RSNA Awards Gold Medals to McLoud, Neiman, Wilson

December 3, 2013 — The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conferred its highest honor, the Gold Medal, upon Theresa C. McLoud, M.D., Harvey L. Neiman, M.D. and J. Frank Wilson, M.D.

 

In a tradition that originated in 1919, the RSNA Board of Directors presents Gold Medals each year to individuals who have rendered exemplary service to the science of radiology and who have received unanimous approval.

 

A world-renowned thoracic radiologist, 2008 RSNA President Theresa C. McLoud is one of the foremost educators in her field as well a passionate promoter of the globalization of radiology.

 

Throughout her career,  McLoud has earned a reputation as a "doctor's doctor" often sought out to consult on the most difficult and challenging cases, as well as a greatly respected educational leader who has helped launch the successful careers of some of today's foremost academic radiologists. Along the way, McLoud has forged new territory for women, serving as the first woman in the history of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston to hold the rank of professor at Harvard.

 

"McLoud has been a major leader in radiologic education for decades,” said Sarah Donaldson, M.D and president, RSNA 2013. “Her contributions to RSNA educational programs are largely responsible for our educational content both in North America and around the world. In addition, she has been a stellar role model to female radiologists worldwide. I am thrilled to award the RSNA Gold Medal to Dr. McLoud for her multiple contributions to our discipline."

 

A Boston native, McLoud earned her medical degree from the McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal, where she also completed her residency training in radiology. Following a thoracic imaging fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine, she quickly became an assistant professor of diagnostic radiology at Yale. In 1976, she returned to Boston and joined Harvard Medical School, where she has been professor of radiology since 1993.

 

McLoud served as chief of Thoracic Radiology from 1982 to 1996, chief of Thoracic and Cardiac Radiology from 1996 to 2001 and is currently vice chair of education in the Department of Radiology at MGH. A consistent leader in departmental and institutional initiatives, McLoud played a pivotal role in the MGH transition into the digital era of medical imaging.

 

An RSNA member since 1979, McLoud began her term on the RSNA Board of Directors in 2001, was board chair in 2006 and served as president in 2008. She has also worked on the Scientific Program Committee, serving as its chair from 1998 to 2000.

 

"I am deeply honored to receive the RSNA Gold Medal," said McLoud. "I would like to acknowledge the support and contributions so many individuals have made to the success of my career. Particular gratitude is due to my family, my academic mentors and colleagues throughout the years and to the RSNA members, RSNA Board of Directors and the RSNA staff during my long association with such an outstanding organization."

 

One of the foremost educators in her field, McLoud's impact is felt in the daily practices of nearly anyone practicing thoracic radiology today. Her warmth and level of commitment to her role as an education leader has earned her the unwavering respect and admiration of the residents she has mentored throughout her career.

 

McLoud's research in interstitial lung disease, computed tomography (CT) of the thorax, lung cancer imaging and occupational lung disease has taken her around the world, where she has conducted postgraduate teaching and visiting lectures in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, South Africa, Canada, Austria and other countries. Her accomplishments have earned her honorary membership in the Chilean Society of Respiratory Diseases and the Royal Australian College of Radiology.

 

That global perspective was central to McLoud's 2008 Presidential Address, "Trends in Radiology Training: North American and International Implications," where she stated, "The globalization of healthcare science and practice, coupled with electronic distribution of images, now provides for distance learning around the globe."

 

McLoud's long list of awards includes gold medals from the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) in 2003, the Society of Thoracic Radiology in 2010 and the International Cancer Imaging Society in 2012. In 2003, she received the Marie Curie Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Association for Women Radiologists. She is past-president of the Fleischner Society, the Society of Thoracic Radiology and ARRS. She is an honorary member of the European Society of Radiology as well as the Spanish, Argentinian, Italian, Mexican, Australia-New Zealand and French societies of radiology. McLoud has conducted more than 150 postgraduate courses and published more than 200 scientific papers, reviews and book chapters. Now in its second edition, her 1998 text, Thoracic Radiology: The Requisites, remains a popular and comprehensive introductory work. Other highlights of her extensive literary career include serving as associate editor for Radiology, for which she received Radiology's Editor's Recognition Award for reviewing, with distinction. She has served on the editorial boards for RadioGraphics, Journal of Thoracic Imaging and on the international editorial boards of the Turkish Journal of Radiology and Revista Argentina De Radiologia, among others.

 

Throughout his career, Harvey L. Neiman, M.D., has combined skill in patient care, radiologic research and education with business savvy and knowledge of health policy and economic issues to benefit patients, his fellow radiologists and all of medicine.

 

Neiman has served as chief executive officer of the American College of Radiology (ACR) since 2003 and will retire in spring 2014.

 

"It is not possible to think of any radiologist who has made a greater impact on the field of American radiology than Harvey Neiman," said Donaldson. "His visionary leadership, combined with his skills at consensus building, mark his truly distinguished career."

 

Neiman was born in Detroit. He received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit and completed his radiology residency and a fellowship in angiography at the University of Michigan. He is accomplished as an educator and administrator — he began his career in Washington, D.C. as an instructor at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and chief of cardiovascular radiology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He spent the next 10 years as a professor at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he served as director of angiography and sectional imaging. He also was director of angiography at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  Neiman was a clinical professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh from 1985 to 2002 and a professor of radiology at Temple University in Philadelphia from 2000 to 2003. During that time, he also served as chair of the Department of Radiology at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh.

 

An RSNA member since 1977, Neiman has served as a refresher course faculty member and plenary session moderator for numerous RSNA annual meetings.

 

"I am truly honored to receive the RSNA Gold Medal," said Neiman. "RSNA is an organization that demonstrates expertise in all areas of radiology, and to be chosen to represent this is an honor I could only dream about."

 

Within the ACR, Neiman has served on numerous committees and commissions including those on education, ultrasound and economics.  Neiman chaired the ACR commissions on ultrasound and economics, and he served as a member of the Board of Chancellors from 1994 to 2002 and as chairman of the board from 2000 to 2002. During his tenure as ACR CEO, Neiman has helped establish the ACR Education Center, Radiology Leadership Institute, Harvey Neiman Health Policy Institute and the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology.

 

Neiman has published more than 125 scientific papers, 26 book chapters and is the author of the book Angiography of Vascular Disease. He has given nearly 300 invited lectures and scientific presentations. Among the many honors he has received are the Teacher of the Year award in the Radiology Residency Program at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Distinguished Alumni Award from the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Presidential Award of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. Neiman was named an honorary member of the Society for Pediatric Radiology. He received the ACR gold medal in May 2013.

 

Renowned for his leadership and commitment to radiation oncology, J. Frank Wilson, M.D., was an early advocate for breast conservation therapy and is internationally regarded as an authority on breast cancer. He has been consistently recognized as one of the top physicians in America.

 

Equally respected for his role as an educator, Wilson has lent his considerable expertise to teaching his colleagues the newest radiation therapy techniques and mentoring countless radiation oncology students, residents and junior faculty who rank among the specialty's finest leaders today.

 

"I've personally known Wilson since the earliest days of his residency and consider him one of the most effective leaders our field has known," said Donaldson. "As a respected clinical investigator and leader in virtually all aspects of radiation oncology, he has helped move our discipline to its premier position today. He is one of the most loyal, dedicated and effective leaders in North American radiation oncology."

 

Born in Huntsville, Mo., Wilson earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Missouri before completing his residency in radiation oncology at Penrose Cancer Hospital in Colorado Springs. He served fellowships in the Radiation Oncology Branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at Hospital Creteil, University of Paris.  Wilson joined the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in 1974 as an assistant professor of radiology, rising to the position of professor of radiation oncology in 1985 and department chair in 1986.

 

Wilson served as director of the MCW Cancer Center from 1994 to 2000. Today, Wilson serves as the chair and Bernard & Miriam Peck Family Professor of Radiation Oncology and director emeritus of the MCW Cancer Center — positions that have allowed him to make important and formative contributions to the field of oncology.

 

An RSNA member since 1985, Wilson delivered the Annual Oration in Radiation Oncology in 1998. He has held numerous positions within the Society, serving as RSNA vice president in 1999 and on the Committee on International Relations & Education from 1995 to 1998.  Wilson is a current member of the RSNA Public Information Advisors Network (PIAN) and the Centennial Planning Committee.

 

"I attended my first RSNA meeting as a junior resident in the mid-1960s," said Wilson. "RSNA and its members have been central to my professional and personal life ever since. Accordingly, I am deeply respectful of the honor that I am to receive and very grateful to the community of colleagues in radiology with whom I have been associated for so many years."

 

In addition to quality of cancer care and breast cancer, Wilson's research interests have included developmental aspects of brachytherapy, a field in which he has co-authored several seminal textbooks.

 

Throughout his career, Wilson has consistently been listed among Woodward & White's Best Doctors in America and named one of America's top breast cancer doctors by Good Housekeeping and Redbook magazines, among other accolades.

 

A prolific author, Wilson has published more than 200 papers and abstracts and 21 books or chapters and has presented lectures across the globe on the role of radiation therapy in the management of cancer. He served as chair and principal investigator of the National Cancer Institute-funded American College of Radiology (ACR) Quality Research in Radiation Oncology project (Q-RRO), dedicated to improving the quality of radiation oncology care by developing evidence-based performance measures and conducting nationwide surveys of radiation therapy practice.

 

His own literary career has been prodigious.  Wilson served as editor of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics (IJROBP) from 1988 to 1996. He served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Radiology and holds current positions on the editorial boards of the Turkish Journal of Cancer, Oncology, Cancer Radiotherapie, and the Jordanian Medical Journal.  Wilson also serves as a reviewer for Radiology and IJROBP, among other journals.

 

Wilson served six years on the Board of Chancellors and as ACR vice president in 2004. He was named an ACR Fellow in 1988. He is a former president of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and of the American Radium Society. He currently serves as board chair of the Midwest Division for the American Cancer Society.

 

Wilson received gold medals from ASTRO in 2003 and from ACR and the Juan del Regato Foundation in 2006. In 2008, he received Froedtert Hospital's highest honor, the Smallwood Award for Patient Care Excellence. In 2011, Wilson received the Honorary Alumnus Award from the MCW/Marquette Medical Alumni Association and the Heritage and Hope Award from the Froedtert Hospital Foundation.

 

For more information: www.rsna.org