By Kalpana Kanal, PhD; Jennifer Stickel, PhD; Matthew Podgorsak, PhD; and Geoffrey Ibbott, PhD
The ABR has three medical physics trustees who specialize in diagnostic medical physics (DMP), nuclear medical physics (NMP), and therapeutic medical physics (TMP), respectively. This fall, the ABR welcomed Sameer Tipnis, PhD, who has replaced Kalpana Kanal, PhD, as the DMP Trustee.
As described in the article “Roles and Responsibilities of an ABR Trustee,” each Trustee has oversight of several ABR exam committees. Dr. Tipnis will oversee the MP Part 1 General and Part 2 DMP Qualifying exams, the Part 3 DMP Certifying Oral Exam, DMP Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA), and the physics component of the Diagnostic Radiology Qualifying (Core) Exam.
Dr. Tipnis is a native of India, where he completed his BS in physics at Elphinstone College and his MS in physics at the University of Bombay, both in Mumbai. He graduated with a PhD in physics from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Dr. Tipnis is dual boarded: in addition to being certified by the ABR in DMP, he has also obtained certification in NMP. A professor of radiology and chief medical physicist at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston, Dr. Tipnis is actively involved in clinical, teaching, and research activities and served as the radiation safety office between 2014 and 2022.
Dr. Tipnis comes to the ABR Board of Trustees (BOT) with a long history of professional service. He has chaired the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 361 on the recommended use and management of protective garments since 2020 and is a member of several AAPM committees. Dr. Tipnis became a fellow of AAPM in 2022 and is also a member of several Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging committees.
Dr. Tipnis’s service to the ABR began in 2012 as an item writer for the NMP Part 2 Qualifying Exam Committee. Subsequently, he served as an oral examiner, starting in 2017 for the DMP and NMP oral exams. He became a member of the MP Part 1 General Exam Committee in 2016 and currently serves as chair.
Dr. Tipnis has been married to his wife Supriya for 34 years. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, nature walks, and cooking.
Prior to his selection as an ABR Trustee, Dr. Tipnis said, “In these past 12 years, I have always enjoyed a very congenial and productive relationship with the ABR in a professional, as well as in a personal capacity. Should I be selected to serve in the role of the DMP Trustee, I have no doubts that I would be able to fulfill all the responsibilities and commitments required in that role, to further contribute and enhance the ABR’s goals of excellence in education and certification process.”
We welcome Dr. Tipnis to the BOT and look forward to working with him.
