Interventional Radiologists Receive Honors From SIR Foundation

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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO HEALTH, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:

Interventional Radiologists Receive Honors From SIR Foundation

Local interviews are available by contacting SIR's communications department staff: Ellen Acconcia, SIR website and communications manager, eacconcia@SIRweb.org, (703) 460-5582, or Maryann Verrillo, SIR director of communications and public relations, mverrillo@SIRweb.org, (703) 460-5572.

SAN DIEGO, March 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ziv J Haskal,

M.D., FSIR, an interventional radiologist and editor-in-chief of the

Society of Interventional Radiology's (SIR's) flagship publication,

the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (JVIR), will

receive the Leaders in Innovation Award from SIR Foundation during the

society's Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego.

Haskal, professor with the department of radiology and medical imaging

at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, will

be recognized for his pioneering body of work, which includes research

into the development of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic

shunt or TIPS, dialysis access and embolization procedures.

"Ziv Haskal is one of the most creative, innovative interventionalists

of our generation who combines the best out-of-the-box thinking with

formidable intelligence and insight," said John A. Kaufman, M.D.,

M.S., FSIR, chair of the SIR Foundation board of directors. "He

doesn't see the horizon, he sees over it," added Kaufman, professor

and Frederick S. Keller Chair of Interventional Radiology at the

Dotter Interventional Institute in Portland, Ore.

Haskal's early research in TIPS led to the creation of the TIPS

endograft, a device used by the majority of doctors worldwide,

resulting in markedly improved patient outcomes and reduced symptoms

and need for reintervention. His work in the use of access stent

grafts proved them to be the first therapy superior to angioplasty,

and his research was subsequently published in the New England Journal

of Medicine.

Dr. Gary J. Becker Young Investigator Award Instituted in 1990 to

recognize excellence in academic research for SIR members early in

their careers, the Dr. Gary J. Becker Young Investigator Award, named

in honor of the founding editor of JVIR, spotlights the importance of

the young investigator in developing interventional solutions for the

future.

This year's award will be presented to Muneeb Ahmed, M.D., director of

interventional services in radiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical

Center and assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School

(BIDMC), Boston, for his manuscript, "c-Met Receptor Inhibition Can

Suppress Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation-induced Stimulation of Distant

Subcutaneous Tumor Growth." Ahmed's current research centers on how

secondary systemic effects of tumor ablation affect distant tumor

growth. Ahmed, who is also director of BIDMC's vascular and

interventional radiology fellowship, has co-authored more than 40

original research studies and 16 invited reviews and book chapters in

the field of tumor ablation.

Dr. Constantin Cope Medical Student Research Award SIR Foundation's

Dr. Constantin Cope Medical Student Research Award recognizes

outstanding achievements in research and innovation. The 2014 awardees

are

-- Yan Yan , M.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, "Effect of Central Venous Angioplasty on

Hemodialysis Access Circuit Flow"

-- Mikhail Silk , SUNY Downstate Medical College, Memorial

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, N.Y., "Clinical Outcomes of

Nondiagnostic Percutaneous Liver Biopsies in a Tertiary Referral

Cancer Center"

-- Tan Zehao, Duke University of Singapore, "Effect of Plantar Arch

Integrity and Number of Crural Vessel Runoff on Limb Salvage Rates"

-- Dorissa L. Gursahaney, University of Minnesota Medical School,

Minneapolis, "Exothermic Neutralization of Valproic Acid: Combination

Thermochemical Ablation With Drug Therapy"

-- Kevin Bohn, University of Colorado, Boulder, "Repeat Large Volume

Paracentesis Versus Tunneled Peritoneal Catheter Placement for

Malignant Ascites: A Cost-minimization Study"

-- Melissa Asmar ,University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, "Should

Adrenal Venous Sampling Precede Cross-sectional Imaging in the

Evaluation of Primary Aldosteronism?"

Resident/Fellow Research Awards SIR Foundation's Resident/Fellow

Research Awards recognize high-quality research by trainees and

provide radiology residents and interventional radiology fellows an

opportunity to attend and present their scientific research at SIR's

Annual Scientific Meeting. This year's research award recipients are

Juan Camacho, M.D., Emory University, Atlanta; Zlatko Devcic, Stanford

University, Palo Alto, Calif.; and Muhammad Naeem, M.D., Rhode Island

Hospital, Providence.

Frederick S. Keller, M.D., Philanthropist of the Year Award This

year's recipient of the Frederick S. Keller, M.D., Philanthropist of

the Year Award, which honors an individual, family, corporation,

patient or volunteer who demonstrates outstanding commitment to SIR

Foundation, is William C. Culp, M.D., FSIR. A clinician, educator and

researcher, Culp is professor of radiology, surgery and neurology at

the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Culp

learned firsthand, as he moved from clinical practice to research and

teaching, that one of the most significant challenges for anyone

beginning a career in academia was getting outside funding for

research. His experience led him to establish, and fund, SIR

Foundation's Academic Transition Grant, which provides resources and

training for interventional radiologists over the age of 40 who have

recently begun academic careers. To date, the grant has been awarded

to six individuals, several of whom have gone on to receive additional

funding from other sources and see their research published.

About the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation SIR

Foundation is a scientific foundation dedicated to fostering research

and education in interventional radiology for the purposes of

advancing scientific knowledge, increasing the number of skilled

investigators in interventional radiology and developing innovative

therapies that lead to improved patient care and quality of life.

Visit www.SIRFoundation.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. Using X-ray, MRI and other

imaging to advance a catheter in the body, such as in an artery, they

treat disease at the source 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. 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. Visit www.SIRweb.org. Follow SIR on Facebook and Twitter and

use #SIR2014 to keep up with news from SIR 2014.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/SIRLOGO

SOURCE Society of Interventional Radiology

-0- 03/22/2014

/CONTACT: Ellen Acconcia, (703) 460-5582; Maryann Verrillo, (703) 460-5572; March 20-21, Veronica Jackson, (312) 558-1770; March 22-27, San Diego News Room, (619) 525-6263, comm@SIRweb.org

/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/SIRLOGO

/Web Site: http://www.sirweb.org

CO: Society of Interventional Radiology

ST: California

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