Chairman Ronald L. Arenson, MD
2013 AUR Gold Medal Award

April 30, 2013

Ronald L. Arenson, MD, Chairman of UCSF’s Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, became the recipient of the Association of University Radiologists’ (AUR) Gold Medal Award on April 12, 2013 at the AUR’s 61st Annual Meeting. The AUR’s highest honor, the Gold Medal, was bestowed on Dr. Arenson for his exceptional contributions to the research and clinical science of imaging, as well as to the AUR organization.

Ronald Arenson, MD, is the Alexander R. Margulis Distinguished Professor of Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. He holds degrees from Duke University (AB in Mathematics) and New York Medical College (MD). Dr. Arenson was a systems engineer for IBM from 1963 through 1970. After completing his residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and serving in the Navy at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, he joined thefaculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. At Penn, he served as Associate Chairman of Clinical Services, Department of Radiology, and was the interim Vice-Provost for Computing.  He also served as President of the Medical Staff.

Dr. Arenson has conducted research and written extensively on Radiology Information Systems and Picture Archival and Communication Systems (PACS). His special interests include PACS, workload and finances in radiology, the future of academic radiology and research training.  He is a fellow in the American College of Medical Informatics, in the American College of Radiology, and in the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine.

Dr. Arenson has served on numerous RSNA committees and is currently chairman of the RSNA Board of Directors. He recently finished his term on both the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the NIH Council of Councils. He has served as the President of the Association of University Radiologists, the Society of Chairman of Academic Radiology Departments, the Board of GE-Radiology Research Academic Fellowship (GERRAF) and the Academy of Radiology Research.  He is also past President of the medical staff at UCSF as well as past Chairman of the Credentials Committee.

John Shepherd, PhD,
Receives Fulbright Award

April 11, 2013

John A. Shepherd, PhD, an Associate Professor of Radiology at UCSF, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar Grant to do research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden during the 2013-2014 academic year, the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced recently.

Dr. Shepherd will work to combine the findings of the University of California’s Athena Breast Health Network with the Karolinska Institute’s Karma Study to create one of the world’s best-characterized breast cancer cohorts. His research will specifically study the derivation of breast cancer risk factors from screening mammograms to provide more powerful and consistent reporting of breast cancer risk to women as part of their mammography visit.
Dr. Shepherd has several patents in methods to measure breast density as a risk factor for breast cancer. In partnership with the San Francisco Mammography Registry, he has an active breast cancer risk cohort of over 200,000 women in the San Francisco Bay Area and his mammographic methods have been used in research around the world. Dr. Shepherd has published over 85 peer reviewed papers.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the US government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Program operates in 155 countries worldwide. Recipients are selected for Fulbright grants on the basis of outstanding academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

You can learn more about Dr. Shepherd's research at the Breast and Bone Density Group website.

Katie Murphy