RSNA Press Release

Chicago (November 28, 2010) — The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annually invites eminent researchers to deliver honored lectures during the RSNA Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. RSNA 2010 will feature honored lectures by these esteemed leaders:

John Mendelsohn, M.D., Christian J. Herold, M.D., Sanjiv S. Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D., Atul Gawande, M.D., President Bill Clinton and Zvi Fuks, M.D.

Special Lecture

Planning cancer treatment today is a multimodality, collaborative process, according to University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center President John Mendelsohn, M.D., who will deliver a special lecture, "Personalized Cancer Care," on Sunday, Nov. 28, during the RSNA 2010 opening session.

"Treatment depends on the particular genetic and molecular abnormalities in the patient's cancer, as well as the tissue type and the stage," Dr. Mendelsohn said. "Biomarkers—laboratory and imaging—are critical for identifying patients likely to respond to new targeted therapies."

Dr. Mendelsohn has effected monumental change in personalized cancer treatment on the bench, in the clinic and from the executive suite. MD Anderson has doubled in size by most parameters since he assumed the presidency in 1996.

Dr. Mendelsohn previously chaired the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he held the Winthrop Rockefeller Chair in Medical Oncology. He also was the founding director of a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at the University of California, San Diego.

Annual Oration in Diagnostic Radiology

While past radiologic guidelines for evaluating focal pulmonary lesions were based on morphologic parameters and the concept of size stability over time, a broader spectrum of factors—including individual risk determination, texture analysis, growth rate and metabolic behavior—have now been integrated into an accepted management approach, according to Christian J. Herold, M.D., the presenter of the RSNA 2010 Annual Oration in Diagnostic Radiology, who will deliver, "Evaluation and Management of Focal Pulmonary Lesions: New Findings, Innovative Strategies and the Quest for a Personalized Approach," on Sunday, Nov. 28.

"While this evidence-based expert consensus strategy now provides a simple roadmap for the management of groups of individuals with similar morphologic and risk characteristics and defines a new standard of practice, it does not yet entertain the concept that the biological behavior of focal pulmonary lesions can differ from patient to patient," Dr. Herold said.

An internationally recognized diagnostic radiologist and ambassador for the European radiology community, Dr. Herold is currently a professor and chair at the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna General Hospital, and the university's director of international affairs. Dr. Herold maintains a part-time faculty appointment at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

A past-president of the European Congress of Radiology, Dr. Herold has received the Hounsfield Award of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and a European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology award. Dr. Herold was awarded RSNA honorary membership in 2007.

Eugene P. Pendergrass New Horizons Lecture

Too much research investment is placed on later stages of cancer, when the probability of survival is markedly reduced, says Sanjiv S. Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D., who will present the New Horizons Lecture, "Strategies for the Earlier Detection of Cancer," on Monday, Nov. 29. Dr. Gambhir believes radiology can shift the equation toward earlier detection—the merger of in vitro diagnostics, such as blood tests for proteins, and in vivo molecular/anatomical imaging will enable a fundamental revolution.

"There is significant promise for profound change in how we practice medicine," said Dr. Gambhir, who received the 2009 RSNA Outstanding Researcher Award. "Radiology can play a central role, helping evolve and shape this emerging vision for the benefit of cancer patients."

Dr. Gambhir is the Virginia & D. K. Ludwig Professor of Radiology, Bioengineering and Materials Science at Stanford University. He is the head of nuclear medicine, director of the Molecular Imaging Program and a member of the Bio-X program at Stanford, and heads the Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection.

Dr. Gambhir and his team have developed methods to image gene expression in living subjects, including humans. These imaging strategies have been translated into clinical trials for cancer gene/cell therapies. Dr. Gambhir has also led the development of strategies for studying basic cell/molecular biological events such as imaging protein-protein interactions.

Dr. Gambhir developed many of the original management algorithms for cancer patients—including cost-effectiveness models—which led to FDG-PET reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He also works with imaging vendors and hospital administration to design new nuclear medicine clinical facilities.

Special Lecture

From his unique perspective as a practicing surgeon, writer, teacher and lecturer, Atul Gawande, M.D., tackles the practice of medicine, the reform of healthcare and the human struggle to do better and improve performance in a special lecture, "Real Reform: Facing the Complexity of Health Care," on Monday, Nov. 29. Dr. Gawande encourages incremental reforms that build on the strengths and limitations of the current system and speaks to how to improve care and lower costs.

A staff member of Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, as well as The New Yorker magazine, Dr. Gawande is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and research director for the BWH Center for Surgery and Public Health.

Dr. Gawande served as a senior health policy advisor in Bill Clinton's presidential campaign and in the Clinton White House from 1992 to 1993. He is the director of the World Health Organization's Global Challenge for Safer Surgical Care.

In 2006, Dr. Gawande received the MacArthur Award for "fresh and unique perspective, clarity and intuition" in his written work and his "energetic and imaginative" approach to finding practical ways to improve surgical practice. Dr. Gawande was named to The 2010 TIME 100 at number five in the thinker category.

Special Address

President Bill Clinton is a powerful voice for progress around the world. On Tuesday, Nov. 30, President Clinton will address an international RSNA audience of radiology professionals and medical researchers who are engaged in shaping the practice of radiology around the globe.

Annual Oration in Radiation Oncology

The effectiveness of single dose radiation therapy (SDRT) in locally curing tumors regardless of type has led to the hypothesis that SDRT may engage a different mechanism of tumor cure than classical fractionated radiotherapy, according to Zvi Fuks, M.D., the presenter of the RSNA 2010 Annual Oration in Radiation Oncology, who will deliver, "Single Dose Radiotherapy (SDRT)-A Changing Paradigm Evolving from IMRT," on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

"Genetic and pharmacologic studies in experimental tumor models support this notion, demonstrating a unique mechanism of action for SDRT," Dr. Fuks said.

World renowned for his contributions to advancing the cure of cancer with radiation—many of which remain standards for clinical practice—Dr. Fuks' recent clinical efforts have focused on developing 3-D conformal radiation therapy as a new modality in radiation oncology.

Dr. Fuks joined the Department of Radiation Oncology at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 2004, serving as chair and deputy physician-in-chief for planning for Memorial Hospital. Currently, Dr. Fuks is a member of the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research.

The author of more than 400 journal articles and 100 book chapters, Dr. Fuks' many accolades include the Alfred B. Sloan Chair, the Klaas Breuer Gold Medal Award and the gold medal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

Note: Copies of RSNA 2010 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press10 beginning Monday, Nov. 29.

RSNA is an association of more than 44,000 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)