Radiology Leaders Earn Prestigious RSNA 2022 Gold Medals

December 7, 2022 — The highest honor bestowed to members by RSNA, its Gold Medal, was awarded to three deserving radiologists during the 108th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA 2022), held Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 2022 in Chicago, IL. The Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Board of Directors to those persons who, in the judgment of the Board, have rendered unusual service to the science of radiology, in accordance with its bylaws, according to an RSNA feature detailing the 2022 Gold Medalists: Katherine P. Andriole, PhD, Vijay M. Rao, MD, and James A. Brink, MD.

With a hearty round of applause to the recipients, the Imaging Technology News/ITN (itnonline.com) editorial team is sharing portions of RSNA’s news summary on the awards, featuring significant accomplishments of each deserving honoree.

Katherine P. Andriole, PhD

Dr. Andriole is currently an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital and the director of academic research and education at the Mass General Brigham Data Science Office. Her research has involved technical as well as clinically relevant developments in medical imaging informatics, data analytics and machine learning. A passionate educator, she has developed and taught multiple formal courses, directed fellowships in biomedical imaging and informatics, and mentored more than 90 trainees. She is co-developer and co-director of the National Imaging Informatics Course. In addition, she has served on several NIH grant review study sections including Biomedical Computing and Healthcare Informatics and Big Data-to-Knowledge.

- Widely-renowned as a leading expert in radiological imaging informatics

- Advances medical research, augments medical education and improves clinical care with cumulative concepts from computer science, data science and engineering

- Majored in biomedical engineering at Duke University; an Angier B. Duke Scholar, studied 20th Century English literature at Oxford University

- Studied electrical engineering and medicine at Yale University where her PhD research was in classical machine learning

- Completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) departments of radiology

- Instrumental in designing, building, implementing, and evaluating picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) at UCSF before they became commercial entities

- One of the early adopters of Computed Radiography (CR) using CR for the first time in newborns including premature infants

- Medical Association Involvement and Accolades: Has served in multiple leadership roles for the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), was inducted into College of SIIM Fellows, and is a SIIM Gold Medal recipient. Senior scientist for education at the American College of Radiology (ACR) Data Science Institute, and serves on the executive board of the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research. Named senior member of the International Society for Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), and was elected a member of the Academy of Harvard Medical School

- Publishing excellence: An editorial board member of the Journal of Digital Imaging and is an associate editor for the Journal of Medical Imaging and for Radiology: Artificial Intelligence

- RSNA leadership: Long-standing member of its Radiology Informatics Committee; currently serves on the RSNA Machine Learning Steering and Data Standards sub-committees. Faculty member for Imaging AI Certificate Program, and subject matter expert for R&E Foundation's Grant Oversight Committee, and serves as co-director of the Imaging AI in Practice Demonstration; named third (2015) and second (2018) vice president of RSNA, Dr. Andriole has received the RSNA Honored Educator Award multiple times

Vijay M. Rao, MD

Dr. Rao serves as the David C. Levin Professor and Emeritus Chair of Radiology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and Senior Vice President of Enterprise Radiology and Imaging at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, PA.

- A global authority on head and neck imaging, and broadly recognized for her health services research in radiology, Dr. Rao serves as a role model and source of inspiration for many radiologists worldwide

- RSNA involvement: Currently serves as the R&E Foundation Board chair; Named to the RSNA Board of Directors in 2011, serving as President-elect in 2017 and President in 2018. She has served the R&E Foundation as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2008 to 2011 and 2019 to 2022

- A graduate of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's premier medical school

- After completing her radiology residency in 1978 at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, she remained on the faculty; served as residency program director, associate chair and then vice chair for education, and co-director of the Neuroradiology/ENT division

- Became the first female chair of a clinical department in Jefferson's history in 2002, appointed Chair of Jefferson's Department of Radiology; named Senior Vice President of Enterprise Radiology and Imaging at Jefferson Health in 2016, and is a trustee of the Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals board

- A prolific researcher and passionate educator, widely-recognized as a thought leader in health services research in radiology

- Published over 220 peer-reviewed articles, a dozen book chapters and 275 abstracts in medical literature and has edited a popular atlas textbook on MRI and CT of the head and neck, and has given 300 presentations at national and international radiology meetings

- In 2005, Rao was honored by the Philadelphia Business Journal as one of 25 Women of Distinction throughout the region. She has been consistently chosen by her peers to be included on Philadelphia Magazine's annual list of Top Doctors and Best Doctors

- Association leadership: Has held many leadership roles in national organizations: including president of the American Society of Head and Neck Radiology, the Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR) and the American Association for Women Radiologists (AAWR). She served for several years on the board of the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research and the Pennsylvania Radiologic Society

- Awards of Recognition: APDR Achievement Award and the AAWR Marie Curie Award; Gold Medals from the Association of University Radiologists, the Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology, and American Society of Head and Neck Radiology. She holds honorary membership in the Israeli Radiological Society, the European Society of Radiology, the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association, and the French Society of Radiology along with its Medal of Honor

James A. Brink, MD

Dr. Brink is current Chair of the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospitals, radiologist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, chief of enterprise radiology for Mass General Brigham health system, and the Juan M. Taveras Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, all in Boston, MA.

- Widely- recognized for his focus on the critical role radiology plays in advancing quality care at an affordable cost. As noted by RSNA’s Gold Medal summary, Brink champions radiologists as poised to use technological innovation toward medical imaging advances that will improve public health

- Internationally known advocate for the monitoring and control of medical radiation exposure, and as a leader in organized radiology

- Past-President of both the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), from which he received a Gold Medal, and the American College of Radiology (ACR)

- Currently serves as president of the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology (IS3R) and was previously vice chair of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

- Presented a Plenary session on Value-Driven Health Care at RSNA 2021, “Radiology in the Value-based Healthcare Arena: Player or Pawn?” 

- Holds honorary membership in the European Society of Radiology, the Japanese Radiological Society, the Chinese Society of Radiology, the Italian Society of Medical Radiology, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the International Organization for Medical Physics

- Earned a BS degree in electrical engineering at Purdue University; recognized by his alma mater with the Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award in 2019; Earned medical degree at Indiana University, completed residency and fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). During his fellowship, Dr. Brink received an RSNA Research Fellow Grant

- Began his career at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where he rose to the rank of associate professor

- Joined the faculty at Yale University in 1997, served as chair of the Yale Department of Diagnostic Radiology from 2006 to 2013

- In 2020, elected Distinguished Emeritus Member by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements

For more information: https://www.rsna.org/annual-meeting

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