RSNA Awards Gold Medals to Drs. Glazer, Lentle and Levin

CHICAGO, Dec. 1, 2009 — Today the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conferred its highest honor, the Gold Medal, upon Gary M. Glazer, M.D., of Stanford, Calif.; Brian C. Lentle, M.D., of Vancouver, B.C.; and David C. Levin, M.D., of Philadelphia, Pa.

In a tradition that originated in 1919, Gold Medals are presented each year to individuals who have rendered exemplary service to the science of radiology and who have received unanimous approval by the RSNA Board of Directors.

Gary M. Glazer, M.D.
Gary M. Glazer, M.D., is a diagnostic radiologist at the helm of cancer staging breakthroughs, working to bring radiologists front and center in the professional and public consciousness.

"Through his dedication to bringing radiology into the molecular age, his vision and personal charm, Dr. Glazer has reawakened the sleeping giant of Stanford radiology," said 2009 RSNA President Gary J. Becker, M.D.

"The Gold Medal means so much to me because radiology has been a large part of my life," Dr. Glazer said. "It brings me great joy to receive the Gold Medal. I feel that I share this honor with my role models and mentors, as well as colleagues, who have guided me along the way."

Dr. Glazer has been an RSNA member since 1982. In addition, he was awarded honorary membership in the German and Japanese radiological societies. He has served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health Task Force for the Imaging Sciences and the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. He has also served on dozens of medical committees, including RSNA's Research Development Committee, the American Roentgen Ray Society's Committee on Research and Education, and the Conjoint Committee on Diagnostic Radiology (comprising the American College of Radiology, Association of University Radiologists and Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments). He is past president and continues to serve on the executive board of the International Society of Strategic Studies in Radiology (ISSSR).

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate in cellular biology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Dr. Glazer received his medical degree in 1976 from Case Western Reserve University Medical School in Cleveland. He completed an internship in internal medicine, a diagnostic radiology residency and a fellowship in body CT and ultrasonography at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 1981, Dr. Glazer returned to his alma mater at Ann Arbor. He ascended the ranks, advancing in six years to full professorship in the university's radiology department and cancer center and serving as director of the Body Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging divisions. In 1989, Dr. Glazer assumed his current role as the Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor in the Medical Sciences and chair of the Department of Radiology at Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

Brian C. Lentle, M.D.
Brian C. Lentle, M.D., has dedicated his career to supporting education for the next generation of radiologists and building domestic and international relationships to promote radiology on a global scale.

"I had the distinct pleasure of serving three of my eight years on the RSNA Board alongside Dr. Lentle, who graced our meetings with his wisdom and wit, and who reliably demonstrated by example what thoughtful stewardship is all about," said 2009 RSNA President Gary J. Becker, M.D.

"RSNA has given me immeasurably more than I might ever contribute," Dr. Lentle said. "The Gold Medal is an honor not so much about me as it is something I am proud to share with my wife and fellow Canadians."

An RSNA member since 1993, Dr. Lentle served as liaison for education on the RSNA Board of Directors, as a member of the FutuRAD Committee and as RSNA 2004 president, when he developed the annual meeting theme, Radiology's Global Forum, and titled his president's address, "Radiology: Beyond Borders." He is also a past president of the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the Pacific Northwest Radiological Society. He is currently a member of the International Society of Clinical Densitometry's Board of Directors and chair of the Bone Mineral Densitometry Facility Accreditation Committee for the Ontario Association of Radiologists. He earned specialty qualifications in radiology and nuclear medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Canada and is an American College of Radiology fellow. He holds honorary memberships in the Toronto Radiology Society, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the European Society of Radiology.

He served as chair of the Canadian Atomic Energy Control Board Advisory Committee on Radiology Protection when the seminal International Commission on Radiological Protection recommendations on radiation protection were introduced.

Dr. Lentle earned his bachelor's degree in medicine (M.B.Ch.B.) in 1959 from the Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff, Wales. He then went on to complete his medical degree at the school now known as the University of Wales College of Medicine.

Dr. Lentle is a professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, a position he held from 1991 to 2000. From 1986 to 1991, he served as part-time professor in the Department of Radiology at UBC, as head of the Division of Nuclear Medicine and as director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre. Prior to moving to Vancouver, Dr. Lentle was a professor of radiology at the University of Alberta and director of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton.

Retired from clinical practice in 2008, Dr. Lentle currently serves as a radiologist for the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study and the Steroid-induced Osteoporosis in a Pediatric Population Canadian Incidence Study.

David C. Levin, M.D.
An expert in vascular imaging and interventions, David C. Levin, M.D., is both a prolific researcher and devoted protector of radiology.

"Dr. Levin is an enthusiastic teacher, researcher and practitioner of cardiovascular and interventional radiology," said 2009 RSNA President Gary J. Becker, M.D. "I first encountered Dr. Levin when I was a resident in the late 1970s, attending his RSNA refresher course on coronary arteriography. Now, more than 30 years later, I feel fortunate to call him a career-long colleague and friend."

"It is a thrill and honor to receive the Gold Medal," Dr. Levin said. "RSNA is the premier radiology organization when it comes to research and the education of its members. I give my sincere thanks to the Society and all its members."

Dr. Levin has been a member of the Association of University Radiologists executive committee, 1995-1996 president of the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments (SCARD), and 1989-1991 chair of the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiovascular Radiology. An RSNA member since 1974, he served as RSNA's third vice president in 1996, as chair of RSNA's Health Policy and Practice Committee, on the cardiovascular subcommittee of the Scientific Program Committee and on the Health Policy and Practice section of the Refresher Course Committee. From 1987 to 2002, he was a scientific advisor to the RSNA Research & Education Foundation.

In 2008, the endowed David C. Levin Professorship and Chair of Radiology was established in his honor at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Levin currently serves on several American College of Radiology committees, is a member of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee and co-chairs the Expert Panel on Outpatient Imaging Efficiency for the National Quality Forum.

Dr. Levin served as a jet fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force before going on to receive his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. He then completed a surgical internship and a radiology residency at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.

From 1969 to 1973, Dr. Levin was an assistant professor of radiology at Cornell Medical College in New York City. His subsequent faculty appointments were as associate professor of radiology at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he was co-director of the cardiac cath lab and interventional radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He became full professor at Harvard in 1981 and acting chair of the Brigham radiology department in 1985. In 1986, he was appointed to his current position of professor at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University. That same year, he was named chair of the Department of Radiology and now holds the title of chair emeritus of the department.