Maryellen Giger, PhD has been recognized as one of the fifty most influential medical physicists in half a century by the International Congress of Medical Physics.
Dr. Giger Named One of the Most Influential Medical Physicists in Half a Century
We are pleased to announce that Dr. David Paushter has agreed to serve as the Chair of the Department of Radiology. Dr. Paushter will be assuming this role after having served as the Department’s Interim Chair for two years.
Dr. David Paushter Appointed As Department Chairman

Built by the best minds in medicine, like stroke expert Dr. Seon-Kyu Lee, to deliver the latest medical technologies with lifesaving efficiency. The Center for Care and Discovery successfully opened on Saturday, February 23rd.
Our New Hospital Has Opened
Latest News and Announcements
Dr Oto Interviewed by NBC Chicago Evening News about HIFU Ablation of Uterine Fibroids
On May 13th, 2013, a NBC Chicago evening news health segment featured a Dr. Aytekin Oto-lead clinical trial that is investigating the use of MR-guided, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation of uterine fibroids. The report includes brief interviews with both a patient who recently underwent the procedure and Dr. Oto who explains this new technology; the video report is available on NBC Chicago’s website.
Dr David Schacht to Become a MERITS Faculty Fellow
Dr. David Schacht has been accepted as a University of Chicago Medical Education Research, Innovation, Teaching and Scholarship (MERITS) Fellow for the 2013-2014 academic year. The MERITS Fellowship helps to facilitate interdisciplinary efforts across fields such as education, sociology, biostatistics, and ethics with an eye toward, "innovative teaching methods, and [undertaking] successful program implementation and evaluation."
Drs Kao and Wyrwicz Awarded Funding for PET Technology for High-resolution PET/MRI Imaging of the Mouse Brain Investigation
Dr. Chein-Min Kao and Dr. Alice Wyrwicz have received a $50,000 Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies Award from the University of Chicago’s Institute for Translational Medicine. Half of the award will be distributed to the University of Chicago, and the other half will be distributed to NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Dr Giger Awarded Funding for Quantitative Image Analysis of DCIS Investigation
Dr. Maryellen Giger has received a $30,000 Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies Award from the University of Chicago’s Institute for Translational Medicine. The investigation lead by Dr Giger, with assistance from Drs Gillian Newstead, Suzanne Conzen, and Jeffrey Mueller, is titled Quantitative Image Analysis of DCIS.
Dr. Funaki one of Castle Connolly's Top Chicago Doctors in 2013
Dr. Brian Funaki has been recognized as one of Castle Connolly's top Chicago area doctors in 2013. Fewer than 5% of all physicians are awarded with this distinction. Castle Connolly Medical's roster of top doctors is generated by peer nomination and narrowed by a rigorous review of the nominee's medical training, hospital appointments, and special expertise.
Dr. Nishikawa to Become a Fellow in the Breast Imaging Society
Congratulations to Robert Nishikawa, PhD, who has been elected to become a Fellow in the Breast Imaging Society. This recognition will be bestowed on him at this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting.
Dr. Giger Recognized as One of the Most Influential Medical Physicists in Half a Century
A most sincere congratulations to Dr. Maryellen Giger, who has been selected as one of the International Congress of Medical Physics’ 50 medical physicists with the greatest impact on the field in the last 50 years. Dr. Giger was nominated for this honor by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
Dr. Steffen Sammet receives the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine’s Certificate of Merit Award
Dr. Steffen Sammet’s abstract and presentation, Implementations of a Comprehensive MR Safety Course for Medical Students, will be recognized with the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine’s (ISMRM) Certificate of Merit Award – Summa Cum Laude. This award is among the ISMRM’s highest for scientific and educational contributions.
Inaugural Charles E Metz, PhD, Special Topics Course
The first Special Topics Course held in honor of Charles E Metz, PhD will be held this month at the University of Chicago Medical Center. This course features lectures from Harrison H Barrett, PhD, Professor of Radiology and Medical Imaging at the University of Arizona.
Public lectures include:
Dr. Chen Published in Molecular Imaging Journal
Congratulations to Dr. Chin-tu Chen and his co-authors, Dr. J Souris, Dr. J Hickson, Dr. L Msezane, and Dr. C Rinker-Schaeffer, for publishing "Flexible Peritoneal Windows for Quantitative Fluorescence and Bioluminescence Preclinical Imaging" in the January/February issue of Molecular Imaging Journal.
Dr. Baron Awarded SAR Walter B. Cannon Medal
Dr. Richard Baron, Professor of Radiology and Dean of Clinical Practice, Pritzker School of Medicine, was awarded the Society of Abdominal Radiology's Walter B Cannon Medal. The Society, whose mission is to promote "leadership and to foster advances in diagnosis and intervention within the areas of gastrointestinal and genitourinary radiology", recognized Dr. Baron for his "outstanding contribution to the field" during the inaugural meeting on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013.
Dr. Stacy Receives RadioGraphics' Editor's Recognition Award
Congratulations to Dr. G Scott Stacy, who has been awarded RadioGraphics’ 2012 Editor’s Recognition Award. RadioGraphics is a bimonthly continuing medical education journal published by the Radiological Society of North America. Editor, Dr. Jeffrey Klein, noted that “the efforts of expert physicians and scientists such as Dr. Stacy are key to maintaining the high quality of published educational materials for which our journal has become known.” Dr.
Dr. David Paushter Appointed As Department Chairman
We are pleased to announce that Dr. David Paushter has agreed to serve as the Chair of the Department of Radiology, effective January 10, 2013. The Dean of the Biological Sciences Division, Dr. Kenneth Polonsky, imparted that, “David has served as an extremely effective spokesman and advocate for the Department and its faculty and I am confident that the Department will continue to flourish under his leadership.”
Dr. Straus Spotlighted for His Role in Founding the Scav Hunt
Dr. Straus was the focus of a November At the Forefront article which highlighted his role in founding the world famous Scav Hunt. Staff writer Megan E. Doherty cites Dr. Straus’s “penchant for visual thinking,” which sparked his passion for radiology and medical imaging, as an inspiration for the Hunt. Here are some further of the details the story:
Dr. Patrick La Riviere’s 'Emerging Imaging Technologies in Medicine' Published
Emerging Imaging Technologies in Medicine, edited by Dr. Mark Anastasio and Dr. Patrick La Riviere, was published earlier this month by Taylor & Francis. This volume, “surveys a number of emerging technologies that have the promise to find routine clinical use in the near- (less than five years), mid- (five to ten years) and long-term (more than ten years) time frames.
Drs. Sidky and Pan Win Physics in Medicine & Biology Citations Prize
Congratulations to Emil Sidky, PhD and Xiaochuan Pan, PhD for winning the 2012 Physics in Medicine & Biology Citations Prize (the Rotblatt Medal) for their paper, “Image Reconstruction in Circular Cone-BeamComputed Tomography by Constrained, Total-Variation Minimization,” published in 2008. Drs.
UCMC Quality Fair Poster Winner!
Radiology's poster on Patient Satisfaction was one of 3 winners at the UCM Quality Fair held October 16, 2012. Congratulations to all Radiology employees for all your efforts in making this possible! The results you have achieved are commendable and reflect a commitment to patient care.
Patrick La Riviere and Maryellen Giger Mentor High School Students
Drs. La Riviere and Giger participated once again as hosts for the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society's Summer High School Research Program. Dr. La Riviere mentored Kyler Gillespie in developing a novel approach to high-resolution X-ray imaging, while Dr. Giger oversaw Kathy Rodogiannis's project on quantitative image analysis of ductal carcinoma in situ.
Kenji Suzuki, PhD's study featured in article in Communications of ACM
Studies on machine learning in medical imaging lead by Kenji Suzuki, PhD in collaboration with Samuel Armato III, PhD and Heber MacMahon, MD were featured in the article "Better Medicine Through Machine Learning" in the News section of the premier magazine Communications of the ACM.
Cancer Research Foundation Award Given to Dr. Steffen Sammet
Congratulations to Steffen Sammet, MD, PhD, MS, DABR who's proposal for a Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigator Award has been accepted. The award is $75,000, to be awarded in two installments. The goal of the Young Investigator Awards is to enable promising young investigators to initiate successful scientific careers.
Kevin Little won second place in an IEEE student paper competition
Kevin Little, a fourth-year student in the Graduate Program in Medical Physics, won second place in the student paper competition at the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference held Oct 23-29 in Valencia, Spain. Kevin's paper was entitled, "Sinogram Restoration in Computed Tomography with a Non-Quadratic, Edge-Preserving Penalty."
Samuel Armato III, PhD, was one of Five Speakers at a U of C Symposium
Samuel Armato III, PhD, was one of five invited speakers at a symposium organized by the University of Chicago Department of Physics to honor the career of Professor Isaac Abella. Each speaker was a former student of Dr. Abella. Dr. Armato's presentation, "Perception and the Physics of Medical Imaging," conveyed the idea that medical imaging requires both fundamental physical principles and an ultimate interpretation by an expert human observer.

