Giving Week Highlights Lasting Impact of R&E Foundation
Early-career funding inspired a lifelong commitment to advancing radiology through philanthropy
During RSNA Giving Week, Sept. 14-21, the radiology community is invited to support the investigators, educators and trainees whose work will shape the specialty’s future.
The annual campaign highlights how sustained funding for research and education can launch careers, drive innovation and ultimately improve patient care.
This year, the RSNA R&E Foundation awarded more than $4.5 million to support 79 new grant recipients across North America and Argentina, continuing its longstanding investment in the future of medical imaging.
A Grant Shapes a Career
For John “Jay” Alley, MD, a neuroradiologist at Raleigh Radiology in North Carolina, the Foundation’s impact can be traced back to a single grant he received as a medical student.
Dr. Alley entered medical school after studying political science and history at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, stepping back from plans for a career in law. Still uncertain about his path in medicine after his clerkships, he turned to a trusted mentor who had previously encouraged him to explore medicine.
“I told him I wasn’t sure which path in medicine to take,” Dr. Alley recalled. “He said, ‘Find the happy people.’”
As he observed physicians throughout the hospital, radiology emerged as a possible fit. Dr. Alley connected with UNC radiology faculty, including Dr. Joseph Lee and Dr. Suresh Mukherji, who advised him to pursue research and introduced him to an opportunity funded through an RSNA Medical Student Research Grant.
“The grant allowed me to dedicate time to research, work closely with mentors and eventually present at the RSNA annual meeting,” he said. “The experience gave me so much confidence.”
Though he ultimately chose private practice over academic medicine, the experience helped clarify Dr. Alley’s career goals and left a lasting impression. “I had been given a gift by RSNA to explore, and it was wonderful,” he said. “It’s something that I still talk about today and will continue to share for the rest of my life.”
A Call to Give Back
Now at Raleigh Radiology, where he has practiced for more than 20 years, Dr. Alley has become a longtime advocate for RSNA and the Foundation. Shortly after joining his practice, he encouraged colleagues to engage more actively with the Society and support its mission.
“At my first opportunity to do so during a meeting at the practice, I said, ‘Okay, who is going to RSNA this year?’” he recalled. “I told them that we need to go; it’s important to know and meet people and see what colleagues in our field are doing.”
His advocacy soon expanded beyond attendance.
“The next year, I said, ‘We need to give money, too,’” Dr. Alley said. “Supporting the Foundation is a way to ensure researchers and educators can continue advancing the specialty.”
For Dr. Alley, that support is an investment in the discoveries that eventually shape everyday clinical care.
“I’m so grateful for the work that’s done in academic radiology because these researchers are figuring out things that we use every day,” Dr. Alley said. “Radiology is so innovation-focused that we need to support those people who are on the front lines, figuring out the problems and the solutions.”
He pointed to developments such as theranostics and advances in stroke care as examples of academic research becoming standard clinical practice.
“The whole stroke paradigm has really shifted in the past 10 years,” he said. “This is the result of academic radiologists researching and investigating. That’s what moves this work into everyday use.”
“I can help support financially, because if it’s something we believe in, with a purpose we believe in, then we have to fund it,” he added.
Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has provided more than $92 million in support for medical imaging investigators and educators.
Dr. Alley hopes Giving Week will prompt his colleagues to consider their role in supporting the next generation of innovators. “I think Giving Week is an important opportunity to reset our focus on what’s important in our lives, why it’s important and how we can help,” he said.
For today’s grant recipients, the impact of Foundation support may not be fully realized for years. But as Dr. Alley’s experience demonstrates, a single grant can influence a career, inspire lifelong engagement and advance radiology in ways that benefit patients for generations to come.