RSNA Press Release

CHICAGO — Hedvig Hricak, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. h.c., was named president-elect of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors today at the Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Hricak, Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, is currently a professor of radiology at Cornell University Medical College, as well as an attending radiologist at Memorial Hospital in New York City.

As RSNA president-elect, Dr. Hricak vows to continue advancing radiology's role in improving patient care in the U.S. and abroad. "RSNA maintains preeminence in the field of radiology because of its dedicated leadership, talented volunteers and partners. We will continue to work to improve patient care through global initiatives in research, education and communication," she said.

Born in Zagreb, Croatia, Dr. Hricak earned her medical degree in 1970 from the University of Zagreb. She completed her internship and began her residency at Hospital M. Stojanovic, also in Zagreb, and came to the United States in 1972. In 1977, she completed her radiology residency at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Mich., followed by a fellowship in computed tomography and ultrasound at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where she subsequently became a senior staff member. Dr. Hricak received her Ph.D. (Dr. Med. Sc.) from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden in 1992. In 2005, she received an honorary doctorate (Dr. h.c.) from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Dr. Hricak began her academic appointments in 1979 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. From 1982 to 2000, she was at the University of California, San Francisco, where she became a professor of radiology, urology, radiation oncology, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, as well as chief of the uroradiology section and subsequently the abdominal imaging section.

Dr. Hricak has edited or co-edited 26 books and monographs and authored or co-authored 127 monographs and book chapters and 463 original research reports, reviews and editorials. She is an associate editor and editorial board member of multiple premier medical journals. She was an associate editor of Radiology from 1985 to 1993 and a consultant to the editor of Radiology from 1993 to 1997. At present, she is the principal investigator of two National Cancer Institute (NCI) grants and one NCI contract, three Department of Defense grants and a number of private foundation grants.

Dr. Hricak is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and is a member of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences. She is a fellow of the American College of Radiology, the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and the Society of Uroradiology. She has served as president of the Society for Advancement of Women's Imaging (1997-1999), the California Academy of Medicine (1999), the Society of Uroradiology (2000-2003) and the New York Roentgen Society (2004-2005). She serves on the executive committee of the Academy of Radiology Research and on the advisory boards of numerous local, national and international foundations.

In the course of her career, Dr. Hricak has received many awards, including the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award from the American Association for Women Radiologists, the Beclere medal of the International Society of Radiology, the gold medals of the ISMRM and the Association of University Radiologists and a Moroccan Merit Medal. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists and an honorary member of the British Institute of Radiology, the Croatian Academy of Science and Art, the German Radiological Society, the Austrian Roentgen Society, the Journées Françaises de Radiologie and the Swedish Society of Medical Radiology.

A member of the RSNA Board of Directors since 2002, Dr. Hricak’s Board portfolio has been as liaison of publications and communications. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Dr. Hricak was chair of RSNA's Public Information Advisors Board and was a member of other RSNA public information committees.

Dr. Hricak will serve as president of RSNA in 2010.

RSNA is an association of more than 42,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)