Meet Our Board of Trustees for About Us

Board of Trustees

Last verified on March 11, 2024
Click each name to learn more about the trustee. Click on the discipline name to go to that section.

Diagnostic Radiology

Sanjeev Bhalla, MD
Cardiothoracic Imaging
St. Louis, Missouri
M. Elizabeth Oates, MD
Nuclear Radiology
Lexington, Kentucky
Daniel C. Davis, MD
Musculoskeletal Radiology
Wichita, Kansas
Pamela A. Propeck, MD
Breast Imaging
Madison, Wisconsin
Ashok Gupta, MD
Abdominal Imaging
Las Vegas, Nevada
Leslie Scoutt, MD
Abdominal Imaging
New Haven, Connecticut
David B. Larson, MD, MBA
Quality and Safety
Stanford, California
Stephen F. Simoneaux, MD
Pediatric Radiology
Atlanta, Georgia
Kate Maturen, MD, MS
Abdominal Imaging
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Christopher P. Wood, MD
Neuroradiology
Rochester, Minnesota

Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology

Anne M. Covey, MD
New York, New York
Paul J. Rochon, MD
Aurora, Colorado
M. Victoria Marx, MD
Los Angeles, California

Medical Physics

Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD
Diagnostic Medical Physics
Seattle, Washington
Robert A. Pooley, PhD
Nuclear Medical Physics
Jacksonville, Florida
Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD
Chair, Board of Trustees  
Therapeutic Medical Physics
Buffalo, New York

Radiation Oncology

Brian J. Davis, MD, PhD
Rochester, Minnesota
John H. Suh, MD
Cleveland, Ohio
Steven J. Frank, MD
Houston, Texas
Catheryn Yashar, MD
San Diego, California
 

Diagnostic Radiology

 
Sanjeev Bhalla, MD

Sanjeev Bhalla, MD

Cardiothoracic Imaging
St. Louis, Missouri
Sanjeev Bhalla, MD, is a professor of radiology and the section chief of cardiothoracic imaging at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He also serves as vice chair of education at MIR.
Dr. Bhalla graduated from Yale in 1990 and from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1994. He completed his residency in 1999 at MIR and his fellowship in cardiothoracic imaging in 2000, both at MIR, and he has been on staff there ever since. He is most proud of being recognized for his teaching: he has won three Teacher of the Year awards at MIR and over 15 distinguished teaching awards. In 2021, he received the American Roentgen Ray Society Teacher of the Year award and in 2022, the Association of Chief Residents in Radiology Teaching Award.
He started as an ABR volunteer in 2003 as an oral examiner. During his career, Bhalla has taken on leadership roles that have also been rewarding, such as serving as president of the Society of Thoracic Radiology (STR) in 2021. He currently is the liaison for education for the Board of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“The ABR has allowed me to bring together the many threads of my career, most notably the focus on safe patient care while maintaining a fair process for our trainees and diplomates. The mentorship I have received and have been able to give through the organization is unlike what I’ve found at any other organization to which I have belonged. The constant learning is facilitated by an incredibly thoughtful and motivated staff.”   
Daniel C. Davis, MD

Daniel C. Davis, MD

Musculoskeletal Radiology
Wichita, Kansas
Daniel C. Davis, MD, FACR, started his ABR volunteer journey in 2006. He has been an oral board examiner, item writer, and committee chair with MSK and general radiology committees. Dan was selected as the MSK trustee in 2022.
Dr. Davis is the radiology service chief at the Robert J. Dole VA in Wichita, Kansas, where he also has an appointment as professor of radiology with the Kansas University School of Medicine (KUSM)-Wichita. He has worked in a broad range of practices: 12 years with the Navy, 17 years in private practice in Wichita, and six years as VA service chief in Kansas City and Wichita. He served as president of the Wichita Radiological Group, residency program director at Naval Medical Center San Diego, and associate program director at KUSM-Wichita. While his passion is musculoskeletal radiology, he has practiced in every field of radiology during his career. He is an American College of Radiology councilor for Kansas.
Dr. Davis is a proud native of South Dakota, obtained his undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology, and received his medical degree from the University of Iowa. He completed his diagnostic radiology residency at Naval Medical Center San Diego and his fellowship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. He had five duty stations while in Naval service, before settling in Wichita for the majority of his career. He is extremely proud to serve those who have put their lives on the line, both in the Navy as well as at the VA. He is married to Val, and their passion is traveling the world. They have four children and four grandchildren. He enjoys photography, birdwatching, Kansas University Jayhawk basketball, Kansas City Chiefs football, scuba, history, and, of course, radiology.  

Ashok Gupta, MD

Las Vegas, Nevada
Dr. Gupta is a private practice diagnostic radiologist in Las Vegas. After growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and attending college at the University of Nebraska, he went to medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. His formal education in radiology came via residency at the University of Michigan Clinics and Hospitals followed by an abdominal imaging fellowship at Duke University in 2002. After graduation, his work path began with joining a private practice group in Phoenix. Eventually, he settled in Las Vegas in 2006. During the past several years, Dr. Gupta has continued to devote time to student and resident education. Lectures and group discussion topics include the field of abdominal imaging and diagnostic radiology, and the economics of medicine. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and taking in sporting events as life permits.  
David Larson, MD, MBA

David B. Larson, MD, MBA

Quality and Safety
Stanford, California
David B. Larson, MD, MBA, professor of pediatric radiology in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University, serves as the department’s senior vice chair for strategy and clinical operations. Dr. Larson also practices pediatric radiology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. He is a national thought leader in radiology quality improvement and patient safety, and a regular speaker on topics ranging from pediatric CT radiation dose optimization to radiologist peer review. He is an associate chief quality officer at Stanford Health Care, directing Stanford’s Realizing Improvement through Team Empowerment (RITE) program, Clinical Effectiveness Leadership Training (CELT) program, and Advanced Course in Improvement Science (ACIS) program. Dr. Larson is the founder and program chair for the Radiology Improvement Summit held annually at Stanford. He also leads the Stanford Medicine Improvement Capability Development Program (ICDP).
Prior to his position at Stanford, Dr. Larson was the Janet L. Strife Chair for Quality and Safety in Radiology and a faculty member of the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. He holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University and MD and MBA degrees from Yale University. He completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Larson has held leadership positions with several professional societies. He is a member of the Board of Chancellors of the American College of Radiology, serving as the chair of the ACR Commission on Quality and Safety. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Radiology.  
Kate Maturen, MD, MS

Kate Maturen, MD, MS

Abdominal Imaging
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Kate Maturen, MD, MS, FSAR, has served as an ABR volunteer since 2010, enjoying her roles as an oral examiner, item writer, committee chair, and GU category chair before joining the BOT as a trustee for abdominal imaging in 2022. ABR involvement has made her a better teacher and radiologist, enhanced her understanding of the profession, and given her a network of radiology friends all over the country.
Dr. Maturen is a clinical professor of radiology and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan. A former fellowship program director and abdominal division director, she now serves as associate chair for Ambulatory Care and Strategy, working closely with the operations team in this busy and growing radiology department. Her primary clinical and research focus is gynecologic imaging, and she is a member of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting & Data System (O-RADS) committee and a former gynecologic/OB specialty chair in the ACR Appropriateness Criteria. She is active in other national organizations, including the Society of Abdominal Radiology (SAR), where she is a member of the board of directors.
Dr. Maturen is a proud graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico (BA, 1996); the University of Michigan (MD, 2001; radiology residency, 2006; and MS in clinical research design/statistics, 2015); and Stanford University (body fellowship, 2007). She is grateful for many terrific mentors and colleagues at these institutions and within the ABR, and happy to have the opportunity to give back to the profession.  

M. Elizabeth Oates, MDM. Elizabeth Oates, MD

Nuclear Radiology
Lexington, Kentucky
M. Elizabeth Oates, MD, FAAWR, FACR, a tenured professor of radiology and medicine (cardiovascular), holds the Rosenbaum Endowed Chair of Radiology, serves as chair, Department of Radiology, and is the former chief, Division of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (COM)/UK HealthCare in Lexington.
Dr. Oates received her AB summa cum laude from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and her MD from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). Following a clinical year and a diagnostic radiology residency at the Los Angeles County-Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Dr. Oates completed a nuclear radiology fellowship at Tufts University/New England Medical Center in Boston. She is certified by the ABR in diagnostic radiology and nuclear radiology.
A career academic radiologist, Dr. Oates previously worked at Tufts University/New England Medical Center (now known as Tufts Medical Center) and later at Boston University/Boston Medical Center; at both institutions, she served as the division chief of nuclear radiology as well as the diagnostic radiology program director. Before joining UK, Dr. Oates was named the vice chair at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
In June 2016, Dr. Oates received the annual Joseph King, MD, award as “Teacher of the Year” from the diagnostic radiology residents at UK. In September 2018, UK COM presented her with the inaugural Annual Faculty Diversity Champion Award. In November 2018, her three-year service as the founding chair of UK COM Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS) was recognized with the inaugural WIMS Exemplary Service Award.
Nationally, in November 2017, Dr. Oates was honored with the annual Alice Ettinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Radiology by the American Association for Women Radiologists (now known as American Association for Women in Radiology [AAWR]) and was inducted as a fellow (FAAWR). In May 2018, she became a fellow of the American College of Radiology (FACR). In June 2019, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging presented her with the Presidential Distinguished Educator Award for Substantial Contributions to Support Training in the field. In July 2021 and September 2022, Dr. Oates received the ABR Volunteer Service Award.
Dr. Oates chairs the ACR Ethics Committee and serves as a deputy editor for administration for Academic Radiology. She is a past member of the Radiology Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the past chair of the Commission on Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging of the ACR Board of Chancellors, a past president of the AAWR, and a past president of the BUSM Alumni Association.
Dr. Oates has published 180 scholarly articles, books, and book chapters; presented 145 scientific papers or exhibits; served 13 Visiting Professorships; endorsed 90 external promotions/award nominations; and delivered more than 190 invited talks, including many related to leadership; education; diversity, equity and inclusion; unconscious bias; and women in radiology.
Dr. Oates is married to a radar system engineer. They have three daughters, two cats, and three horses.  

Pamela A. Propeck, MDPamela A. Propeck, MD

Breast Imaging
Madison, Wisconsin
Pamela A. Propeck, MD, FACR, FSBI, is a professor of radiology (Clinical Health Sciences track) at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She graduated from the Boston University Six-Year Combined Liberal Arts Medical Program. After receiving her MD from Boston University School of Medicine, she completed a surgery internship and radiology residency at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. She then joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin (UW).
Dr. Propeck served as UW radiology residency program director for four years. She was also section chief of mammography before transitioning to the UW community section, providing breast care for the university as well as the outreach clinics and hospitals. During her time at UW, she was twice voted teacher of the year by the radiology residents.
Dr. Propeck served as an oral examiner for the ABR from 1995 to 2013 and is a member of the Board of Trustees representing the breast section, as well as chair of the ABR Volunteerism Committee. She previously served on the Breast Certifying and Breast OLA committees as well as serving as chair of the latter. She has worked for the American College of Radiology (ACR) in the breast accreditation programs since 2008. She received the Champion of Women’s Health for the state of Wisconsin for her work in breast cancer detection. She has also directed the Big Sky Radiology Conference in Big Sky, Montana, since 1998. Dr. Propeck is a fellow of the ACR and the Society of Breast Imaging.  
Leslie Scoutt, MD

Leslie Scoutt, MD

Abdominal Imaging
New Haven, Connecticut
Leslie Millar Scoutt, MD, FACR, FAIUM, FSRU, began volunteering at the ABR in 1997 as a member of the written boards Ultrasound Committee. She became a member of the oral boards Ultrasound Committee in 2000, serving as vice chair for five years and as an oral examiner for 15 years. She sequentially chaired the MOC, Core Exam, Certifying Exam, and OLA Ultrasound committees, becoming the categorical chair for ultrasound in 2015. She became a member of the Board of Trustees in 2022.
Dr. Scoutt is a professor of diagnostic radiology, cardiology and vascular surgery at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. She has served as chief of the Ultrasound Service at Yale New Haven Hospital, associate program director of the Diagnostic Radiology Residency at YNHH, and as vice chair for education in the Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging. Currently, Dr. Scoutt is special advisor to the chair of radiology & biomedical imaging and medical director of the Non-Invasive Vascular Lab at YNHH. Dr. Scoutt graduated from Wesleyan University and the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She is board certified in internal medicine, having completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston University. However, she saw the light and switched to radiology, completing her diagnostic radiology residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and a fellowship in abdominal imaging at Yale, after which she stayed on as faculty in the abdominal imaging division, specializing in ultrasound.
Throughout her career, Dr. Scoutt has been a strong advocate for ultrasound and has volunteered extensively to support the practice of ultrasound at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound (SRU), and American College of Radiology (ACR). In addition, Dr. Scoutt has a strong commitment to medical education and mentorship. She has received numerous teaching and mentorship awards from the Yale diagnostic radiology residents as well as teaching awards from RSNA and SRU. In addition, Dr. Scoutt volunteered extensively for the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). She served on the ARRT Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2015 with a one-year term as president. She spends as much time as possible with her family, including two grandchildren. Her hobbies include traveling, gardening, kayaking, music, art, and cooking.
“Working with such exceptionally skilled and dedicated staff and other volunteers to set standards for competency in the practice of radiology has been the most fulfilling as well as enjoyable of my professional volunteer activities. I am grateful for the opportunity to give back to the profession, residents, technologists, sonographers, and patients who have made my career so rewarding.”   

Stephen Simoneaux, MDStephen F. Simoneaux, MD

Pediatric Radiology
Atlanta, Georgia
Steve Simoneaux, MD, FACR, is division director of pediatric radiology and professor of radiology and pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta. He also serves as division chief of pediatric radiology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. His undergraduate work was completed at the College of William and Mary, and his MD was obtained at the University of Miami in Florida. He completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami and his fellowship in pediatric radiology at Emory University, where he has been his whole career.
Dr. Simoneaux began his ABR service proctoring the old written board exams held at a hotel in Atlanta in the 1990s (along with Board of Governor members Drs. Canon and Morgan) and has been an active volunteer since. He served for many years as an oral examiner, on the Oral Exam Committee, as image asset coordinator for pediatric radiology, and on the original Pediatric CAQ Committee as a member and chair. As a trustee, he has chaired the Image Quality and Subspecialty committees and will now serve as vice chair for diagnostic radiology.
He is also involved with the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR), currently serving as chair of the board of directors and immediate past president. He has served on the board of the SPR Research and Education Foundation as vice president and treasurer. In addition, he was president of the Society of Chiefs of Radiology at Children’s Hospitals and served a term as president of the medical staff at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Dr. Simoneaux is originally from New Orleans but grew up in Japan. For more than 30 years, he and his wife have lived in Atlanta, where they have raised four children, all of whom still live in the area.  

Christopher P. Wood, MDChristopher P. Wood, MD

Neuroradiology
Rochester, Minnesota
Christopher Phillip Wood, MD, is a neuroradiologist and professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and has been on staff since 1992. He attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry. He received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1986 and completed his medical internship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland. His radiology residency was at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and he completed his neuroradiology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1992.
Dr. Wood has served as an ABR volunteer in various roles over the years, including a neuroradiology Angoff question reviewer; an oral board examiner; an item writer for the Qualifying (Core), Certifying, and Subspecialty exams; a prior chair of the Certifying and Subspecialty Committee, and a senior OLA reviewer. He became an ABR trustee in 2017.
In addition to being a practicing clinical neuroradiologist and former cerebral angiographer, Dr. Wood is active administratively at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, the Mayo Clinic Health System (MCHS) in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the Mayo Clinic Arizona and Florida practices. He is associate chair of clinical practice for Mayo Clinic Rochester, chair of the Midwest Radiology Clinical Practice Committee (CPC) representing Rochester and the MCHS, chair of the Enterprise Radiology CPC, chair of the Enterprise Radiology Epic Operations Oversight Committee, and a member of the Midwest Mayo Clinical Practice Committee.
Dr. Wood and his wife Dana celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in the fall of 2022. They have four wonderful children: a daughter and three sons. Their oldest, Lauren, finished nursing school at Edgewood in Madison, Wisconsin, in August 2023. Jack and Alec are at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (from which Lauren graduated in 2022) and will graduate in the spring of 2024. Their youngest, Matthew, finished his freshman year at Mankato State University in the spring of 2023. They have two golden retrievers and two cats, which their kids still adore. The family loves to travel at least once a year, and they have taken the kids to Canada to see some of Dr. Wood’s family over the years. In summer 2022, they took their kids on a fantastic Alaskan cruise. Dr. Wood loves to stay fit, work out, and run. He enjoys history, current affairs, and reading.
“The best part of the ABR, besides working to ensure appropriate competency of our diplomates, is the many friendships developed over the years with our wonderful and dedicated volunteers.”  

Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology

 

Anne M. Covey, MDAnne M. Covey, MD

New York, New York
Anne M. Covey, MD, FSIR, is an attending member at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical Center. She completed her undergraduate training at Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1990 (as an animal science major) followed by medical school at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (1994). Following internship, residency, and fellowship at Yale New-Haven Hospital (also her birthplace), she joined the faculty of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Covey began her volunteer career with the ABR in 2007 as an oral board examiner for diagnostic radiology and subsequently for interventional radiology. She has also been an item writer for several committees. In 2017, she became an IR trustee, and in 2020, the IR vice chair of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Covey is the IR section editor for the American Journal of Radiology and a writing committee member of the hepatobiliary panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
In her free time, Dr. Covey enjoys playing tennis and pickleball and traveling with her two teenaged daughters. Dr. Covey is board certified in IR/DR.
“Being an ABR volunteer has been an honor as well as an incredibly educational and rewarding experience.”  

M. Victoria Marx, MDM. Victoria Marx, MD

Los Angeles, California
M. Victoria (Vicki) Marx, MD, went to medical school at Ohio State University (before they trademarked “The”). She subsequently did a general surgery internship at OSU and completed the OSU radiology residency in 1986. She went on to do fellowships in abdominal imaging and interventional radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University. She was the first IR fellow there. She joined the Department of Radiology at the University of Michigan in 1989, later becoming section head of interventional radiology and director of the IR fellowship program from 1996 to 1999. Since then, Dr. Marx has been a faculty member of the University of Southern California. She has an active clinical practice in addition to her administrative and educational roles. She served as the department’s diagnostic radiology program director from 2008 to 2019 and again in 2022-2023.
Dr. Marx is active in multiple national professional organizations and was a leader during the development and implementation of the IR/DR residency training program. She is a past president of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR). She was a member of the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) from 2017 to 2023. She has had numerous leadership positions in the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) and served as the society’s president in 2018. In recognition of her contributions to IR, SIR awarded her a Gold Medal in 2022.
Dr. Marx is happily married to her husband since 1984, Warren Garner, MD. They have two great children, Nate and Rachael, who both insisted they would never pursue medical careers while they were growing up. Nate is now an emergency medicine resident and Rachael is a medical student!  

Paul Rochon, MDPaul J. Rochon, MD

Aurora, Colorado
Paul John Rochon, MD, FSIR, is a board certified vascular and interventional radiologist and medical director at American Vein & Vascular Institute. He received his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, completed radiology residency at University Hospitals/Case Medical Center in Cleveland, and completed his vascular and interventional radiology fellowship at the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute.
Dr. Rochon was an associate professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he directed the interventional radiology resident programs and co-directed the Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) Center of Excellence. He was also selected as the Dr. Carol Rumack Endowed Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He was awarded the University of Colorado Hospitals Physician of the Year in 2018. He has received numerous teaching awards at all levels of education. He has authored and co-authored over 50 scientific papers, abstracts, and book chapters and has been involved in multiple clinical trials.
Dr. Rochon has led numerous committees for national societies, such as the Association of Program Directors for Interventional Radiology and the Diversity and Inclusiveness Advisory Group for the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). He serves as an ABR trustee in interventional radiology and is a SIR fellow. Dr. Rochon is a member of the CLI Global Society and has a special interest in health care disparities. His expertise is in peripheral arterial disease, venous disease, women’s health, and pain management.  

Medical Physics

 

Kalpana Kanal, PhDKalpana M. Kanal, PhD

Diagnostic Medical Physics
Seattle, Washington
Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, DABR, FAAPM, FACR, FSABI, came to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in physics in 1989. She received her MS degree from the University of Texas Arlington in 1991 and her PhD in radiological sciences from the UT Health Science Center, San Antonio in 1996.
After completing the Medical Physics Residency Program at Mayo Clinic, she joined the Department of Radiology at the University of Minnesota in 1998. In 1999, Dr. Kanal was certified by the ABR in diagnostic radiological physics. She has been working in the Department of Radiology at the University of Washington since 2000 and is professor and director of the diagnostic physics section as well as program director for the Imaging Physics Residency Program. She is also chair of the Radiation Safety Committee at the University of Washington. Dr. Kanal is active professionally in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the American College of Radiology (ACR), and has been the ABR diagnostic medical physics trustee since 2017.
Dr. Kanal has also served as the chair of the ACR CT Dose Index Registry. She has published more than 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has made several scientific presentations. She has also been recognized as a fellow by the AAPM, ACR, and Society of Advanced Body Imaging (SABI).  
Matthew Podgorsak, PhD

Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD

Chair, Board of Trustees
Therapeutic Medical Physics
Buffalo, New York
Matthew Podgorsak, PhD, FAAPM, is professor of oncology and chief medical physicist in the Department of Radiation Medicine at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (RPCCC) in Buffalo, New York. He also holds an associate professor appointment in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo (UB), and he has mentored numerous master’s and doctoral students enrolled in UB’s CAMPEP-accredited medical physics graduate program over the past three decades. In his clinical role, Dr. Podgorsak oversees all medical physics and dosimetry services at RPCCC and its four affiliate centers in Western and Central New York, where a combined total of over 200 patients per day receive radiation therapy. He finished his undergraduate training at McGill University in Montreal, and then went on to complete his PhD in medical physics in 1993 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Over his 30-year career, Dr. Podgorsak has held leadership positions with several professional societies. In 2005, he was elected to a three-year term as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). In 2013, Dr. Podgorsak joined the executive committee of the AAPM through his election to a three-year term as treasurer. He also previously served on the Board of Directors of the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), and he served as president of the Upstate New York Association of Medical Physicists. He is a member of the medical physics advisory committees for the American College of Radiation Oncology Practice Accreditation Program (ACRO-PAP) and the Radiosurgery Society (RSS).
Dr. Podgorsak has been an ABR volunteer since 2004, and has served as an item writer, committee chair, and oral examiner. In 2017, Dr. Podgorsak was named the trustee for therapy medical physics, and in 2022 he was appointed chair of the Board of Trustees and joined the Board of Governors.
“Society deserves healthcare that is provided by competent practitioners, and the ABR’s leadership in developing and implementing tools to fairly assess provider competency in the radiology fields is paramount. Engaging as a trustee and governor provides me with tremendous professional fulfillment through both board’s collective efforts to lead the ABR in fulfilling its mission.”  

Robert Pooley, MDRobert A. Pooley, PhD

Nuclear Medical Physics
Jacksonville, Florida
Robert A. Pooley, PhD, FAAPM, FACR, has served as a medical physicist in the radiology department at Mayo Clinic in Florida since 1998 and is chair of the Division of Medical Physics. He completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a clinical medical physics residency at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Pooley is board certified by the ABR in nuclear medical physics and diagnostic radiological physics.
Dr. Pooley serves on numerous departmental and institutional committees at Mayo Clinic and founded the Anatomical Modeling Unit (3D print lab) on campus in 2017. He now serves as the technical director of the AMU, which produces digital and 3D-printed models for presurgical planning and surgical cutting guide purposes, as well as educational, training, innovation, and research purposes.
Dr. Pooley has been engaged in professional activities for many years with organizations such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the Commission on the Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP), the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), and the ABR. Dr. Pooley first volunteered for the ABR in 2002 as a member of the former Radiology Residents Physics Exam Committee. Subsequent ABR volunteer opportunities included serving as an oral board examiner and on several exam item-writing committees. Dr. Pooley has been an ABR trustee with primary responsibility for the nuclear medical physics exams since 2019.  

Radiation Oncology

 
Brian J. David, MD, PhD

Brian J. Davis, MD, PhD

Rochester, Minnesota
Brian J. Davis, MD, PhD, is a professor of radiation oncology and attending physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Davis began serving as an oral board examiner in 2002 and was chair of the written boards in genitourinary radiation oncology from 2010 to 2017, when he became a member of the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Davis completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (BSNE ’82), his master’s (’84) and PhD (’90) in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his medical degree (’92) at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and his residency at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (’96). He has served as president of the American Brachytherapy Society and is currently a review committee member of the radiation oncology section of the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Brian was raised in northern Illinois and has been married to his wife, Lori, since 1991. They have four children and one grandchild.  

Steven Frank, MDSteven J. Frank, MD

Houston, Texas
Steven J. Frank, MD, is an endowed tenured professor of radiation oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, holds the Bessie McGoldrick Professorship in Clinical Research, and is a fellow of the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), American College of Radiology (ACR), and American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Dr. Frank is the executive director of the Particle Therapy Institute and deputy head of strategy for the Division of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Frank is among the first, if not the first, to use IMPT to treat head and neck tumors, and is the principal investigator of an NIH/NCI/Hitachi-sponsored multi-institutional Phase III randomized trial in advanced stage oropharyngeal cancer that compares outcomes after chemoradiation given by IMRT versus IMPT. Dr. Frank has over 300 peer-reviewed publications, has authored many book chapters, and recently published the first textbook on proton therapy.
Dr. Frank’s lab is studying the biologic enhancement factor of proton therapy and FLASH radiotherapy for both head and neck and prostate cancer, as well as MRI-Assisted Radiosurgery (MARS) as the next generation of prostate brachytherapy. Dr. Frank’s expertise in MRI radiotherapy has led to the development and FDA approval of multiple novel positive-contrast implantable markers for use in MRI-guided LDR and HDR prostate brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy. As founder of the company C4 Imaging, Dr. Frank developed the MRI marker technology at MD Anderson, has been granted 31 national and international patents, developed three FDA-approved products, and established MARS at MD Anderson for the treatment of prostate cancer. He has funding from the NIH, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Texas Ignition Fund, Hitachi, and MD Anderson, and has also raised multiple rounds of private equity financing to advance the C4 technology.
Dr. Frank has served as the president and chair of the American Brachytherapy Society and is the 2023 recipient of the Ulrich Henschke Award, the highest honor awarded by the ABS on a practitioner of brachytherapy. Dr. Frank is also a 2023 Leadership Award recipient at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. At the ABR, he has served as chair for the head and neck section of the oral boards for radiation oncology.  

John Suh, MDJohn H. Suh, MD

Cleveland, Ohio
John Suh, MD, FASTRO, FACR, is professor of radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and chair of radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. As enterprise chair for Cleveland Clinic, he oversees radiation oncology services at the main campus facility, nine regional sites in Ohio, and four sites in Florida. He completed his BS/MD as part of a combined six-year program from the University of Miami in 1990 and completed his internship, residency, and fellowship at Cleveland Clinic.
Since completing his training, Dr. Suh has held leadership positions in several societies, including president of the Korean American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (2011-2013), International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (board member 2018-2022), and International Radiosurgery Research Foundation (secretary and treasurer 2022-present). He was on the Advisory Committee for Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2010-2018. He has been editor of Applied Radiation Oncology since 2012.
Dr. Suh has been a volunteer for the ABR since 2001 and served as the section head for the CNS/Pediatric section for the oral board exam from 2008-2019. In 2019, Dr. Suh was named trustee for radiation oncology.  

Catheryn Yashar, MDCatheryn Yashar, MD

San Diego, California
Catheryn Yashar, MD, completed her medical degree at Northwestern University and went on to pursue specialized training in obstetrics and gynecology, gynecologic oncology, and radiation oncology at the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville.  She is a professor of radiation oncology and serves as the University of California San Diego Radiation Oncology vice chair of clinical affairs and chief of the Breast Cancer Radiation Service Line. Dr. Yashar’s research interests include investigation into novel brachytherapy and external beam radiation techniques and health policy.
Dr. Yashar has been a dedicated volunteer for the ABR, contributing previously to the written and oral gynecologic exams, as chair of the oral exam committee for gynecology, and as an ABR trustee with responsibility for the breast and gynecology exams. Dr. Yashar was recently named the chief medical officer for UC San Diego Health and strives to create an environment that promotes research, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Dr. Yashar is a past president of the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) and the vice chair of the Uterine and Cervical Cancer Panel for the National Cancer Comprehensive Network (NCCN). Dr. Yashar’s interest in health policy has led to her service on the board of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and as the CPT advisor and vice chair of the Health Policy Council. In addition to her commitment to patient care, Dr. Yashar is deeply passionate about medical education and mentorship and has served as chair of the UCSD Committee on Educational Policy and Core Curriculum Committee.