Puzzle Solver

During the 2016 AIUM Annual Convention, Michael Kolios, PhD, was awarded the Joseph H. Holmes Basic Science Pioneer Award. We asked him a few questions about the award,November 11, 2015 what interests him, and the future of medical ultrasound research. This is what he had to say.

  1. What does being named the Joseph H. Holmes Basic Science Pioneer Award winner mean to you?
    It means a lot to me to be recognized by my peers in this manner. It motivates me to work even harder to contribute more to the community.  I have been associated with the AIUM for a long time and have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with all the members over the years. When I peruse the list of the previous Joseph H. Holmes Basic Science Pioneer Awardees and look at their accomplishments, I feel quite humbled by being the recipient of this award, and hope one day to match their contributions to the field.
  1. What gets you excited the most when it comes to research?
    I get excited when I generate/discuss new ideas, participate in the battle of new and old ideas, and the immensely complex detective work that is required to prove or disprove these new ideas. I thoroughly enjoy the interactions with all my colleagues and trainees that join me in this indefatigable and never-ending detective work, as solving one puzzle almost always creates many new ones. This is what I’ve encountered in the last 2 decades while probing basic questions on the propagation of ultrasound waves in tissue, and how different tissue structures scatter the sound. Finally, I get very excited when I try to think about how to use the basic science knowledge generated from this research to inform clinical practice, and envisioning the day this will potentially make a difference in the lives of people.
  1. How can we encourage more ultrasound research?
    We need to provide the resources to people in order to do the research in ultrasound. Most funding agencies are stretched to the limit and success rates are sometimes in the single digits. This makes it very challenging to do research in general, including ultrasound research. Therefore, pooling resources and providing environments where ultrasonic research can excel will partially help—creating/promoting/maintaining centers for ultrasound research. This can also be promoted through networking and professional societies, such as the AIUM.Another thing to do to encourage more ultrasound research is by demonstrating the clinical impact of ultrasound and how it could be used to save the lives of patients. Only through the close collaboration of basic scientists/engineers with clinicians/clinician-scientists/sonographers can this be achieved. Developments in therapeutic ultrasound for example are very exciting, and have recently attracted the attention of both public and private funding agencies with many success stories. Moreover, providing seed money through opportunities such as the ERR (Endowment for Education and Research) is a step in the right direction—to give people the opportunity to pursue their ideas in the field of ultrasound research.
  1. What new or upcoming research has you most intrigued?
    While I spent a lot of time trying to understand ultrasound scattering, and how changes in tissue morphology influence this scattering, I’m currently dedicating most of my time to the new field called photoacoustic imaging. It is known that conventional clinical ultrasound has relatively poor soft tissue contrast, but in photoacoustic imaging light is used to generate ultrasound. These ultrasound waves, created when light is absorbed by tissue, provides exciting results that allow not only probing tissue anatomy, but also function in ways that not many other modalities can. After the light is absorbed and the waves initiated, everything we know about ultrasound applies—and in fact we can use the same ultrasound instrumentation to create images. I expect this imaging modality to have clinical impact in the near future.
  1. You are well accomplished within the medical ultrasound research community, but when you were young what did you want to be when you grew up?
    When I was young I wanted to be firstly an astronaut, then a philosopher, pondering basic questions and fundamental problems in nature. I ended up studying physics and its applications in medicine. It has been a highly rewarding choice!
  1. If you were presenting this award at the 2017 AIUM Annual Convention, who would you like to see receive it and why?
    I’d like to see someone that has contributed to ultrasound, with work spanning from the basic science/engineering to clinical application! It would also be encouraging to see the next recipient being a woman or minority, reflecting the true diversity from which new ideas come, and representing a constituency for which society has relatively recently given the opportunity to contribute to science in a meaningful and sustained manner.

Who would you like to see win an AIUM award? What ideas do you have to increase the interest in and funding for research? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

Michael Kolios, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Physics, and Associate Dean of Science, Research and Graduate Studies at Ryerson University.

What One Winning Sonographer Has to Say

 

d_mertonEstablished in 1997, the Distinguished Sonographer Award recognizes and honors current or retired AIUM members who have significantly contributed to the growth and development of medical ultrasound. This annual presentation honors an individual whose outstanding contributions to the development of medical ultrasound warrant special merit. This year’s winner is Daniel A. Merton, BS, RDMS, FSDMS, FAIUM, from New Jersey. Here is what he had to say about receiving this honor.

Congratulations on being named the 2016 Distinguished Sonographer. What does this award mean to you?

I appreciate being recognized for my contributions to the field and am honored to join the list of other sonographers who have received this award.

You are and have been very involved in several ultrasound societies. Why do you volunteer so much of your time?

I am passionate about the profession and want to contribute what I can to its future in terms of technology and its use to improve patient care.

How and why did you first get interested in medical ultrasound?

I learned of medical ultrasound in 1978 when I was a sonar technician in the US Navy. I was then, and am still, fascinated with the use of acoustic energy for many applications but particularly for diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications. After being discharged from the Navy I perused a degree in Diagnostic Medical Imaging. At that time (early 1980s) there were only 6 DMS programs in the country that awarded a degree so my options were limited.

When it comes to medical ultrasound, who do you look up to?

First and foremost, Dr. Barry B. Goldberg, FAIUM. He is a true pioneer with an insatiable appetite for investigating the unknown and attempting the untried. He is a mentor, colleague, and friend who provided the environment and support, without which I am quite sure I would not have accomplished what I have nor be receiving this prestigious award. I was fortunate to have worked with many other skilled and dedicated professionals, including Larry Waldroup, BS, RDMS, FAIUM and Dr. Fred Kremkau, FACR, FAIMBE, FAIUM, FASA, but the entire list would be too long to include here.

How did you first get interested in medical ultrasound? Who are your mentors? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

Daniel A. Merton, BS, RDMS, FSDMS, FAIUM, in addition to being an AIUM award winner, is a Senior Project Officer at ECRI Institute, a nonprofit medical testing and patient safety organization in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

Kindred Spirits

The Peter H. Arger, MD, Excellence in Medical Student Education Award honors an AIUM member whose outstanding contributions to the development of medical ultrasound education warrant special merit. At the 2016 AIUM Annual Convention, John Christian Fox, MD, RDMS, FACEP, FAAEM, FAIUM, was presented with this award. Here’s what he had to say about this honor and the future of medical ultrasound education.

J Christian Fox 1

What does it mean to you to be named the recipient of the Peter H. Arger Excellence in Medical Student Education Award winner?

After I did some research about Dr Arger and spoke with others who know him well, I began to realize that he and I are kindred spirits. Even though we are from different generations and different specialties, we are actually very much aligned. His work in the 1990s, while disruptive at the time, paved the way for multi-specialty performance of quality ultrasound examinations through practice accreditation. Furthermore, he initiated the Endowment for Education and Research (EER) which had a tremendous impact on ultrasound in medical education. From this fund, the AIUM was able to finance the highly successful 2nd Annual Dean’s Forum on Ultrasound in Medical Education held at UC Irvine in June 2015. Specifically, EER provided support to bring deans from more than 40 medical schools to my campus where we broke into small groups and developed a 4-year curriculum of ultrasound in medical education.

Why have you volunteered so much of your time to the AIUM?

When I was a fellow in emergency ultrasound in 2001, I first heard about the AIUM and flew down to Orlando to check out the annual meeting. We kicked off the emergency ultrasound section with a small group of people and from that early experience I was struck by how people from various specialties would do their best to check their politics at the door and get to work on what our combined passion was: Ultrasound. The point-of-care ultrasound revolution that ensued would never have happened in my opinion if it wasn’t for the multi-specialty collaboration that AIUM so vehemently catalyzes. While we may be facing local battles, once we put that AIUM badge around our necks, everyone is great at collaborating in the name of research and education rather than engaging in politics. Maybe that sounds a bit rosy for some reading this but it’s my honest assessment of what brings me back to the AIUM year after year! Where else can I go to see world-class multi-specialty ultrasound research? So many cool projects have come from ideas that were created during these sessions. Where else can I learn from international masters teaching me the nuances of the art of ultrasound?

What do you see as the biggest barrier(s) to having ultrasound integrated into the medical education curriculum?

It’s funny because these barriers are not static. Initially I saw a lot of people struggling to justify ultrasound’s role in the curriculum. It takes a few deep discussions, and even some hands-on scanning, to get the Deans to reframe their concept of ultrasound. Well, now that’s ancient history (like 2 years ago) and now we face other burdens. I get the sense the Deans are frothing now to not be the last school to incorporate this, and now they need to find the cash and prizes. They need the funding to support the curriculum administratively and they need to get machines and simulation all dialed in. That’s no simple task as you can imagine, but they are Deans and that’s their job – to fund initiatives that have the most impact on the curriculum.

Tell us a little about your TED talk experience.

Oh it was intense. Hardest thing I’ve ever done for sure. As much as I’m kind of a ham and love public speaking, this was very difficult for me. I had to really get out of my comfort zone and become a perfectionist. Lots of rules, which required weekly meetings with my two coaches. One was helping me perfect the content while the other was working on my performance. Every sentence has to land perfectly. Too much pressure to put on someone who is more of a big picture kinda person than a detail-oriented person. But all that being said, it stands as my proudest speaking moment.

Who is your mentor and why?

I’ve had so many mentors over the years it’s really hard to answer this question because I firmly believe that mentorship relationships should really form organically, and not be assigned or they lack authenticity. I’ll start with my residency director who later became my Chair, Mark Langdorf. He single-handedly taught me emergency medicine and then gave me the idea to do an ultrasound fellowship. I remember packing my moving truck, and wondering to myself exactly why I was moving from Laguna Beach to Chicago but his guidance proved critical. Then my fellowship director Mike Lambert is the guy who I really sync’d up with and spent a ton of time emulating his laid back approach to life and work. To this day, every time I’m around him, my blood pressure drops. But what he taught me was the importance of image quality and instilled in me a love, or an obsession really, for all things piezoelectric. The other mentor that really helped shape my approach to edutainment and social media is not one person but a duo. It’s the ultrasoundpodcast.com guys Mike Mallin and Matt Dawson. I really look up to them and what they’ve done for point-of-care and their tenacity to keep all their content (books and media) Free and Open Access Medical Education (FOAM).

It’s All About The Students

A relatively new AIUM award, the Peter H. Arger, MD, Excellence in Medical Student Education Award honors an AIUM member whose outstanding contributions to the development of medical ultrasound education warrant special merit. At the 2015 AIUM Annual Convention, David Bahner, MD, RDMS, was presented with this award. Here’s what he had to say about this honor and the future of medical ultrasound education.David Bahner

What does it mean to you to be named only the second recipient of the Peter H. Arger Excellence in Medical Student Education Award winner?
I am very honored to be recognized by the AIUM and feel it is an honor to receive this award named after a pioneer in imaging, Dr Peter H. Arger.  Dr Arger’s passion for medical education and his commitment to ultrasound is well known.  It is my hope to continue those activities in medical education that Dr Arger pioneered in his work with the AIUM. Watching the first award winner, Dr Richard Hoppmann, receive this award last year was a thrill because it meant that the AIUM was recognizing the importance of medical ultrasound education. I am grateful for this great honor and hope to live up to the substantial role model Dr Peter Arger has been for this important area in ultrasound.

Why is ultrasound in medical education so important?
In the past, the feeling that ultrasound is operator dependent has been a drag on its impact within medicine. However, since medical education has been changing at many institutions because of electronic medical records, changes in curricula, and changes in technology, opportunities for point-of-care ultrasound now abound. Add to that the fact that ultrasound has become portable and affordable, and we see more operators embracing this modality. Unfortunately, the training for this device many times doesn’t starts until residency or even after clinicians have completed their medical training. By that time, however, the technology has outpaced the education. If the future can be planned to prepare 21st century clinicians to use this ultrasound tool, implementing this within medical school allows “pluripotent” students the ability to learn the foundations of ultrasound before entering residency.

What do you see as the biggest barrier to having ultrasound integrated into the medical education curriculum?
The lack of trained faculty either funded or supported in this process of training medical students is the biggest barrier to implementing ultrasound training in medical school. This lack of faculty is coupled with a “crowded’ curriculum where medical educators don’t see the benefit of adding ultrasound at the expense of removing other parts of the curriculum. The true insight is that ultrasound can be integrated into many parts of the medical student curriculum when both teachers and students embrace learning how to use ultrasound.  For example, anatomists learning how to scan or family practitioners working with ultrasound to guide procedures are possible solutions to these barriers.

You are a born and bred Ohioan. Why are people from Ohio so proud of Ohio?
It probably has something to do with the history of the state and how that has played into innovation, politics and competitiveness. Ohio is best known for the Wright Brothers who hailed from Dayton and used their hard work and innovation to change the 20th century with the discovery of lift and flight. Politically it has been an influential state in most presidential elections. Plus, 6 presidents are from Ohio. Ohioans are fierce competitors and extremely proud of the 16 national football championships earned by The Ohio State University. Oh, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are located within Ohio. We have a lot to be proud of.

Personally, my family grew up in Ohio and I feel a bond with the change of seasons, the geography, the history, the people, and the culture of hard work and helping others. I am an American, an Ohioan, a doctor, an educator, an innovator, and a Buckeye.

What role does or should ultrasound play in medical education? What are you proud of? Where did you learn your ultrasound skills? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

David Bahner, MD, RDMS, is Professor and Director of Ultrasound in the Department of Emergency Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

At the Intersection of Science, Engineering and Medicine

Flemming Forsberg PhDDuring the 2015 AIUM Annual Convention, AIUM sat down with Flemming Forsberg, PhD, recipient of the Joseph H. Holmes Basic Science Pioneer Award to talk about the award, his motivation, and the future of medical ultrasound. Here is what he had to say:

Question #1:
What was your reaction to being named the recipient of this award?

Question #2:
What motivates you?

Question #3:
What role does failure play?

Question #4:
How does the United States differ from the rest of the world when it comes to medical ultrasound?

Question #5:
Where do you see the future of medical ultrasound?


What do you see as the future of medical ultrasound? Where are there some additional intersections?
Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

Flemming Forsberg, PhD, FAIUM, FAIMBE, received the 2015 Joseph H. Holmes Basic Science Pioneer Award from the AIUM. Dr Forsberg is Professor, Department of Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University. He also serves as Deputy Editor of the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.

5 Questions with Dr Lee

Every year, the AIUM William J. Fry Memorial Lecture Award recognizes an AIUM member who has significantly contributed in his or her particular field to the scientific progress of medical ultrasound.

Wesley Lee MDAt the 2015 AIUM Convention, Wesley Lee, MD received this award.

  1. What did being named the William J. Fry Memorial Lecture Award winner mean to you?

The William J. Fry Memorial Lecture Award was an unexpected surprise because all of my professional accomplishments simply reflect who I am and what I enjoy doing.  I am truly honored and feel privileged to have received this special recognition among my special friends and colleagues.

  1. You have been involved with the AIUM for more than 3 decades. From your perspective, how has the AIUM changed over that span?

Over the past 3 decades, I have seen enthusiastic growth within our membership and more diversified multidisciplinary collaborations between many specialties for various areas of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasonography. The AIUM has certainly raised the bar for technical and clinical practice standards that are now often developed with other professional organizations. The AIUM plays an pivotal role for political advocacy involving important issues that may impact how cost-effective and health care is delivered.

  1. You have written extensively and currently serve on the editorial board for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as deputy editor of the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine. Based on what you are seeing and writing, where is medical ultrasound headed?

The quality of medical ultrasound research has improved with the use of standard writing guidelines and detailed imaging protocols, as well as the application of evidenced-based medicine. We are seeing many novel applications of ultrasound technology that can now be delivered or used in combination with other imaging modalities in our patients. The Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine has become an important international resource with submissions from all over the world.  Original research articles constitute approximately 60% of the total papers submitted.

  1. What medical ultrasound question or concern keeps you up at night?

We use ultrasound imaging technology every day in our clinical practices. I am constantly trying to understand how diagnostic ultrasonography practice can be improved for patient care through development/application of new technologies, better education, and innovative research initiatives.

  1. Finish this sentence…”It’s best to use ultrasound first when…”

It’s best to use ultrasound first when providing obstetrical care to pregnant women because of its cost-effectiveness as a screening tool, established benefit for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomalies/complications, and long safety record in pregnant women.

Do you have any questions for Dr Lee? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_UltrasoundLearn more about the AIUM Awards Program at www.aium.org/aboutUs/awards.aspx.

Wesley Lee, MD, is Co-Director, Texas Children’s Fetal Center at Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women. He is also Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Section Chief, Women’s and Fetal Imaging; and Director of Fetal Imaging Research all at Baylor College of Medicine.

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