SAN DIEGO, March 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Society of Interventional Radiology will present its highest honor, the SIR Gold Medal, to Michael D. Dake, M.D., FSIR; Matthew A. Mauro, M.D., FSIR; and Lenny K. Tan, M.D., FSIR, on March 25, during its 39th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego. The Gold Medal acknowledges distinguished and extraordinary service to SIR or to the discipline of interventional radiology.
"These three interventional radiologists each embody and reflect the limitless potential of our medical specialty," said SIR President Scott C. Goodwin, M.D., FSIR, who represents nearly 5,000 doctors, scientists and allied health professionals dedicated to improving health care through image-guided, minimally invasive treatments. "These dedicated doctors have explored uncharted avenues of treatment to benefit patients, researched unique ways of using proven interventional radiology techniques to treat in new and effective ways and worked tirelessly to spread the message of interventional radiology to a worldwide audience," added Goodwin, who is an interventional radiologist and Hasso Brothers professor and chair of the department of radiological sciences at the University of California, Irvine.
Since 2008, Michael D. Dake, M.D., FSIR, has been the Thelma and Henry Doelger Professor in Stanford University's department of cardiovascular surgery and the medical director of the Stanford catheterization and angiography laboratories. His current research is focused primarily on endovascular device development, vascular biology and molecular imaging.
From 2005-08, Dake was the chair of the department of radiology and the Harrison Distinguished Medical Teaching Professor of Radiology at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville. Dake joined Stanford in 1990 as section chief of cardiovascular and interventional radiology and co-director of the catheterization and angiography laboratories. During this period, Dake and his team published seminal research on the use of stent-grafts for the treatment of aortic pathologies, which dramatically changed the way physicians today manage thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections.
Matthew A. Mauro, M.D., FSIR, is the Ernest H. Wood Distinguished Professor of Radiology, Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, and chair of the department of radiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Medical Center. He is the chair of the department of radiology and professor of surgery and biomedical engineering at the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Hospitals, where he has spent his entire academic career.
An early proponent of an expanded role for interventional radiology in venous access, endovascular therapy of aortic aneurysms and oncologic interventions, Mauro's textbook, "Image-Guided Interventions," is a standard reference in the field. Mauro has served as president of the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (now SIR) and chair of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Research and Education Foundation (now SIR Foundation).
Lenny K. Tan, M.D., FSIR, emeritus consultant in the diagnostic imaging department at National University Hospital (NUH) Singapore (an academic medical center formed by the amalgamation of the Medical School and the National University Hospital), has had a major role in the development of interventional radiology in Asia.
Instrumental in the establishment of interventional radiology in the Asia-Pacific region, Tan was the first radiologist to introduce a comprehensive service in interventional radiology in the 1970s at Singapore General Hospital. Tan was the first full professor of radiology ever appointed by the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1990. In addition to introducing to Singapore treatments and techniques pivotal to the field of interventional radiology-such as the CT scan and advancements in interventional oncology-over his decades in practice, Tan has also trained scores of interventional radiology residents and fellows.
More information about the Society of Interventional Radiology, finding an interventional radiologist in your area and minimally invasive treatments can be found online at www.SIRweb.org. To learn about the 39th Annual Scientific Meeting, which is being held March 22-27 in San Diego, visit www.SIRmeeting.org.
About the Society of Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiologists are physicians who specialize in minimally invasive, targeted treatments. They offer the most in-depth knowledge of the least invasive treatments available coupled with diagnostic and clinical experience across all specialties. Using X-ray, MRI and other imaging to advance a catheter in the body, such as in an artery, they treat disease at the source internally. As the inventors of angioplasty and the catheter-delivered stent, which were first used in the legs to treat peripheral arterial disease, interventional radiologists pioneered minimally invasive modern medicine. Many conditions that once required surgery can be treated less invasively by interventional radiologists. Interventional radiology treatments offer less risk, less pain and less recovery time compared to open surgery. Visit www.SIRweb.org. Follow SIR on Facebook and Twitter and use SIR2014 to keep up with news from SIR 2014, which is being held March 22-27 in San Diego.
Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/SIRLOGO
SOURCE Society of Interventional Radiology
