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Announcement September 5, 2024 3 mins read

Congratulations to UCSF Radiology’s 2024 RSNA Grant Recipients!

Each year, we are proud to recognize department members who receive research funding from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). This year’s grant recipients include three medical students, two residents, one postdoctoral fellow, and three faculty members.

Each year, we are proud to recognize department members who receive research funding from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). This year’s grant recipients include three medical students, two residents, one postdoctoral fellow, and three faculty members.

Research Medical Student Grant

The Research Medical Student Grant offers early exposure to radiology research with the aim of igniting a passion for the specialty.

With support of the UCSF radiology community and a network of mentors, a summer project has the potential to become a career-long pursuit of research and discovery. Each grant is $3,000, matched by UCSF Radiology & Biomedical Imaging. This year’s medical student grantees:

Professional headshot of a smiling man with dark hair, facing the camera. He is wearing a navy blazer over a white dress shirt. The portrait is taken outdoors with a softly blurred background of greenery and natural light.Jonathan Shih, UCSF Med, ’26 – MRI Brain after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest: Descriptive and Quantitative Patterns of Injury in Association with Neurologic Outcome
PI and Mentor: Yi Li, MD
Co-Investigators: Duan Xu, PhD and Rachel Vassar, MD (Neurology)

Two medical student grant recipients are alumni of the Radiology Initiative for Scholarly Engagement (RISE Program)

Professional headshot of a smiling woman with long braided hair, facing the camera. She is wearing a patterned blouse and is photographed against a neutral gray background, creating a polished portrait suitable for a professional profile.Cindy Folefack, UCSF Med, ’25 – Quantification of Pleural Loculations with MRI as a Model for Future Study of Pleural Fibrinolytics Efficacy
PI: Miles Conrad, MD,
Mentor: Thienkhai Vu, MD
 

 

Professional headshot of a smiling man with short curly hair, facing the camera. He is wearing a blue checkered suit jacket, white dress shirt, and blue tie. The portrait is set against a neutral background and has a polished professional appearance.Ibukunoluwa Ibrahim, UCSF Med, ’26 – Outcomes of Combined TACE and Thermal Ablation vs Radioembolization for Early-Stage HCC: A Propensity Matched Retrospective Analysis
PI and Mentor: Christopher Brunson, MD
Advisors: Vishal Kumar, MD, and Mark Wilson, MD

 

Research Resident/Fellow Grant

The Research Resident/Fellow Grant offers trainees the opportunity to pursue research at a critical point early in their radiology careers. Working alongside an experienced advisor, trainees gain insight in research methods and techniques. This two-year grant awards a maximum of $50,000/$75,000. Trainee recipients:

Professional headshot of a smiling man wearing a light blue dress shirt and a blue tie, facing the camera. The portrait is set against a neutral light gray background and has a polished appearance suitable for a faculty, physician, or professional profile.Luke Bonham, MD, PGY5 – Evaluation of Glutamatergic Physiology in Frontotemporal Dementia Using Astrocytic Glutamate Transporter (EAAT2) PET and Glutamate Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Advisor: Leo Sugrue, MD, PhD

 

 

Professional headshot of a smiling man wearing glasses, a light dress shirt, and a patterned tie. He is facing the camera against a light gray background, creating a polished and professional portrait suitable for a faculty or physician profile.Lohith Kini, MD, PhD, PGY5 – Guiding Lesional and Non-Lesional Epilepsy Surgery Through a Multi-Modal, Network Approach
Advisor: Andreas Rauschecker, MD, PhD
Co-Investigator: Dr. Ankit Khambhati, PhD (Neurosurgery)


 

Professional headshot of a man with glasses, short hair, and light facial hair, facing the camera. He is wearing a white collared shirt and is photographed against a neutral gray background, creating a clean and professional appearance.Tician Schnitzler, MD, Postdoctoral Fellow – Qualitative and Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers of Interstitial Lung Abnormality (ILA) That Predict Progression to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)
Advisor: Jae Ho Sohn, MD, MS

 

Research Scholar Grant

The RSNA’s prestigious two-year Research Scholar Grant in the amount of $200,000 provides protected research time to conduct complex projects with the guidance of a mentor and scientific advisor in preparation for NIH funding. Faculty recipients:

Professional headshot of a smiling woman with dark hair pulled back, facing the camera. She is wearing a light blue blouse, and the background is softly blurred with greenery, creating a warm and approachable professional portrait.Maggie Chung, MD – Deep-learning Based Simulated Contrast Breast MRI for Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening
Scientific Advisors: Bonnie Joe, MD, PhD, and Amie Lee, MD

 

 

Professional headshot of a smiling man with short dark hair, facing the camera. He is wearing a light dress shirt and patterned tie. The background is softly blurred with greenery, creating a warm and approachable professional portrait.Jaehoon Shin, MD, PhD – A Novel Strategy for Locoregional engineered T cell Therapy
Scientific Advisors: David Wilson, MD, PhD, and Kole Roybal, PhD (Immunology)

 

Emerging Issues Grant

The RSNA’s Emerging Issues Grant provides up to $100,000 for projects that enable the current and next generation of radiologists to stay abreast of a continuously evolving profession and help achieve equitable care for all. These grants address urgent topics that threaten the health and well-being of disparate populations. Awarded funding for the Environmental Impact and Sustainability of Radiology:

Professional headshot of a smiling man wearing a dark suit jacket, light blue dress shirt, and red striped tie. He is facing the camera against a warm-toned background, creating a polished portrait suitable for a leadership or physician profile.Sean Woolen, MD – Identifying MRI Scanning and Cooling Approaches for Energy Reduction in Radiology: A Path to Decarbonizing MRI Operations