Georgeann McGuinness, M.D.
As our department flourishes, so justifiably grows our pride. The publication of Radiata provides a propitious opportunity to present to department members, the NYU School of Medicine, the radiology community, alumni, and all other interested readers, a window into NYU Radiology.
A striking feature of the department is the outstanding contribution made by its many women physicians and scientists. We are unusual not only in the number of women overall, but also the number of women in leadership positions. The cover and lead article in this issue, conceived partially as a tribute to our women leaders and partially as a forum for their counsel, were underway before Harvard University President Summers’ comments strenuously stimulated public debate on the opportunities for women in academic science. While we cannot take credit for the fortuitous timing we certainly appreciate the intense interest focused on such an important matter in academia—that of gender disparity in academic departments. The issues shrouding gender based discrepancies in hiring, promotion, and tenure are complex. I am most pleased to note that NYU Radiology is way out there on the ‘good’ part of the curve when compared to national norms.
Research momentum continues to mount, with the work from burgeoning clinical research groups powered through strong collaborations with a dedicated research faculty. In fact, our research program/facility is now on par with our clinical excellence as a defining feature of our department—quite a transformation in recent years. We are now amongst the top radiology departments nationally in NIH funding, and have developed several unrivaled areas of research excellence. In this context it is important for Radiata to present some exciting work from our clinical researchers.
Unlike college and medical school alumni associations, who we all know are able to track you down even if you’ve been in a Tibetan monastery for the last 10 years, we regretfully often lose connection with our departing alumni. The graduates of our training programs, and our faculty who join other institutions, in many ways represent a legacy of this department—a legacy of which we are tremendously proud. With this issue we reach out in particular to our alumni. We plan to feature an illustrious alumnus in academia in each issue. We also inaugurate our ‘Alumni Notes’ column, an opportunity for all alumni to reconnect and re-engage with the department.
Continued growth and expansion is now implicit and accepted as routine. Our invigorated and expanded department would perhaps be unfamiliar to those who have not returned to NYU in many years. Acknowledging this we have provided a brief pictorial essay introducing our spreading clinical outposts, as well as an amused and amazed glance at the launch of our 7 Tesla MR at the Center for Biomedical Imaging.
Finally, we are most grateful for the opportunity to recognize publicly the strong support and continued commitment to NYU Radiology of two of our sponsors and donors, Mr. Louis Marx, Jr. and Mr. Bernard L. Schwartz. The magnitude of their generosity has allowed the development of new programs, the expansion of existing initiatives, and much needed renovation of our facilities. Their contribution to the department, while invisible to the uninitiated, is appreciated daily and profoundly by the entire department and the medical center. We offer them sincere thanks, and dedicate this issue to them.
It is with great pride and satisfaction that I invite you to read further about our thriving department.
Georgeann McGuinness, M.D.
is Vice Chair of Education and A
ssociate Professor of Radiology