Umar Mahmood, MD, PhD, Named Stanford’s Chair of Radiology
Renowned radiologist and RSNA president appointed leadership role
Umar Mahmood, MD, PhD, RSNA president, has been appointed as the chair of the Department of Radiology at Stanford University. Dr. Mahmood will assume this role on Feb. 1, 2026.
“I am incredibly honored and excited to be joining the Department of Radiology at Stanford Medicine,” Dr. Mahmood said. “As health care enters a period of rapid change, the department is uniquely positioned to help shape the future of radiology through its intellectual depth, pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment to excellence across all mission areas. Most importantly, it will continue to lead in improving the lives of patients, at Stanford and around the world, because of the remarkable people in the department working together.”
Dr. Mahmood is currently chief of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, director of the Center for Precision Imaging, associate chair for imaging sciences in the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
During his more than 25 years at MGH, he has conducted PET, optical and MR imaging research, and has focused on translational efforts to better understand drivers of cancer, including the tumor microenvironment, cancer signaling pathways, changes in cancer metabolism and the interaction of the immune system with tumors.
An accomplished researcher, Dr. Mahmood has received more than $25 million in grant funding as principal investigator, primarily from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for his research into these technologies and applications.
Dr. Mahmood is completing his year as president of RSNA, culminating in the upcoming RSNA 2025 annual meeting. Dr. Mahmood selected the theme Imaging the Individual that speaks to the future of precision medicine. Dr. Mahmood will give his President’s Address on Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. in the Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place Chicago during RSNA 2025.
For More Information
Read the announcement from Stanford Medicine.
Read Dr. Mahmood’s biography.
Learn more about RSNA 2025: Imaging the Individual.