October 2016
In recognition of her exemplary and inspiring career and her outstanding contributions to education in radiology, Professor Hedvig Hricak will be awarded the Gold Medal of the European Society of Radiology at ECR 2012.
At present, Prof. Hricak is Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), Member of the Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, Professor of Radiology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Professor at Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, New York, NY.
Prof. Hricak was born in Zagreb, Croatia and began her career by studying medicine at the University of Zagreb, from which she graduated in 1970 with an MD. In 1972 she moved to the United States, where she served as a resident in diagnostic radiology at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital, Pontiac, Michigan, which was followed by a fellowship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Subsequently, she was appointed assistant clinical professor of radiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 1982 she moved to California to take a post at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and four years later she became professor of radiology, radiation oncology, urology and gynaecology. She later became head of the abdominal section of the Department of Radiology at UCSF and during her time there she also earned a Doctorate of Medical Science (PhD) from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, which she received in 1992. She then moved to the east coast of the United States in 2000 to take up her present posts at MSKCC and the Sloan-Kettering Institute.
An active participant within many radiological societies and bodies, Prof. Hricak has held many distinguished posts, including president of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) from 2009 to 2010, and she is currently president of the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology (ISSSR). Reflecting her belief in the importance of interdisciplinary work, she also served as president of the California Academy of Medicine (1999–2000). She has been awarded honorary membership in numerous national radiological societies and at last year’s ECR received honorary membership in the European Society of Radiology. Additionally, she is actively involved in radiology education and training initiatives. For instance, she co-directs the National Institutes of Health-funded training programme, ‘Molecular Imaging: Training for Oncology’ and is involved in ESOR’s Scholarship Programme for European radiologists as well as the National Cancer Institute Education Fund for Training in Transitional Countries. She has been rated as one of America’s top radiologists by the Consumer Research Council and recognised as one of the top doctors in New York by New York Magazine. She was ranked number two in Diagnostic Imaging’s 20 most influential radiologists of the past decade. She also sits on the editorial boards of many reputable medical journals.
Prof. Hricak has published more than 480 original research reports, reviews and other articles, as well as 18 books and 133 book chapters. In total her work has been cited more than 16,000 times. She has received research funding from the United States Department of Defense, National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, as well as private foundations. Over the course of her career, she has contributed to a plethora of advisory bodies, both national and international, and since 2002 she has been a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. She is also a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and of the Russian Academy of Medical Science. In 2005, she received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany.
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