Awards and Honors

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. 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. For more details regarding his biography, please see Mr. 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 student 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