I am a member of the Institute of Medicine and have served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). I am also a member of the Nuclear Radiation Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and chaired the NAS Committee on the State of the Science of Nuclear Medicine, which produced the highly-cited report “Advancing Nuclear Medicine through Innovation.” Distinguished posts I have held include President of the California Academy of Medicine (a society whose members belong to all medical specialties) and President of the Radiological Society of North America (a society that embraces all sub-specialties involved in biomedical imaging).
I am a strong believer that medicine knows no borders and throughout my career, I have done my best to promote international collaboration in medicine, particularly with respect to education and research. In recognition of these efforts, I have been awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, elected a member of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Russian Academy of Medicine, and made an honorary member or fellow of twelve radiological societies around the world.
At Memorial Sloan Kettering, I co-direct a program, funded by an R25T award from the National Cancer Institute, that trains young scientists and physicians in oncologic molecular imaging. The program aims to prepare a new generation of imaging researchers to be at ease with both modern cancer biology and molecular imaging techniques, so that they may lead the rapid development of molecular imaging as a tool for laboratory discovery and individualized clinical care in oncology. In addition, I am a co-principal investigator on the training section of the National Institutes of Health-funded U54 grant, “The CCNY/MSKCC Partnership For Research, Training and Outreach.” The goal of this training program is to train minority students interested in cancer research through special recruitment efforts and the provision of enhanced education and imaging training opportunities, mentorship and support. Recently, working with the leadership team of our Breast Imaging Service, I have also been involved in establishing breast cancer screening programs, breast imaging training programs, and ultrasound training programs in developing countries with funding from the NCI and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
I have received the Marie Curie Award from the Society of Women in Radiology, the gold medals of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the Association of University Radiologists, the Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology, and the European Society of Radiology, the Beclere medal of the International Society of Radiology, the Schinz Medal of the Swiss Society of Radiology, the Morocco Medal of Merit, the Jean A Vezina French Canadian Award of Innovation, and the Order of the Croatian Morning Star of Katarina Zrinska Presidential Award of Croatia.
