Society of Interventional Radiology honors Gold Medalists for advancing specialty

Honorees ensure future of interventional radiology by advancing quality of medicine, patient care

NEW ORLEANS, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Wilfrido R. Castaneda-Zuniga, M.D., FSIR, David A. Kumpe, M.D., FSIR, and Kenneth R. Thomson, M.D., FSIR, were each awarded the Society of Interventional Radiology's Gold Medal at SIR's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. The Gold Medal, the society's highest honor, is given to those who have helped ensure the future of interventional radiology by advancing the quality of medicine and patient care.

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"This year's Gold Medalists have a long history of outreach to the global interventional radiology community and work tirelessly to advance this innovative specialty," said SIR President Marshall E. Hicks, M.D., FSIR, who represents nearly 5,000 doctors, scientists and allied health professionals dedicated to improving health care through minimally invasive treatments. "They are exemplary teachers, mentors and innovators who have touched the lives of numerous trainees and colleagues during their illustrious careers," added Hicks, who is head of the division of diagnostic imaging at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Wilfrido R. Castaneda-Zuniga, M.D., FSIR, a past-president of SIR and of the Iberoamerican Society of Interventional Radiology and a member of the National Academy of Medicine in Mexico, is a long-time educator and pioneer in interventional radiology. He currently serves as emeritus professor of radiology at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans and professor of radiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis and the University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio. Castaneda-Zuniga, who has made 800 presentations at national and international scientific meetings, is a prolific contributor to the interventional radiology literature with 460 scientific publications and 13 reference books on interventional and cardiac radiology to his credit.

A pioneer in both peripheral and neurointervention, David A. Kumpe, M.D., FSIR, is professor of radiology, surgery, and neurosurgery at the University of Colorado. His contributions to the scientific literature are broad. They include some of the earliest descriptions of balloon angioplasty applications, numerous techniques of thrombolysis, the use of splenic embolization to control hypersplenism in children, and recently, dural sinus stenting for idiopathic intracranial hypertension, which have helped to shape the fields. Kumpe has spent most of his career training fellows, initially in interventional radiology and recently in neurointerventional procedures. He has taught extensively in Asia and received the International Cooperation Award from the Chinese Society of Intervenional Radiology recognizing his efforts.

One of the most prominent interventional radiologists in Australia and New Zealand, Kenneth R. Thomson, M.D., FSIR, has made a significant impact on the development and spread of interventional radiology procedures in the Asian/Pacific arena. Thomson was instrumental in developing in Australia the use of carbon dioxide as an alternative contrast agent for angiography, studying percutaneous venous valves in humans, investigating irreversible electroporation for liver tumors and introducing endograft technology for aortic pathology. A long-time member of SIR, Thomson is professor and program director of radiology and nuclear medicine at the Alford Hospital in Melbourne.      

For more information about these awards or to learn more about the Society of Interventional Radiology, visit www.SIRweb.org.

About the Society of Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiologists are physicians who specialize in minimally invasive, targeted treatments. They offer the most in-depth knowledge of the least invasive treatments available coupled with diagnostic and clinical experience across all specialties. They use X-ray, MRI and other imaging to advance a catheter in the body, such as in an artery, to treat at the source of the disease internally. As the inventors of angioplasty and the catheter-delivered stent, which were first used in the legs to treat peripheral arterial disease, interventional radiologists pioneered minimally invasive modern medicine. Today, interventional oncology is a growing specialty area of interventional radiology. Interventional radiologists can deliver treatments for cancer directly to the tumor without significant side effects or damage to nearby normal tissue.

Many conditions that once required surgery can be treated less invasively by interventional radiologists. Interventional radiology treatments offer less risk, less pain and less recovery time compared to open surgery. This year, SIR celebrates 40 years of innovation and advances in interventional radiology. Visit www.SIRweb.org.

The Society of Interventional Radiology is holding its 38th Annual Scientific Meeting April 13–18 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans. The theme of the meeting is 'IR Reaching Out,' adopted to illustrate the many ways the Annual Scientific Meeting provides valuable education to attendees with a broad range of diverse clinical interests and practice settings.

SOURCE Society of Interventional Radiology