Berlin. The award was named in honor of Dr. Walter Friedrich, a 1914 Nobel Laureate. Awarded only once each year, the Walter Friedrich Award was bestowed upon Dr. Juergen K. Willmann for his outstanding research in the field of radiology.

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. Under his leadership, the Translational Molecular Imaging Lab focuses on multimodality molecular imaging of angiogenesis and stem cell therapy as well as the development of multi-modality imaging approaches for the early detection of cancer. When he is not working, Dr. Willmann enjoys his life as a new Dad and plays the piano. To read Dr. Willmann's prior award postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/04/awards_and_hono_79.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/01/awards_and_hono_73.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/11/awards_and_hono_61.html; 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: May 26, 2009

Andrei Iagaru, MD, instructor of nuclear medicine, received the Alavi-Mandell Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine for his paper "90Y-Ibritumomab Therapy in Refractory Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Observations from 111In-Ibritumomab Pretreatment Imaging." Dr. Iagaru's article is featured on the cover of and published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine (2008 Nov;49(11):1809-12. Epub 2008 Oct 16). The Alavi-Mandell Award "honors the work of a young investigator who is pursuing a career in nuclear medicine" and will be presented to Dr. Iagaru at the 2009 SNM Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Dr. Iagaru completed medical school at the Carol Davila University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania, and an internship at Drexel University College of Medicine, Graduate Hospital, in the Department of Medicine. He began his residency at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, in the Division of Nuclear Medicine, where he was the chief resident. He finished his residency and completed a PET/CT fellowship at Stanford University's School of Medicine in the Division of Nuclear Medicine. He is currently an Instructor in the Department of Radiology and his current research interests include whole-Body MRI and PET/CT for early cancer detection; Zevalin/Bexxar radioimmunotherapy; optical imaging of breast cancer; clinical translation of novel PET radiopharmaceuticals; and PET-CT imaging for thyroid/breast cancers, melanoma, lymphoma, and sarcoma.

For his prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_47.html.

Awards and Honors: May 21, 2009

Roland Bammer, PhD, along with his collaborators Drs. Fischbein, and Moseley, has received R01 grant funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for his project, "Novel Acquisition Methods for Diffusion MRI." This is one of the first ARRA awards in the School of Medicine. The goal of Dr. Bammer's research project is to improve pediatric imaging by developing diffusion-weighted 3D spiral projection imaging for high-resolution 3D SSFP and SE DTI at 3T, reducing distortions related to motion and susceptibility differences. This past winter 2009, Dr. Bammer, along with his collaborators Drs. Atlas, Barnes, and Moseley, also received R01 funding for his project "Short Axis EPI for Diffusion Tensor MRI at High Field," which focuses on developing new types of EPI sequences for high resolution, low SAR, diffusion tensor imaging at 3T and 7T using parallel receive and parallel transmit technology. The success of his research projects will significantly improve MR exams in both children and adult patients by reducing the overall scan time; improving the diagnostic capacity of the images; and providing an alternative contrast mechanism and the means to understand more clearly the underlying tissue microstructure, particularly in terms of how it is composed and how the brain is anatomically/functionally connected with different regions.

For his prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/09/awards_and_hono_2.html.

Awards and Honors: May 20, 2009

Natesh Parashurama, MD, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, received a Young Investigator Award at the International Society for Cellular Therapy 2009 Annual Meeting for his presentation "Stably Expressed Multimodality Fusion Reporter Genes For Tracking Mesenchymal Stem Cell Status in Hearts of Living Subjects." These merit-based Awards are offered to select Young Investigators submitting abstracts.

Dr. Parashurama received his BS in chemical engineering from MIT and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Subsequently, he completed his PhD in chemical bioengineering at Rutgers University. While earning his PhD, he completed a three and a half-year graduate fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Parashurama's research interests include using multimodality imaging of stem cell functions for both enhanced understanding of the biology of stem cells and for translating these techniques to the clinic. These functions include cell homing and differentiation; the application of quantitative molecular imaging tools to study cell proliferation and differentiation; cell function; the cellular micro-environment; cell trafficking; the immune response; and cell-mediated gene therapy. For his prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/01/awards_and_hono_74.html and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/02/awards_and_hono_28.html.

Awards and Honors: May 18, 2009

Kim Butts Pauly, PhD, associate professor of radiology and of bioengineering (by courtesy), was recently recognized as Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) at the 20009 annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Butts Pauly was made a Fellow of the ISMRM for her "significant and substantial contributions to research" in her field.

Dr. Butts Pauly received her PhD in biophysical sciences from Mayo Graduate School. She was a postdoctoral research fellow in our Department, becoming an assistant professor of radiology in 1996. Dr. Butts Pauly's current research interests are focused on image-guided minimally invasive therapies, including MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound and MR-guided cryoablation. She has published her work in over 75 peer-reviewed publications. When Dr. Butts Pauly is not working, she enjoys gardening, traveling with her family, and reading with her kids.

Awards and Honors: May 6, 2009

Zheng Miao, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Laboratory, has been granted the First Prize in Basic Science Award for his abstract entitled "A Protein Scaffold Based Molecule for EGFR PET Imaging" from the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM). He will receive his award at the SNM Annual Meeting, which will be held in Toronto, Canada, on June 14-17, 2009.

As a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford, his research focuses on the application of scaffold protein in molecular imaging. Dr. Miao's other areas of specialization include protein engineering; the synthesis of synthesis of bifunctional metal chelates and of peptides and analogs, with solid phase resin; and the conjugation of proteins and peptides to solid surface resin as well as the cross-linking of proteins. Most recently, he published a research article in Bioconjugate Chemistry: "Cysteinylated Protein as Reactive Disulfide: An Alternative Route to Affinity-Labeling" (2008;19;15-19).

Dr. Miao received his PhD in biophysical chemistry from the University of California, Davis, where he completed his dissertation entitled "Synthesis and Medical Application of Bifunctional Metal Chelates." When he's not working, Dr. Miao enjoys hiking, rafting, and sports. One of his other favorite activities, he commented, is "spending time with my lovely family."

Awards and Honors: April 22, 2009

Dr. Shreyas Vasanawala, assistant professor of radiology, has received the Morgridge Scholar Grant, which is awarded to scientists whose research promises to "create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm or clinical practice, address a critical barrier to progress in the field, or develop new technology." Dr. Vasanawala joined the Department of Radiology faculty in July of 2007, after receiving his degree and a PhD in biophysics from Stanford University, followed by residency training in radiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a pediatric radiology fellowship at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH). During his fellowship, Dr. Vasanawala received specialty training in pediatric musculoskeletal imaging at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and in pediatric cardiovascular imaging at Sick Kids in Toronto. At Stanford, Dr. Vasanawala's research focus includes testing the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging techniques for evaluating pediatric and abdominal disease. His proposal focuses on reducing sedation or anesthesia for pediatric MRI. For his prior blog postings, please access
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/03/awards_and_hono_78.html;
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/02/awards_and_hono_76.html;
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_43.html;
and
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/07/new_faculty_hir.html.

Awards and Honors I: April 20, 2009

Zhen Cheng, PhD, head of the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Laboratory (CMICL), has been awarded a Young Investigator Award by the Melanoma Research Alliance, which supports "outstanding young investigators whose work shows great promise in the field of melanoma research." Dr. Cheng received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Sichuan University. He also holds an MS from the National Research Center of Isotope Engineering and Technology & China Institute of Atomic Energy and a PhD from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Missouri-Columbia. From 2001 to 2003, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Radiology at Harvard Medical School. His awards include a California Breast Cancer Research Program-IDEA Award in 2008; a Young Investigator Travel Scholarship to attend the 2005 Academy of Molecular Imaging Annual Conference; and a 1997-1998 graduate fellowship at the University of Missouri-Columbia. As head of the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Laboratory (CMICL) of MIPS, he is developing novel molecular imaging probes and non-invasive techniques for the early detection of cancer and its metastasis. He is also researching the molecular, metabolic, and physiological characteristics of cancers and their responses to therapy by identifying novel cancer biomarkers with significant clinical relevance; by devising new chemistry for the preparation of probes; and by validating new strategies for probes by using high-throughput screening. For his prior blog posting, please access
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/01/new_faculty_hir_3.html.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Awards and Honors II: April 20, 2009

Kazim Narsinh, research fellow in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory (MMIL), was awarded the 2009 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Fellowship. Bestowed upon outstanding medical students, the HHMI Fellowship helps further promising careers in translational research. Mr. Narsinh's research interests include the molecular imaging of human embryonic stem cells, and he has recently coauthored two in press articles: "Application of Reporter Gene Imaging for Studying Human Embryonic Stem Cells in Living Subjects" (Methods in Molecular Biology 2009 vol. 515) and "Comparisons of Gene Transfer Efficiency in Human Embryonic Stem Cells" (Molecular Imaging and Biology 2009). In addition to working as a research fellow in the MMIL, Mr. Narsinh is currently a medical student at the University of San Diego, (UCSD), School of Medicine, where he is the manager of the Cardiology Clinic as well as a member of the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic and the Global Health Interest Group. Prior to attending medical school, he graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry. When not working, Mr. Narsinh enjoys playing tennis and tabla, a hand drum.

Awards and Honors: April 17, 2009

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, has received the 2009 Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist Award. According to the American College of Cardiology (ACCR), the award is given "[t]o recognize a young scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine and who has amassed an impressive body of scientific research in either the clinical or basic domain." For Dr. Wu's prior awards, please see http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/11/awards_and_hono_63.html; 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: April 1, 2009

Juergen K. Willmann, MD, assistant professor of radiology (abdominal imaging) and member of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), has been named as a 2009-10 pilot awardee by the Stanford Digestive Disease Center, an NIH-funded (P30) research center program led by Dr. Harry Greenberg. After a very competitive selection process, Dr. Willmann was selected as one of five pilot awardees, based on his project, "Non-Invasive Molecular Ultrasound Imaging for Diagnosing and Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using Molecularly Targeted Microbubbles."

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. Under his leadership, the Translational Molecular Imaging Lab focuses on multimodality molecular imaging of angiogenesis and stem cell therapy as well as the development of multi-modality imaging approaches for the early detection of cancer. When he is not working, Dr. Willmann enjoys his life as a new Dad and plays the piano. To read Dr. Willmann's prior award postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/01/awards_and_hono_73.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/11/awards_and_hono_61.html; 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: March 31, 2009

Christoph Lee, MD, third-year radiology resident, has been awarded the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation's 2009 Leadership Award, which is designed "to encourage involvement in organized medicine and continue leadership development among the country's brightest and most energetic medical students, residents, early career physicians and established physicians." On March 9th, Dr. Lee was honored for his strong non-clinical leadership skills in medicine and the community at the AMA's annual Excellence in Medicine Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., along with 30 other award recipients.

Dr. Lee graduated cum laude from both Princeton University, where he received his bachelor's degree, and Yale University Medical School. Through his authorship of multiple research articles and commentaries in peer-reviewed journals, he has advocated at the national level for public health and education regarding CT radiation risks. He has also served as a project manager of a global tuberculosis initiative for Ralph Nader in Washington, D.C., and as an analyst for a prominent national healthcare policy research and consulting firm. At the community level, Dr. Lee helped implement the Healthcare for the Homeless Program in St. Louis, MO, and assisted in leading a free clinic for migrant farm workers in Connecticut. After completing his residency, Dr. Lee plans to pursue a career in health services and policy research with a focus on the clinically effective and cost-effective utilization of medical imaging. When he's not working, Dr. Lee enjoys running, playing tennis, and keeping up with pop culture.

Awards and Honors: March 25, 2009

Neal Bangerter, PhD, research associate; Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and (by courtesy) bioengineering and orthopedics; Brian Hargreaves, PhD, assistant professor of radiology; Seungbum Koo, PhD, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Chung-Ang University in South Korea; Ernesto Staroswiecki, PhD; and Ronald Watkins, senior research engineer, received the Cum Laude Award at the 2009 Meeting of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) for their exceptional research project, "Early Detection of Osteoarthritis in Patients with ACL Injury Using Sodium MRI." Please access photos and brief biographies of some of our award winners by clicking on the link below.

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and (by courtesy) bioengineering and orthopedics, received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1988 and his MD from Stanford in 1992. Dr. Gold has authored over 60 journal articles, 170 abstracts, and 5 patents in MRI. He has been the principal investigator or a co-investigator on over 30 funded research projects, and he is the principal investigator on two NIH-funded projects to improve MR imaging of osteoarthritis and the use of real-time MRI for the study of biomechanics. The International Skeletal Society recently awarded Dr. Gold the President's Medal, and this is the sixth time he was been awarded the Lauterbur Award for the best MRI paper from the Society for Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR). Dr. Gold reviews manuscripts for ten peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI) and the Journal of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM), and he is on the editorial board of several publications. At Stanford, Dr. Gold practices clinical musculoskeletal radiology, teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. He teaches two courses in imaging physics and human anatomy for medical students and graduate students, and he was recently awarded the Kaiser Award for outstanding and innovative contributions to education. He also serves as an advisor and co-advisor for many engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. To view his prior blog postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/02/drs_gold_and_ha_2.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/01/drs_gold_and_ha.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/06/people_and_thei_6.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_37.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_31.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/10/awards_and_hono_19.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/04/awards_and_hono_1.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/awards_and_hono_18.html; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/new_faculty_hir_1.html.

Brian Hargreaves, PhD, assistant professor of radiology, completed his doctoral degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University. In 2005, he joined the Stanford Radiology Department faculty. Dr. Hargreaves' research focuses on body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications (including abdominal, vascular, breast, and musculoskeletal imaging) and the development of novel excitation schemes, efficient imaging methods, and reconstruction tools that provide improved diagnostic contrast compared with current methods. Aside from work, he plays ice hockey and soccer, and he is on the volunteer ski patrol at Sugar Bowl ski resort. To view Dr. Hargreaves' pior blog postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/02/drs_gold_and_ha_2.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/01/drs_gold_and_ha.html; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_31.html.

Seungbum Koo, PhD, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Chung-Ang University in South Korea, received his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford University in 2006 and worked as a research associate in radiology until February 2009. His research interests include medical image processing and joint biomechanics, with a focus on knee joint biomechanics and articular cartilage degeneration to understand the mechanical pathways of osteoarthritis in the knee. Dr. Koo recently took a faculty position in South Korea.

Ronald Watkins, senior research engineer, has been working in medical imaging since joining GE Medical Systems in 1980, where he was part of an engineering team that developed the first commercial version of digital subtraction X-ray angiography. During his career, he has been involved in the development of data acquisition systems for CT as well as several subsystems for the first commercial, high-field 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance system, including pulse sequence generators, gradient amplifiers, RF amplifiers, and digital image processors. Mr. Watkins began working in the development of transducers and analog front ends for cardiac ultrasound in 1985. Four years later, he developed catheters and electronics for high-resolution, high-frequency intravascular ultrasound at Cardiovascular Imaging Systems in Sunnyvale, a high tech medical device startup company founded by Cardiologist Paul Yock, MD.

In 1991, Mr. Watkins returned to GE's Corporate Research and Development Division in Schenectady, New York, where he worked with co-inventors Harvey Cline, PhD, and Kullervo Hynynen, PhD, at the University of Arizona to develop the first MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery system. In 2000, this technology was transferred to form the basis for the Haifa Israel start-up InsighTec. Mr. Watkins also led the development of the first commercial whole body 3.0 Tesla MRI system, which initiated a rapid increase in the deployment of 3.0 Tesla systems from a few fMRI research sites to the thousands of mainstream clinical radiology sites present today. Furthermore, he developed much of the hardware for massively parallel receive arrays, parallel transmit, and RF subsystems for 7.0 Tesla MRI systems.

In 2007, Mr. Watkins joined the Stanford Department of Radiology, where he has been developing coils and hardware for high-field MRI and has continued the development of MR-guided focused ultrasound, including the use of capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers, pioneered by the Khuri-Yakub group in the Stanford E. L. Ginzton Lab. In recognition of his research on the development of MR-guided focused ultrasound, Mr. Watkins was awarded a Magna Cum Laude citation by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in 1994. In addition, he has 38 issued U.S. patents and more than 40 conference proceedings and journal publications.

Awards and Honors: March 23, 2009

Marcus Alley, PhD, senior research scientist; Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and (by courtesy) bioengineering and orthopedics at Stanford University; Robert J. Herfkens, MD, professor of radiology, director of MRI, and associate chair for clinical technology; Michael Lustig, PhD, engineering research associate; John Pauly, PhD, professor of electrical engineering; and Dr. Shreyas Vasanawala, assistant professor of radiology, were awarded the 2009 Lauterbur Award by the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) for their outstanding research project "Faster Pediatric MRI with Compressed Sensing." The Lauterbur Award in MR was named in honor of Paul Lauterbur, PhD, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2003 for his work in MRI. Please find photos and brief biographies of some of our award winners by clicking on the link below.

Marcus Alley, PhD, senior research scientist, received his BA in physics from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and his MS (physics) and PhD (nuclear physics) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he completed his thesis entitled "An Effective Range Determination of Phase Shifts for the Elastic Proton Helium-3 Reaction between the Energies of 0 and 12 MeV." Dr. Alley has been a member of the Stanford Department of Radiology since 1994, when he began as a postdoctoral fellow mentored by Norbert Pelc, ScD. After completing his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Alley worked as an MR applications and software developer, and, in May of 2005, he became a senior research scientist in our Department. His current research involves developing MRI with compressed sensing for body and pediatric imaging. His past awards include a third place Scientific Paper Award for his paper entitled "Measurement of T1 of Flowing Blood, Extraction Fraction of Gd-DTPA and Single-Kidney GFR Using Interleaved Spiral Acquisition" from the Society of Uroradiology, Twenty-Fifth Scientific Assembly, in 2000. Dr. Alley also has over 35 publications and 7 patents.

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and (by courtesy) bioengineering and orthopedics at Stanford University, received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1988 and his MD from Stanford in 1992. Dr. Gold has authored over 60 journal articles, 170 abstracts, and 5 patents in MRI. He has been the principal investigator or a co-investigator on over 30 funded research projects, and he is the principal investigator on two NIH-funded projects to improve MR imaging of osteoarthritis and the use of real-time MRI for the study of biomechanics. The International Skeletal Society recently awarded Dr. Gold the President's Medal, and this is the sixth time he was been awarded the Lauterbur Award for the best MRI paper from the Society for Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR). Dr. Gold reviews manuscripts for ten peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI) and the Journal of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM), and he is on the editorial board of several publications. At Stanford, Dr. Gold practices clinical musculoskeletal radiology, teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. He teaches two courses in imaging physics and human anatomy for medical students and graduate students, and he was recently awarded the Kaiser Award for outstanding and innovative contributions to education. He also serves as an advisor and co-advisor for many engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. To view his prior blog postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/02/drs_gold_and_ha_2.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/01/drs_gold_and_ha.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/06/people_and_thei_6.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_37.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/04/awards_and_hono_31.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/10/awards_and_hono_19.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/04/awards_and_hono_1.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/awards_and_hono_18.html; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/new_faculty_hir_1.html.

Michael Lustig, PhD, engineering research associate, received his BSc in 2001 from the Department of Electrical Engineering, in Technion-IIT, Haifa, Israel. He completed his PhD in 2008 from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, where his doctoral research focused on the application of compressed sensing to rapid MRI. Currently, he is a research associate in the Magnetic Resonance Systems Research Lab (MRSRL) in the Stanford Department of Engineering, where his research interests include medical imaging reconstruction, MR pulse sequence design, convex optimization, and inverse problems.

Dr. Shreyas Vasanawala, assistant professor of radiology, joined the Department of Radiology faculty in July of 2007, after receiving his degree and a PhD in biophysics from Stanford University, followed by residency training in radiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a pediatric radiology fellowship at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH). During his fellowship, Dr. Vasanawala received specialty training in pediatric musculoskeletal imaging at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and in pediatric cardiovascular imaging at Sick Kids in Toronto. At Stanford, Dr. Vasanawala's research focus includes testing the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging techniques for evaluating pediatric and abdominal disease. In recognition of his research, he recently received an International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Seed Grant for his proposed research project, "Non-Contrast-Enhanced Renal MRA Using Multiple Inversion Recovery." Developed in collaboration with doctoral student Hattie Dong and Professor Dwight Nishimura, Dr. Vasanawala's proposal was cited for its innovation and potential impact. The competition was open to young investigators, and only one grant was awarded in each of the areas of low back pain and renal MRI. For his prior blog postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/02/awards_and_hono_76.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_43.html; and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/07/new_faculty_hir.html.

Awards and Honors: February 19, 2009

Adam Wang, MS, doctoral student in Electrical Engineering and member of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL), was 1 of only 8 finalists (out of 34 entrants) for the Michael B. Merickel Student Paper Award at the 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Medical Imaging Conference for his work entitled "Optimal Energy Thresholds and Weights for Separating Materials Using Photon Counting X-Ray Detectors with Energy Discriminating Capabilities."

Mentored by Dr. Norbert Pelc, Mr. Wang is currently a research assistant in the RSL where he is investigating task-based optimal multi-energy discrimination techniques for CT systems and developing lossy compression methods to reduce CT data rate without diagnostic impact.

Prior to entering the doctoral program, Mr. Wang received his master's in electrical engineering from Stanford, after completing his BS in electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to being a finalist for the Michael B. Merickel Student Paper Award, Mr. Wang's other awards include an Electrical Engineering Departmental Fellowship from Stanford University and the Distinguished College of Engineering Scholar Award at the University of Texas at Austin. When he's not working, he enjoys running, cycling, and working on his bikes.

Awards and Honors III: February 13, 2009

Brian Rutt, PhD, professor of radiology and director of the High-Field MRI Program, has been elected to Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Election to Fellow of the AIMBE is awarded to outstanding bioengineers in academia, industry, and government who have distinguished themselves through their contributions in research, industrial practice, and/or education. On February 12th, Dr. Rutt traveled to Washington, DC, to receive his award as part of the induction ceremony of new fellows of the AIMBE. Before coming to Stanford, Dr. Rutt was a scientist at the Robarts Research Institute and professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine at the University of Western Ontario, where he has held the Barnett-Ivey Endowed Research Chair, Heart and Stroke Foundation since 1997. At Robarts, he co-founded the Cellular and Molecular Imaging Program; served as the scientific director for the 1.5T and 3T research MRI facilities; and established a hardware engineering core facility. Under his direction, the first 1.5T MRI scanner and one of the first 3T MRI systems in Canada were installed in London, Ontario.

After completing his BASc in engineering science at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Dr. Rutt received his master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford, returning to Canada to attain his PhD in medical biophysics at the University of Western Ontario. Subsequently, he completed a postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). His research interests include MRI technology development and the application of advanced MRI techniques for studying the cardiovascular system, brain, and cancer. When he is not working, Dr. Rutt enjoys bicycling and wood working. For Dr. Rutt's prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2009/02/meet_brian_rutt.html.

Awards and Honors II: February 13, 2009

Dr. Shreyas Vasanawala, assistant professor of radiology, has won an International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Seed Grant for his proposed research project, "Non-Contrast-Enhanced Renal MRA Using Multiple Inversion Recovery." Developed in collaboration with doctoral student Hattie Dong and Professor Dwight Nishimura, Dr. Vasanawala's proposal was cited for its innovation and potential impact. The competition was open to young investigators, and only one grant was awarded in each of the areas of low back pain and renal MRI.

Dr. Vasanawala's research focus includes testing the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging techniques for evaluating pediatric and abdominal disease. Dr. Vasanawala joined the Department of Radiology faculty in July of 2007, after receiving his degree and a PhD in biophysics from Stanford University, followed by residency training in radiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a pediatric radiology fellowship at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH). During his fellowship, Dr. Vasanawala received specialty training in pediatric musculoskeletal imaging at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and in pediatric cardiovascular imaging at Sick Kids in Toronto. For his prior blog postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_43.html and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/07/new_faculty_hir.html.

Awards and Honors I: February 13, 2009

Adam de la Zerda, PhD candidate in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory (MMIL), has been awarded the Best Poster Presentation Award for his poster on enhanced sensitivity photoacoustic imaging agents at the Photoacoustic Session of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Photonics West 2009 Conference.

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 has received numerous awards for his work including the Young Investigator Award at the World Molecular Imaging Congress 2008; the Bio-X Student Travel Award; and first place at the Bay Area Entrepreneurship Contest. He holds a number of publications and patents, and he 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 blog award announcements, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/11/awards_and_hono_60.html; http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/07/awards_and_hono_45.html;
and http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/06/awards_and_hono_6.html.

Awards and Honors II: January 30, 2009

Natesh Parashurama, MD, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has been awarded a 2009-2010 Dean's Fellowship for his proposal, "Quantitative, Multimodality Molecular Imaging of Spatiotemporally Regulated Cardiac Stem Cell Functions In Vivo." The Dean's Fellowship is designed "to encourage and support young investigators for the first one or two years of postdoctoral (PhD or MD) research training. Dr. Parashurama received his BS in chemical engineering from MIT and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Subsequently, he completed his PhD in chemical bioengineering at Rutgers University. While earning his PhD, he completed a three and a half-year graduate fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Parashurama's research interests include using multimodality imaging of stem cell functions for both enhanced understanding of the biology of stem cells and for translating these techniques to the clinic. These functions include cell homing and differentiation; the application of quantitative molecular imaging tools to study cell proliferation and differentiation; cell function; the cellular micro-environment; cell trafficking; the immune response; and cell-mediated gene therapy. For his prior blog posting, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/02/awards_and_hono_28.html.

Awards and Honors I: January 30, 2009

Juergen K. Willmann, MD, assistant professor of radiology (abdominal imaging) and member of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), has won the 2008 RSNA Research Award in the category of "Molecular Imaging" and the 2009 Phillip H. Meyers, MD, Research Award of the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists. Recipients receive the Phillip H. Meyers, MD, Research Award to facilitate visionary research in medical imaging.

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 lab, the Translational Molecular Imaging Lab, focuses on 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 his life as a new Dad and plays the piano. To read Dr. Willmann's prior award postings, please access http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2008/11/awards_and_hono_61.html; 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: January 28, 2009

Audrey Strain, RT, CT technologist, received the January Wingspread Award from the former recipient, Pablo Rodriguez, CRT, ARRT, for her excellence in Radiology. The Wingspread 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. This award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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 Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) departmental staff meetings.

Mrs. Strain was first employed at SHC in July of 2001, after graduating from the Foothill College Radiologic Technologies Program in June of 2001. Within one year, she obtained her mammography license and trained in the Stanford Mammography Department. From 2003 to 2004, Mrs. Strain worked for Lucile Packard Children's Hospital as their lead technologist, returning to SHC in 2004 as the lead technologist at the new Cancer Center. Simultaneously, she served as a clinical instructor to the second-year students from Foothill College. After having her first daughter in 2006, Mrs. Strain began her current position in the CT Department as a staff technician, which allows her to spend more time with her daughter by working 16 hours on Saturdays and two additional 8-hour shifts during the week. She also taught at the Foothill College Radiology Laboratory for one quarter but declined further teaching appointments because she did not want to spend more time away from her daughter. On January 14th, Mrs. Strain passed her CT registry exam and is now a licensed CT technologist. She is currently on maternity leave, awaiting the arrival of her second daughter.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Awards and Honors: October 21, 2008

Geoffrey D. Rubin, MD, professor of radiology; chief of cardiovascular imaging; vice chief of staff; and associate dean for clinical affairs, has been selected to present the annual Charles T. Dotter Memorial Lecture at the 2008 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on November 11th in New Orleans, Louisiana. His presentation, "More Surprises from the Healthy Donut," explores the evolving role of computed tomography in the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases.

Awards and Honors: October 20, 2008

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, has been awarded the New Innovator Award from the National Institute of Health. This award is designed to stimulate highly innovative research and to support promising new investigators. Dr. Wu received the New Innovator Award for his research on pluripotent stem cells, which can develop into a wide variety of cell types. Dr. Wu's research produces pluripotent stems cells by turning skin cells into embryonic-like stem cells by using microRNAs, which are single-stranded RNA molecules that are involved in regulating gene expression. To read more about Dr. Wu's award, please access "Creative Thinking Nets Stanford Researchers Two NIH Pioneer Awards, Three New Innovator Awards" at the following link: http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2008/september/pioneer.html.

For Dr. Wu's prior awards, please see 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: September 29, 2008

Scott W. Atlas, MD, professor and chief of neuroradiology and senior fellow at both the Hoover Institution and Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies, has been selected as a 2008 Homecoming Comeback Guest by his alma mater, the University of Illinois. Dr. Atlas adds his name to a distinguished Illinois alumni list, which includes Governor Jon Corzine; former GE CEO Jack Welch; Netscape Founder Marc Andreesen; and Nobel Prize Winner Jack Kilby. The Homecoming tradition began at the University of Illinois in 1910, and Dr. Atlas will ride as a marshal in the Homecoming Parade and will be honored at the 50-yard line during the Homecoming Football Game at half time.

Dr. Atlas has authored more than 100 scientific publications in leading journals, and he is the editor of the foremost textbook within his field, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine. Recognized throughout the world as a leader in educational and clinical research, Dr. Atlas serves on the Nominating Committee for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology. He is also an adviser to major industry leaders in medical technology, and he has a special interest in healthcare public policy.

For Dr. Atlas' prior blog entry, please access Awards and Honors: March-April 2007.

Awards and Honors: July 25, 2008

Samuel Mazin, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Radiological Sciences Lab, has been named a JP and Danyele Garnier Fellow for his outstanding contributions to the Stanford Graduate School of Business Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship Program. The fellowship was established by GlaxoSmithKline in honor of former CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier. Only 5 out of 72 participants are given this honor, which is awarded for "exemplary performance throughout the program which greatly enhanced the experience for all who participated--students and faculty--as well as the anticipated impact the individual will have as they move forward in their career." Dr. Mazin's current research focuses on inverse geometry CT as well as improving CT imaging for people with metal implants. For Dr. Mazin's earlier award posting, please see Awards and Honors: March-April 2007.

Awards and Honors II: July 18, 2008

Guillem Pratx, PhD, doctoral candidate in electrical engineering and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory, was awarded a Travel Award to attend the 2008 Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) Annual Meeting to present two papers: "Fast Maximum-Likelihood Image Reconstruction without a Line Search via PCG" and "Maximum a Posteriori Event Positioning in High-Resolution PET CZT Detectors." The purpose of the SNM Travel Awards is to provide support to nuclear medicine students for presenting innovative work at the SNM Annual Meeting. Dr. Pratx completed his undergraduate work in engineering at the Ecole Centrale in Paris, France. In the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), he is completing his dissertation research, which centers on the development of practical algorithms that exploit graphics processing units (GPU) for fast medical image reconstruction in ultra-high resolution PET systems under development at Stanford. For more details regarding his biography, please see Dr. Pratx's earlier award postings by accessing "Awards and Honors: August 2, 2007" and "Awards and Honors: December 17, 2007."

Awards and Honors I: July 18, 2008

Qizhen Cao, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory, has received a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) for her work on alpha7-nAChR targeted imaging and therapy of lung cancer. Dr. Cao received her PhD in molecular and immunological pharmacology from the Peking University Health Science Center in China, where she specialized in tumor angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis therapy. In 2005, she joined Dr. Shawn Chen's laboratory, where she develops molecular imaging probes for the treatment monitoring and target therapy of tumor angiogenesis.

Awards and Honors III: July 17, 2008

Zibo Li, PhD, former postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL) and current senior scientist at Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., has received a Travel Award to attend the 55th Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting. The purpose of the SNM Travel Awards is to provide support to nuclear medicine students for presenting innovative work at the SNM Annual Meeting. While at Stanford, Dr. Li's research focused on the development of novel tracers (peptides, proteins, growth factors, antibodies, and antibody fragments-based) for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence, MRI, SPECT, and PET imaging of small animal tumor xenografts and, potentially, of cancer patients. For Dr. Li's prior blog award announcements, please access "Awards and Honors: June 15, 2007" and "Awards and Honors: February 5, 2008."

Awards and Honors II: July 17, 2008

Yingbing Wang, MD, recently graduated medical student from the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, has been selected as the winner of the 2008 Department of Radiology Norman Blank Award for the outstanding medical student in radiology. The award was created in memory of longtime faculty member and Director of Admissions Norman Blank, MD. While at Stanford, Dr. Wang's research interests included the use of integrated fluorine-18-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in managing lymphoma. In the fall, she will begin an internship in internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Clara, which will be followed by a residency in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Wang's favorite hobbies include eating Krispy Kreme donuts and watching action movies.

Awards and Honors I: July 17, 2008

Kai Chen, PhD, research associate in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory, was awarded a third place Society of Nuclear Medicine Young Professionals Committee (YPC) Best Basic Science Award at the 2008 Annual Convention of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Chen received his PhD in biophysics from Peking University in Beijing, China. Prior to coming to Stanford, he first served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and then at the Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. At Stanford, Dr. Chen's research interests include molecular imaging and cancer cell biology. Outside the lab, he enjoys traveling, reading, swimming, and playing "Go" as well as chess.

Awards and Honors II: July 15, 2008

Chief Resident Pat Auveek Basu, MD, MBA, has received the J.T. Rutherford Government Relations Fellowship from the American College of Radiology (ACR). Dr. Basu is the first Stanford recipient to receive the fellowship and one of six applicants selected nationally. Founded in 1993, the Fellowship was named after J.T. Rutherford, the first lobbyist of the ACR. By meeting with congressional members as well as representatives of federal regulatory agencies in Washington D.C., Fellows will be exposed to the state and federal legislative and regulatory processes that directly affect the future of radiology. During the one-week fellowship program, Dr. Basu will also attend seminars on the governmental process and its impact on the radiological profession as well as learn about the ACR's Governmental Relations Division and other congressional activities.

Dr. Basu currently serves as a member of Stanford's Graduate Medical Education Committee and as course director of the "Health Economics, Finance, and Policy" course offered to Stanford physicians and medical students. He has been invited to speak both nationally and internationally regarding issues of healthcare policy and finance. Prior to coming to Stanford, Dr. Basu served as chief resident during his transitional year at Resurrection Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Basu graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, where he received his MD and MBA. During this time, he was elected president of his business school cohort and the Dean's Council representative of his medical school class. Dr. Basu earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois, where he was elected to the University's Senate and Homecoming Court. When he is not working, Dr. Basu loves to play a variety of sports, and he is a die-hard fan of the Chicago Cubs, Bulls, Bears, and Illinois Fighting Illini.

For prior blog entries regarding Dr. Basu's awards and honors, please access the following postings: Awards and Honors: February 2007; Awards and Honors: August 13, 2007; and "Our New Chief Residents for 2008-2009."

Awards and Honors I: July 15, 2008

Andrei Iagaru, MD, instructor of nuclear medicine, has received the following honors: Alavi-Mandell Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine; two "Best Essay Awards" at the 2008 American College of Nuclear Physicians (ACNP) Annual Meeting; and featured research in both the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) News Highlights and AuntMinnie.com. The Alavi-Mandell Award is bestowed upon nuclear medicine residents and trainees who publish scientific articles as senior authors in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Iagaru won this award for his paper entitled "Treatment of Thyrotoxicosis," which is published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine 2007;48(3):379-89. At the ACNP Annual Meeting, Dr. Iagaru received "Best Essay Awards" for "131I-Tositumomab (Bexxar) vs. 90Y-Ibritumomab (Zevalin) in Refractory/Relapsed Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma" and "18F FDG PET/CT in Head and Neck Cancers: What is the Definition of Whole-Body Scanning?" His research is also featured in the 2008 RSNA News Highlights, "PET/CT Effective at Identifying Cervical Cancers, Research Suggests." Most recently, Dr. Iagaru's work appeared twice in AuntMinne.com: "MRI and FDG-PET/CT Recommended for Advanced Breast Cancer" and "PET/CT Shows Its Worth in Cervical Carcinoma."

Dr. Iagaru completed medical school at the Carol Davila University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania, and an internship at Drexel University College of Medicine, Graduate Hospital, in the Department of Medicine. He began his residency at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, in the Division of Nuclear Medicine, where he was the chief resident. He finished his residency and completed a PET/CT fellowship at Stanford University's School of Medicine in the Division of Nuclear Medicine. His research interests include whole-body MRI and F-18 PET in osseous metastases detection; the comparison of Zevalin/Bexxar therapy; the optical imaging of breast cancer; and PET-CT imaging for thyroid/breast cancer, melanoma, lymphoma, and sarcoma. In addition to the above awards, Dr. Iagaru has also been selected as the 2008 Clinician Educator of the Year by the Stanford Radiology Residency Program.

Awards and Honors: July 14, 2008

Hui Wang, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), has been awarded first place from the Society of Nuclear Medicine's Molecular Imaging Center of Excellence for her molecular imaging abstract entitled, "Trafficking the Fate of Mesenchymal Stem Cells In Vivo." Prior to coming to Stanford, Dr. Wang was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Dalian, China) where she researched the design and synthesis of p450 enzymes in the Pichia pastoris system. She received her PhD degree for her work in tumor neovasculature targeted TNF at the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, China. At Stanford, her research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of protein probes for molecular imaging; the ex vivo evolution of VEGF121 protein; the site-specific labeling of tagged proteins; and the trafficking of mesenchymal stem cells by bioluminescence imaging. When Dr. Wang is not working, she enjoys hiking, swimming, and spending time with her family.

Awards and Honors II: July 11, 2008

Zhaofei (Jeff) Liu, a visiting researcher in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory, has been selected for the 2008 Berson-Yalow Award for his abstract, "Analyzing the Recognition Sites of RGD Peptide on U87MG Tumor Cell Using a Competition Binding Assay." Developed by the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), the Berson-Yalow Award is given to investigators with the most original scientific abstracts who make the most significant contributions to basic or clinical radioassay. Mr. Liu is also a fourth-year PhD candidate at Peking University in Beijing, China, where he studies biophysics. After receiving a joint training scholarship to study at Stanford for one year from the China Scholarship Council (CSC), Mr. Liu took a one-year leave from his PhD program to pursue his research interests in molecular imaging, molecular and cell biology, and immunology under the guidance of Dr. Xiaoyuan Chen in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory. Mr. Liu has also received a Travel Award for the 55th Society of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting.

Awards and Honors I: July 11, 2008

John MacKenzie, MD, MS (on left), assistant professor of pediatric radiology and chief of pediatric musculoskeletal imaging at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH), and Dr. Shreyas Vasanawala (on right), assistant professor of radiology as well as director of body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and co-director of MRI at LPCH, have received a Research and Education Foundation Seed Grant from the Society for Pediatric Radiology for their project entitled "Evaluation of Pediatric Diseases with Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Imaging." The purpose of their research is to investigate molecular imaging as a new diagnostic tool for childhood disorders. Drs. MacKenzie and Vasanawala will test the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging using hyperpolarized carbon-13 for the diagnosis and monitoring of childhood musculoskeletal and liver disease.

Dr. MacKenzie's other research interests include molecular imaging applications for bone and joint disorders. Dr. Vasanawala is developing new MRI techniques for body imaging by increasing the speed of MRI and developing novel MR methods for probing metabolism. For more biographical information, please access earlier blog postings on Dr. MacKenzie and Dr. Vasanawala.

Awards and Honors: July 9, 2008

Zongjin Li, PhD, MD, postdoctoral scholar in the Cardiovascular Gene and Cell Therapy Laboratory, is the recipient of five honors: a Travel Award to attend the 2008 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting; an American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF)/Bristol-Myers Squibb Travel Award from the American College of Cardiology; a finalist for the Young Investigators Awards Competition of the American College of Cardiology; an honorable mention in the Young Investigator of the Year Award Competition from the Stanford University School of Medicine Cardiovascular Institute; and a Mitzi and William Blahd, MD, Pilot Research Grant. Sponsored by the Education and Research Foundation for the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Mitzi and William Blahd, MD, Pilot Research Grant is designed to support innovative ideas in clinical and basic research and is awarded to the highest-ranked proposal.

Dr. Li received his PhD degree from Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China, and his MD degree from the Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences in Changchun, China. At the Rizhao Hygiene College in China, he completed both his internship and residency in internal medicine and served as an attending physician in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. In September of 2005, Dr. Li joined Dr. Wu's Cardiovascular Gene and Cell Therapy Laboratory, where he researches the molecular imaging of stem cells for cardiovascular applications.

Awards and Honors: July 8, 2008

Adam de la Zerda, PhD candidate in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory (MMIL), has won two awards in support of his PhD progress: the Bio-X Graduate Student Fellowship and the Department of Defense (DOD) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Predoctoral Traineeship Award. The Bio-X Graduate Student Fellowship is intended to support graduate students training in the interdisciplinary biosciences, creating new advances in science and engineering. The fellowship is awarded to promising graduate students based on their talent, potential, and commitment to research. The Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Predoctoral Traineeship Award supports the training of graduate students studying towards careers in breast cancer research. Mentored by Dr. Gambhir, Mr. de la Zerda researches photoacoustic molecular imaging and its broad applications for breast cancer. 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 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 Bay Area Entrepreneurship Contest, please access
http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/06/awards_and_hono_6.html.

Awards and Honors: July 3, 2008

Priti Balchandani, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL), was a finalist for the I.I. Rabi Young Investigator Award at the 2008 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting. Named after Nobel Laureate Isidor I. Rabi, the Rabi Award honors "achievements in basic scientific research, especially focusing on novel technical developments." Out of the 38 abstracts on basic research, Dr. Balchandani's abstract was 1 of 3 chosen as a finalist. Her abstract featured her research in adiabatic RF pulse design. Along with her colleagues, Dr. Balchandani has developed the slice-selective tunable-flip adiabatic low peak-power excitation (STABLE) pulse. To read more about her award and research, please access "Young Investigator Awards Add Luster to MRI's Scientific Stars" featured online in the "Diagnostic Imaging ISMRM Conference Reporter." Dr. Balchandani's research interests include the development of high-field MR anatomic and spectroscopic imaging tools and novel RF pulse design for positive-contrast imaging of cells labeled with SPIO nanoparticles and sodium imaging of the brain at 7T.

Dr. Balchandani received her BS in computer engineering from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada, and completed her MS and PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford.

Awards and Honors: June 24, 2008

Dr. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), professor of Radiology and Bioengineering, and head of the Nuclear Medicine Division, has received two honors: the Tesla Medal and induction into the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Gambhir was awarded the Tesla Medal from the United Kingdom Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) for his research in the multimodality molecular imaging of living subjects. Established in England, the RCR can trace its beginnings to the Roentgen Society, which was founded in 1897. The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) has approximately 7,600 members and Fellows all over the world whose goal is to advance the science and practice of radiology and oncology. Dr. Gambhir received his second honor at the one hundred year anniversary of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in 2008. At this anniversary meeting, Dr. Gambhir was inducted as a member of the ASCI, which is an honor society for physician-scientists. Election to the ASCI is an "extraordinary honor in academic medicine and industry" and is bestowed upon those who have achieved "significant accomplishments at a relatively early age." The ASCI is dedicated to advancing the research of human disease and to mentoring future generations of physician-scientists.

Dr. Gambhir has over 20 years of experience in molecular imaging in both animal models and patients. He has an active laboratory, with over 20 postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, that focuses on developing molecular imaging assays in small animal models for translation into clinical applications. Dr. Gambhir also has over 270 publications in the field of molecular imaging and leads several large NCI-funded programs, such as the In Vivo Cellular Molecular Imaging Center (ICMIC); the Center for Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (CCNE-TR); and the Stanford Molecular Imaging Scholars (SMIS) Program. Dr. Gambhir is a member of the NCI Scientific Advisory Board; is past president (2006) of the Academy of Molecular Imaging; and serves on the board of several other societies. He is also on the editorial boards of several journals.

Awards and Honors: June 23, 2008

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, has been selected as a 2008 Baxter Faculty Scholar. The Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Faculty Scholar Program Awards provide support to new assistant professors to help in the early stages of their research careers. To learn more about Dr. Wu's research, please visit his lab at http://mips.stanford.edu/research/lab?lab%5fid=2883.

Awards and Honors: June 23, 2008

Michael Zeineh, MD, PhD, neuroradiology fellow, has been awarded a research fellow grant from the Radiological Society of North America Research and Education Foundation for his project, "Ultra-High Resolution Clinical Imaging of the Human Medial Temporal Lobe with 7T MRI." Dr. Zeineh has just finished his radiology residency in our Department. He completed his internship as well as received his medical and graduate degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA). Dr. Zeineh is also a GE Radiology Seed Funding Recipient and received the 2003 Emil Bogen Research Prize in recognition of his work. His current research interests include the development and application of ultra-high resolution 7T MRI of the human medial temporal lobe with clinical applications to Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.

Awards and Honors: June 12, 2008

David Wang, MD, third-year radiology resident, has won a research seed grant from the Radiological Society of North America Research and Education Foundation for his project, "Ultrasound-Mediated Suicide Gene Therapy with Molecularly Targeted Microbubbles in a Murine Model of Tumor Angiogenesis." Dr. Wang will pursue this project under the residency program's newly established research track and will take a six-month sabbatical from his residency training to work in the laboratories of Drs. Juergen Willmann and Sanjiv Gambhir. Prior to residency, Dr. Wang received his medical degree from Stanford and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow. As a medical student, he founded and managed Pacific Free Clinic, a volunteer-run health clinic that offers basic healthcare services and onsite interpretation to low-income immigrants in Santa Clara County. The Clinic is currently in its fifth year of operation and has served thousands of patients. After residency, Dr. Wang plans to pursue a career in academic radiology.

Awards and Honors: May 22, 2008

Juergen K. Willmann, MD, assistant professor of radiology (abdominal imaging), has received a research seed grant from the Radiological Society of North America Research and Education Foundation for his project, "Development and Validating of a Multi-Targeted Contrast Agent for Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging of Tumor Angiogenesis in Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer." 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. In 2007, Dr. Willmann received the RSNA Trainee Research Fellow Award for his research project, "Molecular Imaging of Therapeutic Angiogenesis in Murine Hindlimb Ischemia Using PET and 64Cu-labeled Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor121." 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.

Awards and Honors: April 30, 2008

Rebecca Fahrig, PhD, assistant professor of radiology, has been selected as one of sixteen School of Medicine Faculty Fellows for 2008. Over the next year, the Fellows will meet monthly for leadership meetings with invited faculty who will serve as role models. In addition, they will attend small mentoring groups led by senior faculty mentors and will devise a career development plan. The Faculty Fellows were nominated by their departmental chairs and were ranked by the Faculty Fellow Review Committee based on their "leadership potential and demonstrated commitment to building diversity."

Before joining our Department as an assistant professor, Dr. Fahrig completed her PhD in medical biophysics at the University of Western Ontario and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She has won numerous awards including the Greenfield Award for the Best Paper (nonradiation dosimetry) published in Medical Physics in 2005; the Fellowship Research Trainee Prize (along with Zhu, PhD, candidate) from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Physics Subcommittee; and the Faculty Scholar in Translational Research Award from the Baxter Foundation. Dr. Fahrig's research focuses on imaging for guidance of minimally invasive procedures. She works on software and hardware that permit the use of a C-arm system for both fluoroscopy and CT imaging, and she has extended the applications of C-arm CT to retrospectively gated 3D/4D cardiac imaging in the interventional suite. She is also developing an MR-compatible X-ray fluoroscopy system, including a new rotating-anode X-ray tube for use in the fringe fields of 1.5T and 3.0T magnets.

Awards and Honors: April 18, 2008

Sandip Biswal, MD, assistant professor of radiology; Sheen-Woo Lee, MD, MSc, postdoctoral scholar; Shin Kamaya, BSE; Deepak Behera, DNB, postdoctoral fellow; Edward Graves, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology (radiation physics); and Garry Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and, by courtesy, of bioengineering and orthopaedic surgery, were awarded the Moncada Award at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) for their outstanding research project "Imaging Pain and Nociception with Manganese-Enhanced MRI (MEMRI)." The Moncada Award was named in honor of Rogelio Moncada, MD, who helped establish the SCBT/MR research awards program. Please find photos and brief biographies of some of our award winners below.

Deepak Behera, diplomate of National Board (DNB), specialized in nuclear medicine from Medwin Hospitals in Hyderabad, India, after receiving his medical degree (MBBS) from MKCG Medical College in Orissa, India. Before coming to Stanford, he served as senior resident in the nuclear medicine clinics at PGIMER in Chandigarh, India. Dr. Behera is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Imaging of Musculoskeletal Illnesses (MIMI) Laboratory where he is investigating a clinically applicable nociception imaging agent that has applications in both cancerous and noncancerous conditions. Outside the lab, he enjoys traveling, outdoor sports, dancing, and singing.

Sandip Biswal, MD, assistant professor of radiology, received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Division of Health Science and Technology (HST). As a faculty member at Stanford, he was won the Junior Faculty of the Year Resident Teaching Award twice and the RSNA Research Trainee Prize three times: once each in Informatics and Nuclear Medicine with Bao Do, MD, and once in Nuclear Medicine with Brian Kim, MD. Dr. Biswal is the leader of the Molecular Imaging of Musculoskeletal Illnesses (MIMI) Laboratory, where he researches the use of multimodality molecular imaging techniques to study nociception as it relates to bones, joints, the peripheral nervous system, and the spinal cord.

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and (by courtesy) bioengineering and orthopedics at Stanford University, received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1988 and his MD from Stanford in 1992. Dr. Gold has authored over 60 journal articles, 170 abstracts, and 5 patents in MRI. He has been the principal investigator or a co-investigator on over 30 funded research projects, and he is the principal investigator on two NIH-funded projects to improve MR imaging of osteoarthritis and the use of real-time MRI for the study of biomechanics. The International Skeletal Society recently awarded Dr. Gold the President's Medal. He is also a five-time winner of the Lauterbur Award for the best MRI paper from the Society for Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR). Dr. Gold reviews manuscripts for ten peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI) and the journal of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM), and he is on the editorial board of several publications. At Stanford, Dr. Gold practices clinical musculoskeletal radiology, teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. He teaches two courses in imaging physics and human anatomy for medical students and graduate students, and he was recently awarded the Kaiser Award for outstanding and innovative contributions to education. He also serves as an advisor and co-advisor for many engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Edward "Ted" Graves, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology (radiation physics), received his PhD in bioengineering in 2001 from the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts, he came to Stanford in 2003 as an acting assistant professor of radiation oncology and joined the Department as an assistant professor in 2004. Dr. Graves has received numerous awards, including NIH-postdoctoral training grants and first prize in the student poster competition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Cancer Workshop. At Stanford, his research interests focus on developing applications of emerging functional and molecular imaging techniques in the radiation therapy of cancer. Dr. Graves' current research projects include the development and application of techniques for imaging radiobiology, focusing on tumor hypoxia; the engineering of methods for applying clinically-relevant conformal irradiation to small animal models of disease; and the creation of software for multimodality image analysis and quantitation. In his time away from Stanford, Dr. Graves enjoys playing video games and with his dog, Tara, as well as supporting the Chelsea Football Club.

Shin Kamaya, BSE, grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a third-year medical student at the University of Colorado-Denver.

Awards and Honors: April 17, 2008

Brian Hargreaves, PhD, assistant professor of radiology; Neal Bangerter, PhD, research associate; Ernesto Staroswiecki, PhD; Paul Gurney, PhD; Thomas Grafendorfer, scientific staff; Anderson Nnewihe, MS; Bruce Daniel, MD, associate professor of radiology; and Garry Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and, by courtesy, of bioengineering and orthopaedic surgery, were awarded the Lauterbur Award by the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) for their outstanding research project "Co-Registered Sodium and Proton MRI of Osteoarthritis and Breast Cancer." The Lauterbur Award in MR was named in honor of Paul Lauterbur, PhD, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2003 for his work in MRI. Please find photos and brief biographies of some of our award winners below.

Neal Bangerter, PhD, received his doctoral degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He has held positions in both industry and academia. His academic work has focused on the development of new, fast imaging techniques for MRI and the development of sodium imaging methods for musculoskeletal and other applications. Dr. Bangerter is currently working in industry, developing product strategy for a Silicon Valley start-up.

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology and (by courtesy) bioengineering and orthopedics at Stanford University, received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1988 and his MD from Stanford in 1992. Dr. Gold has authored over 60 journal articles, 170 abstracts, and 5 patents in MRI. He has been the principal investigator or a co-investigator on over 30 funded research projects, and he is the principal investigator on two NIH-funded projects to improve MR imaging of osteoarthritis and the use of real-time MRI for the study of biomechanics. The International Skeletal Society recently awarded Dr. Gold the President's Medal. He is also a five-time winner of the Lauterbur Award for the best MRI paper from the Society for Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR). Dr. Gold reviews manuscripts for ten peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI) and the journal of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM), and he is on the editorial board of several publications. At Stanford, Dr. Gold practices clinical musculoskeletal radiology, teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. He teaches two courses in imaging physics and human anatomy for medical students and graduate students, and he was recently awarded the Kaiser Award for outstanding and innovative contributions to education. He also serves as an advisor and co-advisor for many engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Paul Gurney, PhD, received his doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Stanford in June of 2007. His research includes work in rapid 3-dimensional MRI and coronary angiography.

Brian Hargreaves, PhD, assistant professor of radiology, completed his doctoral degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University. In 2001, he joined the Stanford Radiology Department faculty. Dr. Hargreaves' research focuses on body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications (including abdominal, vascular, breast, and musculoskeletal imaging) and the development of novel excitation schemes, efficient imaging methods, and reconstruction tools that provide improved diagnostic contrast compared with current methods. Aside from work, he plays ice hockey and soccer, and he is on the volunteer ski patrol at Sugar Bowl ski resort.


Anderson Nnewihe, MS, is working on hardware design for the multinuclear imaging of the breast and the knee. In 2005, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a BS degree in electrical engineering; in 2007, he received an MS degree in bioengineering at Stanford, where he is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Bioengineering. His goals are to translate his research on multinuclear imaging to the clinical setting to expedite scans, improve image resolution, and facilitate diagnosis. He also has a marked interest in health care for his home country, Nigeria.

Awards and Honors: April 9, 2008

Sandra Rodriguez, RT (R)(MR), MR research technologist, was awarded the Howard S. Stern Scholarship from the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Education and Research Foundation. Out of 450 applicants, Ms. Rodriguez was 1 of 8 who were chosen for the award. The Howard S. Stern Scholarship is designed to help radiologic technologists obtain an associate, bachelor's, or graduate degree or to complete additional certification in medical imaging, radiation therapy, or medical dosimetry. Ms. Rodriguez is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Health Administration (BSHA) online program through the University of Phoenix. She anticipates receiving her degree in the 2008/2009 academic year and continuing her education by attaining a master's degree in Health Administration.

Awards and Honors: April 3, 2008

William T. Kuo, MD, assistant professor of vascular and interventional radiology, has been elected to Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP). Dr. Kuo will be inducted into Fellowship at the convocation ceremony of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) during their annual CHEST meeting in October 2008. To be elected to Fellowship in the ACCP, a physician must be board certified in his or her respective subspecialty and devote a significant amount of clinical and research time to treating and studying cardiopulmonary disease. Dr. Kuo's election to Fellow is a significant achievement in his professional career that also recognizes his expertise in the endovascular treatment of acute pulmonary embolism, as a specialist in vascular and interventional radiology. Following his election to Fellow of the ACCP, Dr. Kuo was also invited to deliver a lecture at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the safety and efficacy of catheter-directed therapy for acute pulmonary embolism. For Dr. Kuo's biography, please access an earlier award posting at http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/02/new_faculty_hir_1.html.

Awards and Honors: March 27, 2008

Arne Vandenbroucke, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), received the Henri Benedictus Fellowship from the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) and the King Baudouin Foundation. The BAEF promotes the exchange of scientists and students between the US and Belgium. The Henri Benedictus Fellowship is awarded to scientists whose research is in the field of biomedical engineering. Dr. Vandenbroucke is working on the design of a high sensitivity, high resolution PET scanner for breast cancer imaging; the fellowship will allow him to continue this work. He was selected for the Henri Benedictus fellowship after he defended his research in front of 15 scientists in Brussels, Belgium, in January of 2008. For Dr. Vandenbroucke's biography please access an earlier award posting at http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/12/awards_and_hono_23.html.

Awards and Honors: March 26, 2008

Norbert Pelc, ScD, professor of radiology and bioengineering and, by courtesy, electrical engineering, has been elected to Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). Dr. Pelc was awarded this honor for his distinguished contributions to the advancement of medical physics knowledge based upon independent original research or development and for his medical physics educational activities, especially in regard to the education and training of medical physicists, medical students, medical residents, and allied health personnel. The director of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory as well as professor of radiology and, by courtesy, of electrical engineering and of psychology, Dr. Gary Glover, commented that "[a] few people make major contributions to one or two diagnostic modalities in their lifetimes; Norbert is remarkable in that he has contributed outstanding achievements in virtually all fields of diagnostic imaging and is thereby internationally known as a thought leader in basic radiological science, education, and research policy at Stanford. We can all be proud of Norbert and delight in this fine recognition of our colleague's lifetime accomplishments." Dr. Pelc will be honored at an awards ceremony and reception at the July 2008 AAPM meeting in Houston, Texas.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Awards and Honors: March 3, 2008

(Drs. Ganguly and Pelc)

Arundhuti (Arun) Ganguly, PhD, research associate, received an Honorable Mention Award for her poster entitled "On the Angular Distribution of Bremsstrahlung" at the 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) "Physics of Medical Imaging" Conference in San Diego in February of 2008. She co-authored this poster and an associated conference paper with Professor Norbert Pelc. Only five candidates were selected for this award out of 120 submissions. Working with Professors Rebecca Fahrig, PhD, and Norbert Pelc, PhD, Dr. Ganguly has been a research associate in Radiology since 2004. She has also received the Sylvia Sorkin Greenfield Co-Author Award for the Best Paper in Medical Physics (2005), and she was a co-recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the Association for Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) in 2004. Prior to becoming a research associate, Dr. Ganguly was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford working with Professors Fahrig and Pelc. Dr. Ganguly received her doctoral degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo, New York, in physics. While at Stanford, she has participated in the development of a truly hybrid X-ray/MR system at Stanford. Her primary interest is in the development of image-guidance technologies for minimally invasive procedures. Her current research includes the development of imaging protocols using a C-arm CT system, the synthesis of novel targeted imaging contrast agents, and X-ray detector development work.

Awards and Honors: February 19, 2008

The research of the Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging Lab was recently featured on the cover of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine (December 1, 2007, v. 48:12). The cover highlights their work on the comparison of imaging techniques for tracking cardiac stem cell therapy. To view their abstract from the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, please access http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/48/12/1916. Members of the lab research cardiovascular molecular imaging of stem cell transplantation and gene therapy using different molecular markers.

Awards and Honors: February 12, 2008

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) recently featured research from the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab (MMIL) and the Yock lab on the cover of their February 5, 2008, V. 51:5 issue. To view their abstract from this issue on the noninvasive imaging of reporter genes after percutaneous delivery in swine, please access http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/51/5/595. Members of MMIL are developing imaging assays to interrogate cells for mRNA levels, cell surface antigens, intracellular proteins, and protein-protein interactions using technologies such as micro positron emission tomography (microPET), bioluminescence optical imaging, fluorescence optical imaging, micro computerized axial tomography (microCAT), ultrasound, and photoacoustics.

Awards and Honors: February 8, 2008

Natesh Parashurama, MD, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab (MMIL), has received two awards: a Speaker and Travel Award for the Stem Cell Bioengineering Conference (American Institute of Chemical Engineers AICHE) and a 2008-2009 Dean's Fellowship for his proposal, "Molecular Imaging of the Cardiac Stem Cell Niche." Dr. Parashurama received his BS in chemical engineering from MIT; his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo; his PhD in chemical engineering from Rutgers University, New Jersey; and a three-year graduate research fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Parashurama's research interests include applying quantitative molecular imaging tools to study cell proliferation and differentiation; cell function; the cellular micro-environment; cell trafficking and homing; the immune response; and cell therapy-mediated gene therapy.

Awards and Honors: February 6, 2008

Hao Peng, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), has been awarded a 2008-2009 Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship for his proposal, "Investigation of a Miniature PET Camera Insert Dedicated to Simultaneous PET/MRI Mammography and MRI-guided Biopsy." Dr. Peng completed his BS and MS degrees at Wuhan University, China, in applied physics. He received his PhD at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, from the Medical Physics Program. Dr. Peng's current research interests include the creation of breast cancer-dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) cameras using avalanche photodiode (APD) and cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) semiconductor detectors as well as the development of a simultaneous PET/MRI dual modality scanner that can improve diagnosis accuracy and facilitate MRI-guided biopsy. When he is not working, he loves to play tennis and basketball.

Awards and Honors: February 5, 2008

Zibo Li, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), has received the Benedict Cassen Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), which is granted to recipients who have an excellent record and exceptional research ability. Dr. Li's research focuses on the development of novel tracers (peptides, proteins, growth factors, antibodies, and antibody fragments-based) for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence, MRI, SPECT, and PET imaging of small animal tumor xenografts and, potentially, of cancer patients.

Awards and Honors: January 3, 2008

Yvonne Casillas, RT, RIS/PACS system analyst, received the October Wingspread Award from the former recipient, Linn Dee Barrientos, CRT. The Wingspread Award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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. Ms. Casillas grew up in Chicago, the youngest of five children. She graduated from a hospital-based RT program at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, which is not only one of the most recognized trauma departments in the country, but is also the model upon which the fictional hospital of County General Hospital from the NBC serial medical drama "ER" is based. Ms. Casillas added that her experience at Cook County Hospital in Chicago "was truly one of the best experiences I ever had. There was never a dull moment." She also worked for the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a CT technologist. She moved to San Francisco from Chicago two years ago and is currently living in Pacifica, which she enjoys because of its proximity to the beach. At Stanford, she has worked as a CT technologist performing CT examinations; assisted physicians during special procedures; and supervised staff. She is currently working in radiology administration as a systems analyst on the newly upgraded RIS/PACS system. She was originally brought on the team to help train users and to build and test the system before its implementation, and she continues to remain as a support for both RIS/PACS applications. Because of her outstanding work in radiology, Ms. Casillas was awarded the Wingspread Award, which 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. When she is not working, her hobbies include dance, specifically Hula Hoop dance. Her motto is "Think Green!"

Awards and Honors: December 17, 2007

2007 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Medical Imaging Travel Grant Winners Frances Lau, MS, Peter Olcott, and Guillem Pratx, MS, were awarded travel grants to present their novel and original work at the 2007 IEEE NSS-MIC (Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging) Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Frances Lau, MS, graduate student in the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), gave an oral presentation at the 2007 IEEE NSS-MIC Conference on the different methods for simplifying the circuits in the data acquisition system she and her colleagues are developing for a 1mm3 resolution breast-dedicated PET system. Ms. Lau's research interests include circuits and devices for biomedical applications; she is currently working on the design and development of hardware for a breast cancer imaging PET system.

Peter Olcott, graduate student in the Bioengineering Department and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory, gave a talk at the 2007 IEEE NSS-MIC Conference entitled Data Acquisition System Design for a 1 mm3 Resolution PSAPD-Based PET System that describes the data acquisition architecture he and his colleagues are developing for a new PET mammography system. Because of his strong presentation skills and the rating of his presentation abstract as the fourth highest, Mr. Olcott was one of two runners up for the two Best Student Paper Awards, which recognize contributions to the fields of nuclear and plasma sciences. Mr. Olcott graduated with a BS in computer science from the University of California, San Diego, in 2003. This fall 2007, he expects to receive his MS from Stanford in bioengineering and, subsequently, to begin the PhD bioengineering program. His current research interests include the development of an intra-operative hand-held gamma ray camera (nuclear imager) for the surgical staging of cancer; data acquisition systems for application specific (PET mammography) PET systems; and a new PET detector design for high-field simultaneous PET/MRI imaging. Mr. Olcott adds the following: "I have a 3-year-old son, and I spend all of my free time being a new parent. I love to play tennis, softball, and basketball, and members of Lucas/Radiology are quite welcome to send me unannounced requests to play these sports."

Guillem Pratx, MS, doctoral candidate in electrical engineering and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory, was also awarded a 2007 IEEE Medical Imaging Travel Grant to present his work at the 2007 IEEE NSS-MIC Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mr. Pratx completed his undergraduate work in engineering at the Ecole Centrale in Paris, France. In the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), he is completing his dissertation research, which centers on the development of practical algorithms that exploit graphics processing units (GPU) for fast medical image reconstruction in ultra-high resolution PET systems under development at Stanford. In support of his work, he has received several awards, including the NVIDIA Fellowship, the Society of Nuclear Medicine Bradley-Alavi Student Fellowship, and the Stanford Bio-X Graduate Student Fellowship.

A picture from the IEEE Luau, from left to right: Peter Olcott's son; Peter Olcott; Arne Vandenbroucke, PhD; Frances Lau, MS; James Matteson, PhD (Univ. of California, San Diego); Craig Levin, PhD; Guillem Pratx, MS; David Starfield, PhD candidate (Univ. of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg); Yi Gu; and Paul Reynolds.

Awards and Honors: December 10, 2007

Arne Vandenbroucke, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory (MIIL), was awarded an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Scholarship to attend a short course at the 2007 IEEE NSS-MIC (Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging) Conference. Dr. Vandenbroucke earned his PhD in experimental particle physics from Gent University in Belgium. Before coming to Stanford, he worked on the HERMES experiment, researching the spin structure of the nucleon at the DESY (Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron or the "German Electron Synchrotron") in Hamburg, Germany. As part of Dr. Levin's group at Stanford, his research interests include medical imaging, especially PET. Dr. Vandenbroucke is currently involved in the research and development of a dedicated high-resolution breast cancer imaging PET system. When he is not in the lab, he likes spending his time outdoors sailing, hiking, and traveling.

Awards and Honors: December 4, 2007

Gang Niu, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), has been awarded the Department of Defense (DOD) Prostate Cancer Training Award through the DOD's Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP). PCRP Training Awards are designed to fund innovative, high-impact research by scientists whose achievements reflect their potential for successful training and who are committed to a career in prostate cancer research. Dr. Niu received the award for his original research in Hsp90 targeted imaging and therapy. He has been working at MIPL under the supervision of Dr. Xiaoyuan Chen since 2006 after receiving his PhD in free radical radiation biology at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 2005. His PhD research focused on molecular imaging and tumor gene therapy mediated by the human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS), investigating the role of hNIS as a reporter gene monitoring gene transfer and expression. His current research interests include the investigation of tumor initiation and the progress and response to various therapies with non-invasive molecular imaging strategies including optical and radiological modalities.

Awards and Honors: December 3, 2007

Juergen K. Willmann, MD, research fellow in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), has received the 2007 RSNA Trainee Research Fellow Award for his research project, "Molecular Imaging of Therapeutic Angiogenesis in Murine Hindlimb Ischemia Using PET and 64Cu-labeled Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor121." This Award was created in 1994 by the RSNA Program Committee to recognize the contribution of investigators to the RSNA Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. Dr. Willmann has been a research fellow in MIPS since 2006, and he is 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. In 2005, Dr. Willmann received the "venia legendi" from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His research interests include multi-modality molecular imaging of angiogenesis and stem cell therapy and the development of new imaging probes for the early detection of cancer.

Awards and Honors: November 6, 2007

Linn Dee Barrientos, CRT, clinical instructor of radiology, received the September Stanford Hospital and Clinics Radiology Wingspread Award from the former recipient, Suzanne Campanile, CRT, ARRT, R, M, BS. Because of her outstanding work in diagnostic radiology, Ms. Barrientos was awarded the Wingspread Award, which 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. The Wingspread Award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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.

Ms. Barrientos graduated from Mt. San Antonio College in 1999 with an AA in liberal arts and an AS in radiological sciences after making the Dean's list. In 2007, she graduated cum laude with a BS in Business Management from Menlo College, where she was a member of the Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society of Business Administration. For over four years, Ms. Barrientos has been a full-time radiology technologist at Stanford Hospital and Clinics, where she had the privilege to serve as the day-shift lead technologist and clinical instructor for the Foothill Radiologic Student Program at Stanford. As the lead technologist, she managed the day shift for the diagnostic department, operating room, gastroenterology clinic, emergency department, Blake Wilbur Clinic, orthopedic outpatient clinic for Stanford Hospital, and the Cancer Center. Currently, she is working as a RIS analyst with the Informatics Radiology Team to implement the RIS-IC ImageCast system and to maintain and build support for the database. She has been working on this project for the last 14 months and comments that it is "by far the best opportunity Stanford has offered me. I enjoy the excitement, challenges, and learning opportunities Radiology has to offer." During her free time, she enjoys playing the piano, eating desserts, and tasting full-bodied red wines. Her best friend of seven years is her dog, Rusty.

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

Awards and Honors: November 2, 2007

Bao Do, MD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Imaging of Musculoskeletal Illnesses Laboratory and a radiology resident at the University of Iowa (left), and Sandip Biswal, MD, assistant professor of radiology (right), have been awarded the RSNA Research Trainee Prize in Informatics for their scientific paper entitled, "Feedback Natural Language Processing of Fractures in Unstructured Reports of Emergency Department Studies." The Trainee Prize was created in 1994 by the RSNA Program Committee to recognize the contribution of residents to the RSNA Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. Each subcommittee of the Program Committee awards three prizes each year for the best paper or poster submitted by a resident, fellow, or medical student. This is the second time Drs. Biswal and Do have received the Trainee Prize; they received their first one in 2005 in the category of molecular imaging.

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.

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.

Awards and Honors: September 14, 2007

Roland Bammer, PhD, assistant professor (research) of radiology, has earned two honors, both from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). He has successfully completed a competitive five-year renewal for his "Improving SENSE MRI for Spiral and Echo-Planar Imaging" R01 grant, which has been funded since 2003. Dr. Bammer has also been awarded an R21 grant for his research project, "Real-Time MRI Motion Correction System." Dr. Bammer's study, "Improving SENSE MRI for Spiral and Echo-Planar Imaging," is designed to demonstrate that spiral and echo-planar imaging (SENSE) can be combined with diffusion-weighted imaging/diffusion-tensor imaging (DWI/DTI) to significantly improve the evaluation of patients with signs or symptoms of cerebral ischemia. His research on real-time MRI motion correction explores the potential to use an alternative MRI motion compensation approach. The success of this project will significantly improve MR exams, particularly for pediatric and geriatric patients, by reducing the overall scan time and improving the diagnostic capacity of the images.

Awards and Honors: September 12, 2007

Suzanne Campanile, CRT, ARRT, R, M, BS, mammography and breast sonography technologist, received the June Stanford Hospital and Clinics Radiology Wingspread Award from the former recipient, Teresa Nelson, CRT. Ms. Campanile was awarded the June Wingspread Award for her outstanding work in mammography and breast sonography. The 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. Born in Burlingame, California, Ms. Campanile resides in Belmont with her husband and three children. In 1983, Ms. Campanile graduated with honors, receiving her AS degree from Canada College's Radiology Technology Program where she was awarded the Samuel Elkins Award for academic achievement. Ms. Campanile worked at Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City for four years before beginning her career at Stanford in July of 1987. After working for a brief time in diagnostic radiology, Ms. Campanile became the lead technologist in the gastrointestinal section. She then completed CT training and became the initial X-ray technologist for the Cowell Student Health Center, which is now the Vaden Health Center. After passing her mammography boards in 1994, Ms. Campanile shifted her focus to mammography. She has recently passed the ARRT board exam in breast sonography, and she is currently a mammographer and breast sonographer in the breast imaging section. The Wingspread Award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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.

Awards and Honors: August 13, 2007

Pat Basu, MD, MBA, diagnostic radiology resident, has received two honors: the American Medical Association (AMA) Jordan Fieldman, MD, Resident and Fellow Section Award and election to the Graduate Medical Education Committee. The Jordan Fieldman, MD, Award is named after Dr. Jordan Fieldman, who was an active voice for physicians during his residency and who passed away prematurely in 2004. Each year, the Fieldman Award is bestowed upon one resident physician who has demonstrated efforts in health advocacy and in improving the medical environment for physicians and their patients. The award winner receives funding to attend the two national annual AMA meetings and to give a presentation on the importance of health advocacy and an update on his/her own efforts. Dr. Basu was also one of five residents to be elected by residents and fellows to the Graduate Medical Education Committee for a one-year term. Along with attending physician representatives from each department in the School of Medicine, the Committee reviews and votes on all aspects of residency education such as resident/fellow benefits, hours, and education.

Awards and Honors: August 2, 2007

Frances Lau, MS, graduate student in electrical engineering and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory as well as the VLSI Research Group at Stanford, has received the McCormick Travel Grant Award. These travel awards were established by Katharine McCormick, who bestowed $5 million to Stanford in support of women pursuing careers in academic medicine. Ms. Lau will use her award to attend the 2007 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference where she will present her work on designing and developing electronics for a 1 mm resolution breast dedicated PET imaging system. Her research interests also include circuits and devices for biomedical applications.

Awards and Honors: August 2, 2007

Peter Olcott (on left), graduate student in the Bioengineering Department and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory, and Guillem Pratx, MS, (on right) graduate student in electrical engineering and a member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory, have both won Bio-X Travel Awards. Mr. Pratx received his award for his oral presentation entitled, "Acceleration of Fully 3-D List-Mode OSEM for High-Resolution PET Using Graphics Processing Units," which he gave at the 9th International Meeting on Fully Three-Dimensional Image Reconstruction in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Mr. Pratx has developed real-time software for an intra-operative gamma camera and is now focusing on practical image reconstruction algorithms for high-resolution, pre-clinical PET systems. Mr. Olcott was granted his award at the 2007 Society of Nuclear Medicine Conference for his presentation, "Evaluation of a New Readout ASIC for a 1 MM Resolution PET System Based upon Position Sensitive Avalanche Photodiodes." His research focus is on delivering clinical imaging instrumentation for the Department of Radiology and the Molecular Imaging Program. Initially, he developed an intra-operative, hand-held gamma ray camera (or nuclear imager) for the surgical staging of cancer. Currently, he is engineering two novel clinical PET systems. The first system is the data acquisition electronics for a dual panel PET mammography camera. The second is a new PET detector for a combined clinical PET/MR scanner.

Awards and Honors: August 2, 2007

Eun Kyoung Ryu, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory, has been awarded a Dean's Fellowship. Since 1941, endowment funds from donors to Stanford medical research have enabled these awards. Dr. Ryu's research interests include the development of novel radiotracers for brain imaging.

Awards and Honors: July 3, 2007

Frances Lau, MS, graduate student in electrical engineering and member of the Molecular Imaging Instrumentation Laboratory as well as the VLSI Research Group at Stanford, was awarded the Stanford Bio-X Program Graduate Student Fellowship to support her interdisciplinary research on the design and development of a 1 mm resolution breast dedicated PET imaging system. Ms. Lau is also a member of the "Women in Electrical Engineering" (WEE) mentoring program through which she mentors new graduate students regarding class selection, research groups, qualifying examinations, and adjusting to graduate student life.

Awards and Honors: June 28, 2007

(From left to right: Martin P. Sandler, MD, FACNP, (outgoing SNM President); Sven N. Reske, MD, (awardee); Andrew Quon, MD, (awardee); Tore Bach-Gansmo, MD, PhD, (awardee); and Heinrich R. Schelbert, MD, PhD, (editor-in-chief, The Journal of Nuclear Medicine)

Andrew Quon, MD, assistant professor of radiology and nuclear medicine; Sandy Napel, PhD, professor of radiology and co-director of the 3D Medical Imaging Laboratory; Chris Beaulieu, MD, PhD, professor of radiology; and 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, have been awarded the 2007 Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) Best Clinical Article for their paper entitled "'Flying Through' and 'Flying Around' a PET/CT Scan: Pilot Study and Development of 3D Integrated 18F-FDG PET/CT for Virtual Bronchoscopy and Colonoscopy" published in the July 2006 Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In their article, they present a new imaging and processing protocol that can visually remove the organs and highlight tumors and cancerous "hot spots" in 3D positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) images.

Awards and Honors: June 26, 2007

Melissa Enriquez, MD, was awarded the 2007 Norman Blank Award for the outstanding medical student in Radiology. The award was created in memory of longtime faculty member and Director of Admissions Norman Blank, MD. Faculty who worked with Enriquez were impressed by her "extraordinary organizational and communication skills, ambition, drive, and commitment to radiology" and "great leadership potential." Dr. Enriquez "single-handedly resurrected the moribund Radiology Interest Group at Stanford, served as its president, and organized several after hours events to familiarize medical students with the field of radiology." She also arranged for this group to receive funds from the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU). Dr. Enriquez will graduate from the 2007 class of the Stanford Medical School on June 16. She matched at Harbor-University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center for a transitional year internship, and UCLA for a residency in diagnostic radiology. As award winner, she will receive a popular radiology textbook and a cash prize.

Awards and Honors: June 15, 2007

Zibo Li, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory (MIPL), has won a second place Young Professionals Committee Best Basic Science Award at the 2007 Annual Convention of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM). The objective of the Young Professionals Committee Award is to identify promising scientists and to support their research. Dr. Li's research focuses on the development of novel tracers (peptides, proteins, growth factors, antibodies, and antibody fragments-based) for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence, MRI, SPECT, and PET imaging of small animal tumor xenografts and, potentially, of cancer patients.

Awards and Honors: June 15, 2007

Mei Huang, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging Laboratory, received an American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant for 2007 to 2009. The AHA award funds highly talented scientists as they complete their research training and begin their careers as independent investigators. Dr. Huang currently researches gene therapy based on RNA interference and the genetic regulation of stem cell differentiation.

Awards and Honors: June 11, 2007

Adam de la Zerda, a PhD candidate in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Laboratory, and Dr. Milana Trounce, Avishai Shoham, and Kristen Gasior from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, have won first prize in the Bay Area Entrepreneurship Contest for their idea, Laser-Seal. The competition was held at a conference sponsored by Women 2.0, which provides a support network for young women entrepreneurs by supplying mentorship and resources. In front of 12 venture capitalists, the Laser-Seal team presented their idea of using laser technology in the operating room to provide more efficient and cleaner wound closures. They were selected as the grand prize winners along with one other team. Included in their award is the chance to meet with Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurveston and Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital. In the MIPS lab, Mr. de la Zerda researches photoacoustic molecular imaging.

Awards and Honors: May 25, 2007

Pei-Lin Hsiung, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Network for Translational Research in Optical Imaging (NTROI), has received the American Cancer Society-Canary Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is awarded to the "best and brightest researchers" who specialize in early detection research. Her winning project is entitled "Development of Peptide Reagents for In Vivo Detection of Dysplasia in the Colon," which focuses on topically-applied reagents that can be used for the screening and the early detection of colon cancer. Dr. Hsiung's research combines the development of disease-targeting peptides with optical imaging and in vivo microscopy, with the goal of rapidly translating bench research into the clinical setting.

Awards and Honors: May 22, 2007

Luke Higgins, PhD, first-year medical student, has been awarded a Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Foundation Medical Student Research Grant. Through this grant, SIR encourages medical students to engage in cutting-edge research in interventional radiology that will likely translate to improved patient care. Funding criteria includes scientific merit, innovative quality of the research proposal, and relevance to interventional radiology. Dr. Higgins earned his PhD in biological chemistry from MIT and is now working with Lawrence "Rusty" Hofmann, MD, who is investigating the delivery of autologous adipose-derived multipotential stromal cells (ASCs) to treat peripheral arterial disease. Under Dr. Hofmann's mentorship, Dr. Higgins will be analyzing the capacity of human and rabbit MR-labeled ASCs to differentiate and express arteriogenic factors relative to unlabeled cells and will be comparing these expression levels to cells under stressed conditions.

Awards and Honors: May 21, 2007

Weibo Cai, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Probe Laboratory, has been awarded the Benedict Cassen Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), which is granted to recipients who have an excellent record and exceptional research ability. He has also received the 1st place 2007 SNM Young Professionals Committee Best Basic Science Award for his abstract "Quantitative RadioimmunoPET of EphA2 Expression in Xenograft-Bearing Mice," submitted to the 2007 54th Annual Meeting of the SNM in Washington, D.C. His research focuses on the development of novel peptides, proteins, growth factors, antibodies, antibody fragments, and nanoparticle-based tracers for PET, SPECT, optical, and MRI imaging in small animal disease models and, potentially, in cancer patients.

Awards and Honors: March-April 2007

Scott W. Atlas, MD, professor and chief of neuroradiology and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, has been accorded a grant from the Presidential Fund for Innovation in International Studies to support his research project, "Health Care for One Billion: Experimenting with Incentives for the Supply of Health Care in Rural China." Along with Scott Rozelle, PhD, Helen F. Farnsworth senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Dr. Atlas is examining the effects of existing health policies and institutions in rural China. Their project also studies a practice common in China's healthcare system that allows physicians both to prescribe drugs and to receive a large profit from drug sales. Their research experiments with realigning the incentives surrounding this practice. Dr. Atlas has also recently received a Fulbright Scholar Award to collaborate with leaders in China on improving and restructuring the healthcare system in China, a system that has dramatically devolved over the course of the past decade despite significant economic development in other areas. This year, Presidential Fund grants at Stanford were awarded to faculty teams composed of faculty from different disciplines who do not usually work together. Their projects had to involve collaborative research and teaching and to address one of three primary areas: the societal and security implications caused by China's female deficit; incentives to provide healthcare services in rural China; and the impact of higher education's rapid expansion in developing countries. For more information, please see http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/february28/presfund-022807.html.

Feng Cao, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging Lab, received the 2006 Best Basic Science Paper Award from the journal, Circulation, for her paper, "In Vivo Visualization of Embryonic Stem Cell Survival, Proliferation, and Migration after Cardiac Delivery." In this article, Dr. Cao and colleagues analyze the fate of murine embryonic stem (ES) cells carrying fluorescence, bioluminescence, and positron emission tomography reporter genes transplanted into the heart.

Chona Diosomito, radiology clerical supervisor, received the March Stanford Hospital and Clinics Radiology Wingspread Award from the former recipient. Ms. Diosomito has been working in the scheduling division of Stanford Radiology since January 23, 2006, after moving to California from New York. She has worked in the health-care industry since 1990 as a patient financial services cash control supervisor for St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center (Aptium Oncology), and Hospital for Special Surgery. Ms. Diosomito's experience as a supervisor has given her an appreciation of how important it is to provide excellent care for each patient. In recognition of her outstanding work, Ms. Diosomito was awarded the Wingspread Award, which 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. The Wingspread Award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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.

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology, has been awarded a 2007 Cum Laude Award for an outstanding paper by the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR). The title of the paper is "Isotropic MRI with 3D-FSE-XETA (Extended Echo Train Acquisition)" (Gold GE, Busse RF, Stevens KJ, Han E, Brau AC, Beatty PJ, Beaulieu CF).

Sam Mazin, MS, graduate student in the Electrical Engineering Department, has been awarded the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Cum Laude Award for his poster, "A Fast 3D Reconstruction Algorithm for Inverse-Geometry CT Based on an Exact PET Rebinning Algorithm." Only one poster within the "Physics of Medical Imaging" conference can receive this award each year. Cum Laude Awards are bestowed upon scientists who attain a standard of excellence judged by the quality and quantity of their results.

Joseph McGinley, MD, PhD, second-year radiology resident, has been selected as one of six trainees nationwide in radiology and cardiology to participate in the "Siemens Outstanding Academic Research (SOAR) Award Program: Awards for Excellence in Cardiac CT," sponsored by the Society of Cardiac Computed Tomography (SCCT). Dr. McGinley was selected to participate in this program based on his interest in cardiac imaging, current CV, and previous areas of research, which include a PhD in cardiac physiology focused on valvular heart disease from Temple University in Philadelphia. Under this award program, Dr. McGinley has been selected to write and present a review of the CT imaging of valvular heart disease. His manuscript will be published in Applied Radiology, and he will compete with the six other candidates at the 2nd annual meeting of the SCCT in July of 2007 in Washington, D.C. One person will be awarded from each specialty and will receive a six-month funded fellowship in cardiac imaging research as well as funding to return for the annual meeting in 2008.

Teresa Nelson, CRT, MRI supervisor, received the April Stanford Hospital and Clinics Radiology Wingspread Award from the former recipient. Raised in San Carlos, California, Ms. Nelson is a native of the peninsula. In 1994, she graduated with her AS degree from Canada College's Radiology Technology Program and worked at Seton Medical Center in Daly City and California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco. Ms. Nelson started her Stanford career in January of 2000, when she began working in diagnostic radiology and mammography. During the fall of 2001, she completed MRI training and has been the MRI supervisor since 2003. As the MRI supervisor, Ms. Nelson has had the opportunity to train other technologists and engage in research. Last year, she spoke at the Fifth Annual Breast MRI Interpretation, Correlation, and Intervention Continuing Medical Education (CME) Conference in Las Vegas with Anne Marie Sawyer, RT (R) (MR), from the Lucas Center. In recognition of her outstanding work in MRI, Ms. Nelson was awarded the April Wingspread Award, which 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. The Wingspread Award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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.

Sandra Rodriguez, RT (R) (MR), MR research technologist, was awarded a Women's Opportunity Award from the Soroptimist Club. Many Women's Opportunity Award recipients have overcome enormous obstacles in their quest for a better life. The purpose of the awards is to improve the lives of women by giving them the resources that they need to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects. To be eligible for a Women's Opportunity Award, the applicant must provide the primary financial support for her family and must be enrolled in or have been accepted to a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program. Since its inception in 1972, the Women's Opportunity Awards Program has disbursed $15 million and has assisted more than 20,000 women. Ms. Rodriguez is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Health Administration (B.S.H.A) online program through the University of Phoenix. She anticipates receiving her degree in the 2008/2009 academic year and continuing her education by attaining a Master of Health Administration (MHA).

Ricky Tong, PhD, medical student in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab, was awarded a 2007 Society of Nuclear Medicine Student Fellowship for his proposed project, which involves creating a transgenic mouse with the ubiquitous expression of a triple-fusion reporter protein. Any cells and tissues taken from this universal donor mouse can be traced using three of the most commonly available imaging techniques: bioluminescence, fluorescence, and PET. Dr. Tong's transgenic mouse promises to be an extremely valuable tool in many fields such as cancer and transplant biology.

David N. Tran, medical student at Stanford University, was awarded a "Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) in Training Award" at the 30th annual 2007 meeting of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR). The award is granted to the young investigator who presents the best paper in CT or MR. Mr. Tran's winning paper is entitled, "Promises and Limitations of Dual-Energy CT in Lower Extremity CT Angiography" (Tran DN, Roos J, Straka M, Sandner D, Razavi H, Chang M, Pelc N, Napel S, Fleischmann D). He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in electrical engineering and is currently a second-year medical student. Mr. Tran's research interests include improving the diagnostic evaluation and treatment planning for patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease, and he is considering diagnostic and interventional radiology as a future clinical career.

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and radiology, has received a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) SEED grant for his work on the in vivo imaging of hESC derivatives and tumorigenicity. Through his research, Dr. Wu is investigating human embryonic stem cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation in vivo to improve the safety of hESC delivery. Selected from among 231 applications, Dr. Wu is one of twelve Stanford principal investigators to be funded in this initial round by the CIRM, which has approved 72 grants totaling approximately $45 million over the next two years.

Awards and Honors: February 2007

Pat Basu, MD, MBA, diagnostic radiology resident, has received the Excellence in Medicine Award presented by the American Medical Association (AMA), in association with the Pfizer Humanities Initiative. Excellence in Medicine Awards are awarded to physician, resident, fellow, and medical student leaders who demonstrate outstanding leadership in organized medicine, community affairs, and health policy with a particular promise for advancing health care in the United States. On February 12, 2007, Dr. Basu attended the AMA Foundation Excellence in Medicine Awards Ceremony and Dinner in Washington, D.C. He was the sole award recipient from Stanford and the only radiology resident among the 11 resident/fellow awardees. While in Washington, Dr. Basu attended leadership workshops and networked with legislators to share opinions on health care. He also met Bill Clinton's former communications director, George Stephanopoulos, who was the master of ceremonies at the AMA dinner on February 12. Currently, Dr. Basu is completing his rotation in emergency room radiology at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

Sandip Biswal, MD, assistant professor of radiology, has been awarded the 2006 Resident Teaching Award: Junior Faculty of the Year for the second year in a row!

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, will co-host the Nobel Symposium, "Watching Life through Molecular Imaging," along with Dr. Ringertz from May 6 to 9, 2007 at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. The symposium will focus on the recent advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging. Featured topics include "Advances in Molecular Imaging Instrumentation"; "Novel Chemistry and Fundamental Assays for Interrogating Molecular Events"; "Imaging of Immune, Cancer, and Stem Cell Trafficking"; "Novel Approaches to Imaging Cancer in Humans"; "Molecular Imaging of Cardiovascular Disease and Drug Efficacy"; and "Imaging the Normal Brain and Neurological Diseases."

Garry E. Gold, MD, associate professor of radiology, is a five-time winner of the Lauterbur Award for the best MRI paper from the Society for Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance. The Lauterbur Award in MR is named in honor of Paul Lauterbur, PhD, who first described the basic MRI technique in 1972 and published his first MR image in 1973 (zeugmatography). Dr. Gold received his fifth Lauterbur Award in April of 2006 at the annual meeting of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance. His paper was titled, "Patellofemoral Pain: Analysis with Upright Real-Time MRI and 3D Finite Element Modeling."

Ha-Young Lee, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, has received the Korean Research Foundation (KRF) Scholarship. Dr. Lee's current research focuses on developing targeted iron oxide nanoparticles for molecular imaging and drug delivery.

Amelie Lutz, MD, postdoctoral scholar in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, has received an extension of her postdoctoral fellowship in the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) in Berne. Dr. Lutz's research focuses on molecular imaging in oncology, which includes the imaging of colon cancer and the early detection of ovarian cancer.

Michele Midkiff, CPC, RCC, senior radiology coder, was elected president of the American Academy of Coders (AAPC), Golden Gate Chapter. In part, the mission of the AAPC is to provide professional, ethical, and educational standards within the medical field of coding. The organization also provides certification, ongoing education, and recognition for its 60,000 worldwide members, of who over 40,000 are certified. These certifications focus on a variety of disciplines such as the physician office, Certified Professional Coder (CPC); the hospital outpatient facility, Certified Professional Coder-Hospital (CPC-H); and the payer perspective coding, Certified Professional Coder-Payer (CPC-P). The AAPC also provides continuing education through local chapters, workshops, a monthly newsmagazine (Coding Edge), publications, and conferences. The local Golden Gate Chapter of the AAPC provides networking opportunities for members and administers the CPC exam quarterly to become a Certified Professional Coder (CPC). The five-hour test covers procedural and diagnosis coding as well as medical terminology. For more information on the AAPC and the extensive possibilities in the coding profession, please contact Michele Midkiff at mmidkiff@stanfordmed.org.

Norbert Pelc, ScD, professor of radiology and bioengineering and, by courtesy, electrical engineering, has been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for his contributions to our field as a scientist, engineer, educator, and mentor for over three decades. Membership is awarded to "leaders in the field [who] have distinguished themselves through their contributions in research, industrial practice and/or education." Dr. Pelc will receive the award at the Institute's annual meeting in March 2007.

Hans Ringertz, MD, PhD, visiting professor of radiology, was named president-elect of the International Society of Radiology (ISR) at the 2006 International Congress of Radiology (ICR) in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2008, he will assume office as president of the ISR at the International Congress of Radiology (ICR) in Marrakesh, Morocco. The ISR is composed of over 200,000 radiologists representing the national societies of radiology from 89 countries. The International Society of Radiology arranges the biannual International Congress of Radiology as well as hosts the World Leadership Radiology Forum along with organizations such as the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA); the American College of Radiology (ACR); and the European Congress of Radiology (ECR). Together with Dr. Gambhir, Dr. Ringertz will be co-hosting the Nobel Symposium, "Watching Life through Molecular Imaging," from May 6 to 9, 2007 at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, where he is currently professor emeritus of radiology.

Matea Shimeg, radiology scheduler, received the February Stanford Hospital and Clinics Radiology Wingspread Award from the former recipient. 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. The Wingspread Award gives employees the opportunity to recognize who among them has gone above and beyond the fulfillment of his or her 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.

Juergen Willmann, MD, research fellow in the Molecular Imaging Program, has received the 2006 Editor's Recognition Award from Elsevier in recognition of his outstanding service as a reviewer of scientific manuscripts submitted for publication in the European Journal of Radiology and European Journal of Radiology Extra.

(Images courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)