Lucas News

The RSL continues to evolve and two faculty recruitments are in progress for molecular imaging and cognitive neuroimaging. These are major initiatives for the Department and the Lab. Molecular imaging is broadly defined as the visualization of in vivo structures that are identified on the molecular level by genetic expression or some other tagging means. The NIH has recently highlighted this field as a major growth area. Dr. Mark Bednarski has accepted the position as Assistant Professor (Research). This appointment will begin June 1, 2000. The cognitive neuroimaging position has evolved from the burgeoning collaborations between RSL and others within the Center and the neuroscience community, and the desire to provide transitions of the functional brain mapping technology to clinical applications. We are enthusiastic to find the right person who will join our team and lead this effort. The faculty and students continue to distinguish themselves in numerous ways. The faculty are frequently invited to serve as consultants to government and foundation agencies and in policy-making positions for international scientific societies. Norbert Pelc was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the 5500-member International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), also serving on the society’s Education Committee and Young Investigator Subcommittee. He was invited to give a prestigious plenary lecture at the ISMRM’s 1999 annual meeting in Philadelphia. In addition, he serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Whitaker Foundation. He also is chair of the Stanford Animal Care and Use Panel. Sandy Napel served on the steering committee for the workshop “Medicine Meets Virtual Reality at Stanford” in January 1999 and gave an invited talk. In April 1999 he was an invited speaker at an NIH workshop (sponsored by NCI/Office of Women’s Health) entitled: “Joint Working Group on Image-Guided Diagnosis and Treatment”. Such workshops are utilized by the NIH to steer their priorities and set policies. In addition, Christopher Beaulieu/Sandy’s paper entitled: “Multidetector Spiral CT: Maintaining Image Quality with Rapid Acquisition” won a cum laude award at the RSNA meeting. Chairman's Views ........................ 2