Research and Hard Work Honoured

Professors Mark Khangure, Frank Gaillard, Sandeep Bhuta and Paul Parizel all receive recognition for their work.

Professor Makhan Khangure Receives the Hippocrates Award by AMA

On 19 June 2021, Professor Makhan (Mark) Khangure was honoured with the Hippocrates Award by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) at the MEDCON21 Conference held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Hippocrates Award, commonly referred to as ‘the Hippo’, honours doctors who have made a significant contribution to medicine. Professor Khangure is a pioneer of interventional neuroradiology, over the course of his career, he has dedicated himself to serving patients and the broader community as well as nurturing future radiologists.

“I’m very much delighted to receive this award as a radiologist. Radiology is the cornerstone of diagnosis and treatment, and many medical practices rely on innovations in the radiology field. It is a great pleasure to raise awareness of radiology as a medical profession which is very often under-recognised,” said Professor Khangure.

Professor Khangure has made significant contributions to medical education, government policy and towards the advancement of interventional neuroradiology in Western Australia. He has received a multitude of accolades, including a Gold Medal from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Respiratory Science and an Order of Australia in the 2017 Australia Day Honours. Previously, Professor Khangure was the College President (2008–2009), Chief Accreditation Officer for radiology at the College (2010–2015) and was elected as a Councillor Federal and State AMA. He currently serves as member of the College’s WA Branch Executive Committee. He was also Head of Department and Divisional Director of Imaging Services at Royal Perth Hospital, Director of Interventional Neuroradiology as well as a former consultant neuroradiologist at Royal Perth and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospitals.

Image credit: Professor Khangure receives the Hippocrates Award at the Gala Ball in the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, during AMA (WA)’s MEDCON21 Conference. [Images used with permission, courtesy of AMA (WA)]

Associate Professor Frank Gaillard FRANZCR Awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR)

A/Prof Frank Gaillard

The international recognition is awarded by the UK-based College to those who have promoted the interests of clinical radiology or clinical oncology and made notable contributions to either. It is the most prestigious award given to a nonFellow of the RCR, with just 71 Honorary Fellows in total. A/Prof Gaillard joins Prof Lizbeth Kenny (RANZCR President 2005–2007) as Australian Honorary RCR Fellows.

A/Prof Gaillard trained as a radiologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) after graduating from the University of Melbourne. He completed two additional years of neuroradiology fellowship training, a form of diagnostic radiology that focuses on the head, brain, spine and neck to diagnose stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurological conditions. In addition to his work as a neuroradiologist, A/Prof Frank Gaillard has active research interests in neurodegenerative diseases, imaging of central nervous system tumours and computer-aided MRI interpretation.

A/Prof Gaillard is the founder and CEO of Radiopaedia.org, an online collaborative radiology reference resource for radiologists and other health professionals. The Royal College recognised this work as a “cornerstone of medical education throughout much of the world”, in particular recognising the contribution in developing countries.

I am genuinely thrilled to accept this honorary fellowship and I do so not only for myself but on behalf of the entire community that has grown around Radiopaedia. Any success and renown I may have achieved in radiology is entirely due to the thousands of individuals that have contributed to the site. I see this award as a recognition by the college of a belief that I have long held: that access to the knowledge that is necessary for the accurate diagnosis and care of our patients should not be contingent on one's personal, institutional, or regional wealth. Thank you.

@Radiopaedia

ASNR Appointments and Certificate of Merit Award go to Professor Sandeep Bhuta

In 2021, Professor Sandeep Bhuta has been appointed to two American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) committees: the International Collaborations Committee and the Educational Exhibits Subcommittee. Prof Bhuta is Professor in Neuroradiology at the School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, and Menzies Health Institute, and a neuroradiologist at Gold Coast University Hospital.

It is a massive honour to be selected for these positions and to be the only person from Australia or New Zealand to represent our region.

He was also awarded the ASNR Certificate of Merit award for the project “Imaging of Cervical Spine Ligamentous Injuries: Bridging the Gap between Neuroradiologists and Neurosurgeons” conducted together with Mitchell Stanton, PHO Neurosurgery and Ananya Prabhu, PHO Orthopaedics.

The topic is very relevant to the management of significant spinal trauma from motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries etc. With introduction of new AO classification of spinal injuries there was a need for a paper which will influence and streamline the management of spinal injuries as they are time critical. We hope this will be a good educational resource in management of spinal ligamentous injuries.

ASNR is the biggest and most prestigious organisation in neuro, head and neck imaging and it is unbelievable even to get an abstract accepted, “This year there were 467 accepted educational papers, getting an award, with tough competitors like Mayo, Harvard, Hopkins, UCSF, Yale, etc. is something one can only dream of”, he said.

I would like to thank the Department of Neurosurgery and my co-authors for their hard work.

Ananya Prabhu and Prof Sandeep Bhuta

@neurossb

Professor Paul Parizel awarded the 2021 Gold Medal from the European Society of Radiology

Prof Paul Parizel

What attracted you to radiology in the first place?

Radiology is fascinating, challenging, and it is a somewhat unusual medical specialty. It sits at the crossroads of clinical diagnosis, minimally invasive treatment, applied anatomy, and medical technology. I was always very much interested in mathematics and technology, and I loved anatomy (especially of the human brain). In the early days of my career, computed tomography (CT) scanning was still in its infancy, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was just entering that transition phase between a research tool and clinical application. I found it fascinating how X-rays, ultrasound waves, and radiofrequency signals could be translated into specially encoded anatomical images.

What has been the most rewarding part of your career?

That is a tough question, since I have really enjoyed all aspects of my career. Perhaps I should try to provide chronological answers for the three stages of my career. In the beginning of my journey into radiology and neuroradiology, the highlights were: my fellowship in neuroradiology in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School; the years spent as a consultant in neuroradiology at Hopital Erasme / Université Libre de Bruxelles; my PhD in medical physics on the influence of magnetic field strength on MRI signal behaviour. In mid-career, I was fortunate to spend 16 years as professor and chair of the Department of Radiology at Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp. Together with my team, we created a completely digital workspace with a state-of-the-art RIS/PACS system, introduced a dose-management and registration system, implemented integrated AI reading assistance for radiologists, pioneered a waiting room management system to reduce waiting times and facilitated work experiences for medical imaging technologists. In the latter part of my career I am most proud of my European commitments, first as President of the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR), later serving the European Society of Radiology (ESR) in a variety of roles, culminating in my election as President of the ESR and of the 2017 European Congress of Radiology (ECR 2017), and later as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ESR. I have always enjoyed radiology, and I strongly believe that people who enjoy what they are doing can convey their positive energy to provide the best service to their patients and at same time encourage students, registrars, fellows, and young colleagues.

What does receiving the 2021 Gold Medal from the European Society of Radiology mean to you?

It was a humbling experience to receive the ESR Gold Medal Award 2021, it is a very great honour. The European Society of Radiology (ESR), today with more than 120,000 members across the globe, has been a very important part of my professional life, for many years. It has been my privilege to serve the ESR in a variety of roles, and to influence and improve the standards of radiology practice, education and research.

How do you see AI changing the future of clinical radiology?

There is no doubt whatsoever that AI will become integrated across the entire range of existing radiology workflows: using clinical decision support to optimise imaging requests, streamlining the scheduling process, datamining electronic health records with natural language processing, helping the radiologist to make an accurate diagnosis (especially in detecting subtle abnormalities and processing large data sets), standardising image acquisition in follow-up studies, quantifying disease process with imaging biomarkers, providing image-based follow-up, patient management and prognosis, improving communication with referrers, and everything in between. I always compare the role of AI in radiology to what a GPS sat nav system does to help and guide the driver of car (without replacing the driver). But it is the radiologist who ultimately makes the decision, taking into account the information provided by AI, in combination with all other elements of the equation. The AI genie is here to stay, and, as radiologists, we do have the power to determine the future: tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. As George Bernard Shaw said: “we are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future”. AI provides a wonderful opportunity to the radiological community to make a new beginning, to re-invent what we do, to boost productivity and accuracy. We must take charge of our own future, and embrace it with confidence, courage and determination.

What areas of research do you plan to focus on next?

As a clinical academic, working at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) and at the University of Western Australia (UWA), it has been my good fortune to be appointed as the Director of the West Australian National Imaging Facility (WA NIF) node in Perth. I think I am one of the only radiologists in such a position in Australia. The WA NIF node is undergoing a major transformation, with the addition of a ‘human imaging expansion’ project, which will consist of a dedicated, research-only human 3.0T MRI and a digital PET/CT. This is a huge project, which has been occupying most of my spare time, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I am also happy and proud that I have been able to introduce a series of imaging seminars in the curriculum of the medical students at the UWA. In terms of pure research, I have contributed to a number of grant applications, always with a focus on integrating scientific research with patient-oriented clinical applications.

What advice would you give to a current trainee studying radiology or radiation oncology?

Two things. First, your future’s so bright you gotta wear shades (that is a paraphrased quote from an old Timbuk 3 song lyric). With the advent of AI, radiology is undergoing the most exciting change process since several decades. A wonderful new world of opportunities is opening, it is all there for the taking, but I see that all too often, radiologists are hesitant to step up to the plate. My second advice to young trainees would be to remember that life, and indeed a medical career, is a journey, a metaphorical pilgrimage, in search of wisdom, while helping others along the way. Each stage of the journey is not an end in itself, but an opportunity to help, to serve, and to learn.