Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Department Chair Pays It Forward to Support Future Research
Since attending his first meeting in 1980, William G. Bradley Jr., M.D., Ph.D. has been deeply connected to the RSNA. The organization played a vital role in his career development, through its publications, presentations and refresher courses to bridge the gap between formal education and current practice.
“Very few people my age are practicing today what they learned in residency,” says Bradley, “I wasn’t taught MRI in residency - superconducting systems didn’t exist then. Instead, I learned as much as I could through Radiology and through talks at the RSNA annual meeting”
It must have been successful; in 2003, Dr. Bradley won the RSNA Gold Medal for his pioneering contributions to the field of MRI and today he is Chairman of the Department of Radiology at University of California, San Diego.
“We are standing on the shoulders of giants,” he says, gratefully acknowledging those who came before him. To repay them, Dr. Bradley has committed himself to maximizing the R&E Foundation’s impact to preserve the future of imaging research.
As a Campaign Pacesetter, Dr. Bradley is helping lead the Silver Anniversary Campaign as the Foundation’s next great step to advance the science. With NIH grants being increasingly more difficult to obtain, researchers need alternative funding sources with higher pay lines. The hope is that by raising $15 million for the Campaign, the Foundation will be able to maintain funding above the 25th percentile - far greater than the NIH funding rate.
Because he sees the RSNA Research Scholar Grant as one of the best predictors of an investigator’s future success in obtaining NIH funding, Dr. Bradley encourages researchers in his department to apply for RSNA grants. “On average, for every dollar invested in RSNA Scholars, they go on to get $9 in extramural funding – which is great leverage,” Dr. Bradley says, “It is very important to young investigators considering academics to make these grants available.”
Just as when he was beginning research in MRI almost three decades ago, Dr. Bradley finds excitement in the unknown and the constant change occurring in the field. Just as the strong, fast gradients required for echo planar imaging enabled applications such as diffusion imaging and contrast enhanced MRA, Dr. Bradley looks with anticipation toward the applications that will evolve with the use of 3T MRI.
He knows these applications will not evolve without the continued support of research and education. While Dr. Bradley tries to lead by example, he hopes that others are taking note. "Radiologists need to take responsibility for the continued success of radiology," he clearly states, "if no one supports researchers, we won't be able to perform the research and we will lose the field."
