2012-2013 ASSR Executive Committee Elections
Vice President
John D. Barr, M.D., Scripps Memorial Hospitals La Jolla and Encinitas, San Diego, California
Dr. Barr is the Director of NeuroInterventional Radiology at Scripps Memorial Hospitals La Jolla and Encinitas in San Diego, California. He currently serves on the Society’s Executive Committee, chairs the Clinical Practice Committee and serves as the alternate councilor to the American College of Radiology (ACR). He is a former president of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS), having served on the Executive Committee of the SNIS from 1996 through 2008. He is an Active member of the ASSR for more than ten years, attended almost every Annual Symposium and participated as a faculty member at most. Dr. Barr remains active in neuroimaging, neurovascular and spinal interventions, including minimally invasive lumbar spinal decompression surgery and placement of spinal fusion hardware.
Dr. Barr has had a long and active involvement with spinal interventions; he was one of the first physicians in the United States to perform percutaneous vertebroplasty. Recognizing the need to develop appropriate standards of practice for this new procedure, Dr. Barr initiated and co-chaired the group that developed the Standards of Practice for Percutaneous Vertebroplasty adopted by the ACR in 2000 and assisted with subsequent revisions of this document.
Dr. Barr assisted with preparation of the application to the American Medical Association to obtain CPT codes for percutaneous vertebroplasty, presented the application to the CPT editorial committee and shepherded the approved application through the RUC committee to obtain valuation for the procedure. He remains active in the ongoing effort to maintain reimbursement for percutaneous vertebral augmentation in the United States. Dr. Barr is chair of the multi-society group preparing a current position statement on percutaneous vertebral augmentation.
Dr. Barr has met with the FDA frequently for more than ten years as part of an ongoing SNIS and Society of Interventional Radiology effort to maintain a mutually educational and instructive relationship with the agency. Spinal interventions and imaging remain active areas of discussion in these meetings. This long-term commitment has allowed him to develop well-rooted relationships and trust with those who control a vital part of medical practice. Dr. Barr has the proven experience and dedication to lead the Society and would be honored to do so.
Statement of Goals: As the Society’s president, Dr. Barr is committed to achieving the Society’s chosen goals. The following represent his personal thoughts regarding goals that the Society might consider to maintain its leadership in both spinal imaging and image-guided spinal interventions:
- The Society needs both a Mission Statement and a Strategic Plan to help define our future. These documents should be developed by the Executive Committee reflecting the desires of the membership.
- An essential element of the Strategic Plan should be a financial plan to ensure our survival in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment.
- Exploration and discussion about new ways of meeting the needs of our members in this challenging environment should also be incorporated into the Strategic Plan.
- Publication of standards of practice for the performance of advanced image-guided spinal interventions defining the necessary training and experience to ensure that our members are not inappropriately excluded from this rapidly expanding field.
Adam E. Flanders, M.D., Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Adam E. Flanders, M.D. is Professor of Radiology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He serves as co-director of the Division of Neuroradiology/ENT and Director of Radiology Informatics Research at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is also an active member of the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Valley. Dr. Flanders has been on faculty at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital since 1989 after completing fellowship training at Thomas Jefferson University and Residency training at the University of Illinois. He has been an Active member of the ASSR since 2003 and has been an invited speaker and moderator for several years at the ASSR Annual Symposium as well as the ASSR section of the ASNR Annual Meeting. He currently serves as Treasurer on the ASSR Executive Committee, as a member of the Ad Hoc Clinical Practice Committee and Ad Hoc Informatics Committee, and as chair of the Research Committee. He is also Chair of the Electronic Education & eCME Subcommittee for the ASNR, and serves on the Radiology Informatics Committee (RIC), the Imaging Informatics Coalition Subcommittee and Education Editorial Board (RadioGraphics) for the RSNA. He also serves as chair of the Medical Imaging Resource Center (MIRC) project for the RSNA and he is a member of the American College of Radiology Informatics Committee. Dr. Flanders is Neuroradiology subcommittee chair of the RadLex and Reporting initiatives for the RSNA and Associate Editor (Informatics) for RadioGraphics. He is deputy editor for NeuroGraphics, an on-line journal devoted to showcasing educational materials from the annual meeting. Dr. Flanders research has focused on the utility of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the evaluation and treatment of spinal cord injury. He is currently funded by the Department of Defense to evaluate the effectiveness of diffusion tensor imaging in predicting recovery in spinal cord injury patients. He is also a funded subject matter expert for the Cancer Bio-Informatics Grid (caBIG) Imaging Workspace and he has been leading a multi-center collaborative project that is examining imaging features, pathology and genomics of human gliomas from the Cancer Genome Project.
Statement of Goals:
- Promote the ASSR as the premiere educational meeting of diagnostic imaging and intervention for spinal diseases in the United States.
- Extend the educational opportunities for members beyond the annual meeting.
- Develop synergies with international spine societies.
Secretary/Treasurer
Paul Kim, M.D., University of Southern California (USC) Medical Center in Los Angeles, California
Paul E. Kim, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Radiology at University of Southern California (USC) Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Kim has been on faculty at USC Medical Center for the past 11 years. After medical school at the University of Michigan, he completed his residency in diagnostic radiology and fellowship in neuroradiology at USC Medical Center. After fellowship, Dr. Kim entered private practice for four years before returning to academic medicine at his alma mater, USC Medical Center. He is currently Director of Spinal Imaging and Intervention in the Department of Radiology at USC. He has been an Active member of the ASSR and has been an invited speaker and moderator for several years at the ASSR Annual Symposium as well as the ASSR section of the ASNR Annual Meeting. He currently serves as a Member-at-Large of the ASSR Executive Committee.
Dr. Kim’s special areas of interest are in neurovascular imaging, spine imaging and pain management. He has authored or co-authored a number of peer-reviewed publications and book chapters involving many varied topics in neuroradiology, including spinal imaging. He is a reviewer for several publications, including American Journal of Roentgenology, Neurosurgery, and World Neurosurgery. Dr. Kim has been a member of the ASSR and attended the ASSR Annual Symposium regularly since 2000. He is an avid teacher has been given the outstanding teacher award by the residents at USC Medical Center.
Richard Silbergleit, M.D., Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Royal Oak,
Michigan
Dr. Silbergleit is Professor of Radiology at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. He serves as the Vice Chief of Radiology at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan and also as chief of neuroimaging and director of the neuroradiology fellowship program.
Dr. Silbergleit completed medical school, residency, and a two year neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Michigan. He worked for 12 years as a staff neuroradiologist at Henry Ford Hospital and has been at William Beaumont Hospital for 11 years. He has been a senior member of the American Society of Neuroradiology since 1989 and has been a member of the American Society of Spine Radiology since the founding meeting.
He has served the ASSR as a member of the Rules Committee, Nominating Committee, Membership Committee, Ad Hoc Clinical Practice Committee, Ad Hoc Mentor Committee, and as Chair of the Membership Committee.
Dr. Silbergleit also has an interest in finance and has an MBA from the University of Michigan. He chairs the pension committee of the William Beaumont Diagnostic Radiology, PLLC, an 80 member radiology practice. He also directs revenue cycle activities in the radiology department and is responsible for compliance in the department.
His goals for the position of Secretary/Treasurer are to continue to increase the national and international membership of the ASSR and to continue the conservative financial management of the society’s financial assets.
Member-At-Large
Alessandro Cianfoni, M.D., Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, and Neuroradiology of Neurocenter of Italian Switzerland, Lugano, CH.
Dr Cianfoni received his MD degree and Radiology specialty degree from Catholic University of Rome, Italy, where he served as an attending physician in Neuroradiology for four years, then obtained USMLE-ECFMG certification, and completed a Neuroradiology fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, under the training of Drs. William G. Bradley, John R. Hesselink, and Wade H.M. Wong. He is at present Associate Professor of Radiology in the Neuroradiology Section of Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) where he directs the Interventional Spine Neuroradiology service, and is Director of Neuroradiology of the Neurorcenter of Italian Switzerland in Lugano.
At MUSC he successfully created in 2008 a Spine Interventional Neuroradiology service that, in an academic setting, offers multidisciplinary spine clinical and interventional approach, in close collaboration with other clinical and surgical specialists. Professional collaboration and mutual respect with other spine specialists has broken down the traditional turf wars, to the advantage of an academic environment that offers the most advanced solutions to the patients, and creates opportunities for continuous cultural and scientific growth.
Dr. Cianfoni’s special interests and expertise are percutaneous lumbar and cervical disc decompression, vertebral cement augmentation, tumor ablation and cement augmentation of spinal tumoral lesions, sacroplasty, and minimally invasive lumbar decompression. He is a member of ASNR, ESNR, ESR, and an ASSR Active member since 2007, where he has served as faculty on several occasions.
Dr Cianfoni is author of over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and several neuroradiology, diagnostic and interventional spine book chapters. He highly values the ASSR as the society that has offered him the opportunity to share his experience, meet a group of outstanding peers, and learn from them all in a professional and yet friendly atmosphere.
Dr Cianfoni would be honored to serve on the ASSR Executive Committee.
Bassem Georgy, M.D, North County Radiology, Assistant Professor of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
Dr. Georgy is a member of a large private practice radiology group in San Diego, CA. His practice is focused primarily on outpatient spine procedures where he runs a busy interventional pain management clinic. He also holds an appointment as an assistant professor of radiology at the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Georgy held multiple positions in the ASSR and ASNR executive committees over the past nine years. He was the former president of the ASSR in 2008-2009. During his presidency, the society experienced marked expansion of its educational programs with adding two new meetings: a joint meeting with the European Society of Neuroradiology, held biannually in Europe, and a hands-on cadaver workshop.
He has received many honors and awards for his scientific research and presentations in the United States and abroad. His publications list is extensive and includes journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters. He has published about twenty-five publications in peer review journals. He is an Associate Editor, Pain Physician and Reviewer for the American Journal of Neuroradiology.
Dr. Georgy wishes to continue serving the ASSR members to expand the educational mission of the society. He will work on developing stronger relationships of the ASSR with other medical societies in the field of spine to be better equipped to face the evolving healthcare challenges.
Joshua A. Hirsch, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Dr. Joshua A. Hirsch joined the ASSR in 1998. Dr. Hirsch is a practicing neurointerventionalist with an interest in spine. As a trainee, Dr. Hirsch had an interest in both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of spine-based radiology. He completed a formal two-year diagnostic Neuroradiology fellowship prior to becoming a fellow in NeuroInterventional Radiology.
Since 2003, Dr. Hirsch has been at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he serves as Director of Interventional Neuroradiology and Chief of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.
Diagnostically, Dr. Hirsch has always enjoyed working with the spine. For example, the mechanics, the cause and effect nature of lesion to syndrome and the variety of techniques which one could image the spine. On the interventional front, he was an early adopter of what was then a new treatment option- Percutaneous Vertebroplasty. Dr. Hirsch’s spine-based practice soon expanded into the world of percutaneous discectomy and he was rapidly convinced that radiologists interested in spine could be a major part of the development of this burgeoning field.
Dr. Hirsch very much enjoys the dramatic growth of the ASSR, its maturation, and growth in membership. He has actively participated in the program for the annual symposia for many years. He has served on the Awards Committee and has worked closely on the interventional component of the programming with several past presidents of the Society.
Politically, Dr. Hirsch has been very active in the ongoing issues confronting spine radiologists. He was an invited speaker at the MCAC meeting regarding vertebral augmentation, helped draft the Practice Guidelines for Interventionalists as well as vertebral augmentation guidelines ultimately to be adopted by the American College of Radiology.
Dr. Hirsch is a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery and serves as the Councilor for that Society to the ACR. Dr. Hirsch is active on the CPC and the Executive Committees of the American Society of Neuroradiology. Dr. Hirsch has served the ASSR in multiple capacities on its Executive Committee and would be honored to serve its membership as Member-At- Large.
Dan Thach Dam Nguyen, M.D., Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Dr. Nguyen’s entire career has been in academic Neuroradiology. He is currently at Penn State Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania where he is an Associate Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery, serving as the Division Chief of Neuroradiology and the Fellowship Program Director.
In recent time, Dr. Nguyen has participated within the State medical legislation through his service in the Pennsylvania Medical Society delegation. He serves on the institutional Executive Committee in the Neuroscience Institute to forward important issues and services to the regional population in terms of clinical care, research, and education. As a co-Director in the institutional Spine Center, Dr. Nguyen works along side in clinics, conferences, and outreach with the orthopedic and neurosurgical spine surgeons, pain management service, and rehabilitation to improve outcomes to the patients with spinal disorders. His hope is to demonstrate the increasing relevance as Radiologists in Neurologic and Spine care from our diagnostic and interventional skills in this arena.
Dr. Nguyen’s main research interest lies in the spine. Time and funding can be challenging in today’s environment. However, this pursuit of knowledge building has led to his receiving grants, participating in clinical trials, publishing peer-reviewed papers, and giving national lectures. He hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the degenerative and dysfunctional spine with some of the current multidisciplinary work he has undertaken in a multidisciplinary approach.
Majda M. Thurnher, M.D., Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Majda M. Thurnher finished Medical School in Croatia and received her medical degree (MD) in 1989. After two years of Neurology Residency at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and Medical University of Vienna (Austria), she continued with the Radiology Residency at the Medical University of Vienna and was Austrian Board certified radiologist in 2000. In 2001 she was appointed as Associated Professor of Radiology at the Medical University of Vienna, where she is currently working. Dr Thurnher has spent some time as a visiting fellow at the University of Miami L. Miller School of Medicine. She is editorial board member of AJNR, European Radiology and Neuroradiogy. One of her scientific focus is spinal imaging with special issues of Neuroimaging Clinics of North America, Seminars in Roentgenology, and European Journal of Radiology for which she was a guest editor.
Dr. Thurnher was a Categorical Course Director of “Spinal Imaging and Intervention”, at the ECR for two consecutive years. She has given a prestigious “Pierre et Marie Curie” Honorary Lecture at ECR 2011. Dr Thurnher is currently Chair of the Subspeciality Committee “Diagnostic Neuroradiology” and a member of the Executive Committee of the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR). She is also active in RSNA as a Member of the Scientific Programe Committee. Dr Thurnher has received the first Dr Milosh and Smiljka Perovitch Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins University in 2009.
She has held 166 invited lectures at national and international meetings, such as RSNA, ARRS, ASSR, ISMRM, and ECR. Dr Thurnher speaks and lectures in 4 languages (Croatian, German, English and Italian).