Radiology Faculty Mentoring

Dr. Joe is distinguished by her commitment and selflessness in fostering the careers of junior colleagues and building on the extraordinary excellence of UCSF. In her two decades at UCSF, Dr. Joe consistently goes above and beyond to support her mentees, with kindness and devotion to their academic success.

One nominator remarked that “I am thrilled to nominate Bonnie Joe for the mentoring award. As an exceptional faculty mentor, Bonnie supports her mentees with tireless encouragement and guidance in navigating job opportunities, research, promotion, and grants. Bonnie has been instrumental in my research endeavors, always making time for me to share ideas with her, answer questions about methods, review my papers and grants, and provide insight into research directions.”

Another nominator noted that “At conferences, Dr. Joe is always looking out for her many mentees from across the country, actively seeking opportunities to connect her mentees with the right people and resources to propel them towards their goals. Bonnie embodies the true essence of mentorship. Her impact extends far beyond the academic realm, touching the lives of those fortunate enough to benefit from her kindness, guidance, and support.”

In her remarks on receiving the award, Dr. Joe noted, “I love our residents and trainees, and if someone has a question or an issue I want to help if I can.  I learned this from my own mentors and sponsors, many of whom are in the room tonight, and who are also my colleagues and friends. I’m really just trying to pay forward and honor the support of my own mentors over the years, and I ask that you all do the same.  Thank you very much.”

Dr. Wang is distinguished by her selflessness, generosity with time and knowlege, and ability to foster the careers of junior colleagues. Dr. Wang possesses all the qualities of a truly outstanding faculty mentor, generously reviewing junior faculty CVs with them, encouraging and supporting their applications for developmental opportunities, awards, and grants, and helping them with their applications. Her nominators noted that she is sensitive to the stresses of faculty, demonstrated by her ability to listen, be available, respond, and understand.

One nominator remarked that "Jane has done a phenomenal job not only for her assigned junior faculty mentees, but also for her section members. It is impressive to see how section members flourish in the abdominal section under her leadership. I also would like to highlight Jane's tenure as Associate Director of the T32 program, where she has done wonderful work mentoring and supporting our T32 trainees."

Another nominator noted that "Jane is currently mentoring three junior faculty, each of whom commended Jane's contributions to their careers, her patience and her thoughtful professional advice on dealing with the complexities of raising young families while in academic medicine."

Dr. Vigneron received nominations from across the department, with colleagues noting his skills as an advisor, generosity with time and knowledge, and ability to foster the careers of junior colleagues. Nominators shared these comments:

"Dr. Vigneron has been a wonderful, supportive mentor to numerous graduate students, post-docs, and fellows over the past 20+ years at UCSF, the vast majority of whom have prospered in their scientific imaging careers...as faculty at UCSF and elswhere or in industry positions."

"Dan has been a great career mentor to me. His way of explaining the strategies of navigating through many challenges that we all face in our academic career was very inspirational, and literally speaking, I was trying to follow his footsteps to shape my own career."

"Dan is key to my academic success, and one of the main reasons I have spent and greatly enjoyed my entire career at UCSF. Dan has unlimited patience in providing astute and savvy counsel about all aspects of research and career development and is an unparallel cheerleader for his mentees. Dan is very generous in sharing credit and highlighting the accomplishments of his mentees and colleagues."

At the Radiology Graduation ceremony on Friday, June 11, 2021, Dr. Christine Glastonbury was honored with the Radiology Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentoring. This award is presented to a faculty member who has provided extraordinary service to the department’s faculty through mentorship. 

Dr. Glastonbury is highly valued as a leader and career mentor in the department. She has contributed to the successful careers of many of the department’s faculty members through her mentorship and engagement. The quotes below were received for her nomination and articulate why her colleagues recognized her with this award.

"Dr. Glastonbury has continued to perfect the mentoring program in our department , instituting the personal development program, assigning mentors and supervising the mentors and mentees to promote inclusion, diversity and success.  Her devotion to this effort is an example of her drive for excellence in every thing she does - academically, clinically and administratively."

"Dr. Glastonbury is incredibly dedicated to mentoring and faculty development, not only within her role as Vice Chair, but also within more informal, everyday settings. First, there is the mentoring she carries out in her official capacity, overseeing the faculty mentoring program, connecting junior faculty with mentors, and then checking in with junior faculty to ensure the mentoring is going well. She goes above and beyond in this regard, despite her busy clinical workload and other administrative duties, checking in with junior faculty and offering her support. During the COVID-19 pandemic she arranged a virtual visiting professorship series with other west coast radiology departments to help junior faculty gather more invited professorships despite ongoing travel restrictions.

But her care and dedication to mentoring really shines when she's acting outside of her Vice Chair role.  It's the little things, like being present and engaged during lectures that junior faculty give in her section, encouraging other senior faculty to attend and support junior faculty when they give lectures at national meetings, and using her connections throughout the radiology world to gather opportunities for junior faculty. 

Lastly, it's Dr. Glastonbury's humanity that makes her an outstanding mentor. We all have lives outside of work and Christine acknowledges and embraces our personal accomplishments whether it is a wedding or the birth of a child or other personally important life events. It's a welcome reminder of the importance of work-life balance and personal wellness and example we all should try to emulate."

"I would like to nominate Dr. Glastonbury for the mentoring award. In addition to being one of the finest physicians, patient advocates, and teachers that I have worked with, Dr. Glastonbury is an outstanding role model and mentor. As a resident and faculty member I have benefited enormously from her support and guidance.

Dr. Glastonbury is incredibly devoted to her mentees and is an invaluable source of support to the faculty. As part of the Junior Faculty Mentoring Program, Dr. Glastonbury pairs junior faculty with appropriate departmental mentors. However, despite assigning us with individual mentors, Dr. Glastonbury continues to regularly check-in with faculty which is of tremendous benefit. She is always ready to meet at short notice despite her busy schedule. She has imparted invaluable advice to help me achieve clinical excellence while also meeting my academic benchmarks. 

When I had to submit my advancement packet to the Academic Senate recently, her mentorship was priceless.

Dr. Glastonbury’s mentoring support goes beyond just the clinic or lab. She is determined to ensure an all-round sense of well-being for faculty. This includes setting up workshops for faculty and trainees to address physician burnout and strengthen resiliency skills. 

In summary, I am incredibly grateful for all the support, encouragement, and mentorship that Dr. Glastonbury has provided over the last decade. She is very deserving of this award."

"Dr. Glastonbury is mentor extraordinaire and helped establish the mentoring program at UCSF. No matter what the question, she is always available with constructive feedback and helps chart the forward road maps to success. She has an open-door policy and is extremely responsive. Her guidance has been critical for the success of many UCSF faculty and as a Vice chair, she has only furthered the mentoring networks for UCSF faculty, both within and outside the department."

The 2020 June graduation ceremony was a virtual zoom celebration but this did not diminish our pride in our faculty and our celebration of the recipient of the 6th annual Radiology Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentoring. Over the past more than 30 years in our department, and more than 25 years as faculty, Dr. John Kurhanewicz has been an exceptional mentor for hundreds of students, residents, fellows, and especially the junior MD and PhD faculty. Below are just a few of the many comments received from MD and PhD faculty for his nomination.

"John’s counsel is astute and savvy, and he has seemingly limitless patience to hear all matters of concern, small or large, from more junior faculty.  Importantly, he is also generous in sharing credit and gracefully highlights the accomplishments of his peers.  He achieves all of this with an unerringly cheerful disposition and an eye toward making the department stronger. When I grow up, I want to be like John!" 

"Dr. Kurhanewicz has been such a tremendous mentor to so many people here in the Department and beyond during his 30+ years of distinguished career. His generosity in sharing his knowledge, time, and connections to help young scientists and physicians succeed is truly remarkable. I am extremely grateful to John for helping me launch my research program here as a radiologist. I cannot think of anyone who is more deserving of this year's Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award!"

"John is has been a great research mentor to numerous graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty in the department, including myself.  He has always been open to new ideas for research projects.  But he has also always impressed the importance of pursuing rigorous experimental procedures and quality data, despite the sometimes painful and repetitive steps required, in order to advance scientific discovery in MR imaging."

"John has been an extraordinarily supportive and helpful mentor, in all aspects of my research career. He has always provided sound and thoughtful scientific advice. There are also many very literal ways he has taken care of me as a junior scientist with respect to grant support, authorship, and collaborative projects."

"John is a leader in my field (and in many others). Because he is internationally known for his superb work, people constantly reach out to him for meetings, projects, and many other requests. In spite of being a very busy faculty, since I met him 17 years ago, he always found time for me, to guide me and give me advice. His door was and continues to be open for me, and for that John, I thank you very much!"

At the Radiology Graduation dinner on Friday, June 7, Dr. Thomas Link was presented with the Radiology Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentoring. This award is presented to a faculty member, as voted on by all the Radiology faculty. Below are some of the quotes that were received for his nomination, articulating why his colleagues wished to recognize his many mentoring contributions to our department.

"Thomas always goes out of his way to ensure that his mentees have every opportunity for success. He is extremely supportive and generates good will wherever he goes."

"Thomas is very proactive in making sure that junior faculty are on track to success within the department. He actively engages other faculty in his projects and leadership roles. Even though he is probably busy with his other academic activity, he always makes time to support and mentor those junior to him."

"I have always been struck by Dr. Link's tireless support for trainees, researchers, and junior faculty. It is easy to imagine forgetting about early career struggles when you've reached his level of research success, so the tremendous empathy he demonstrates for his mentees is all the more inspiring."

"Thomas always takes the time to mentor junior faculty. I know that I can go to him with any questions or concerns and that he will take the time to listen and do anything he can to help. He has invested so much time and effort into my career and I can’t thank him enough."

"Dr. Link has always been very accessible and open to my questions and concerns and I always felt that he really cares for me as a scientist but also as a human being."

"He is a master of career development and knows how to steer those he mentors away from crucial pitfalls and toward key new relationships and academic pursuits. It is hard for me to overstate how important his support for me has been in the early successes I have had in my academic career. I will always be grateful to have had him as a mentor."

Dr. Saloner has previously been nominated for numerous Distinction in Mentoring awards for his outstanding service to our department in guiding and supporting both PhD and MD faculty members and trainees in their careers. He is highly valued as both a research and career mentor at UCSF and a leader for academic radiologists and researchers.

Below are just a few of the quotes that were received for Dr. Saloner’s nomination, articulating why his colleagues wished to recognize his mentoring contributions to our department.

“Dr. Saloner is always supporting junior faculties and trainees. He has been contributing a lot for the department mentor program.”

“He always thinks of the success of his students and junior researchers very highly, and helps them build academic careers.”

“Always acts fairly and professionally, gives great insights”

“Maintains a goal of helping junior faculty - considers what may be helpful for others and acts on it.”

“I always have respected his unbiased and selfless opinions on many aspects of faculty promotion and life in our department.”

Congratulations to Dr. Susan Wall, the recipient of the 2017 Radiology Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentoring. Dr .Wall has been described as the “ultimate mentor to the mentors”. For many years she led the mentoring program and has mentored many junior and senior faculty. She has contributed immeasurably to the success of many in our department, as is evident from some of the quotes below that were received with her nominations.

“Deeply knowledgeable, extremely generous with her time, and highly caring about the wellbeing and progress of all faculty.”

“Her impact has been felt across the spectrum of our department and throughout the medical school where these efforts have been emulated.”

“She is often in the background helping people who have problems, concerns or complex situations that they want handled confidentially and with compassion. She is always available for counseling and has so much knowledge of the politics of academics that she is a valuable source of advice.”

Dr. Dillon receives 2016 Radiology Mentoring Award

At the Radiology Graduation dinner on Friday, June 17, Dr. Bill Dillon was presented with the Radiology Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentoring. This is the second year that this award has been presented to one faculty member, as voted on by all the faculty within our department. Below are some of the quotes that were received for his nomination, articulating why his colleagues wished to recognize his mentoring contributions to our department.

“Throughout his tenure in the Department of Radiology at UCSF, he has profoundly influenced the careers of faculty within and outside of the field of neuroradiology. “

“He is an invaluable source of support, inspiration, and advice.”

“He is a fantastic role model for faculty and trainees.”

“His exemplary service as a role model for faculty mentorship.”

The inaugural Radiology Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentoring was presented to Dr. Judy Yee, vice-chair of Radiology and Chief of Radiology at the VA Medical Center. In statements supporting her nomination it was noted that:

"Dr. Yee is incredibly supportive of her faculty and is readily available to give advice. She has a genuine interest in helping her junior faculty advance.” 

"She has been an outstanding faculty mentor to many junior and mid-level attendings.”

“She uses her role as a nationally recognized and respected leader to recommend and give opportunities to UCSF faculty not only in the Abdominal Imaging section but in Interventional, Neuroradiology and Ultrasound sections as well.”

“Despite being in a completely different section Judy has always reached out to let me know about opportunities I should consider, avenues I might find rewarding and people who might be able to help me. That is the mark of an outstanding mentor: someone who takes the time, for no clear reward themselves, to help me find my pathway.”