Karen Rodriguez, MD

Dr. Rodriguez is training the next generation of thoracic radiologists while practicing at the leading edge of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. Her nominator, mentor and supervisor, calls her a national expert in thoracic imaging, including minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat lung cancer.

Since 2023, she has directed the MGH thoracic and cardiac imaging fellowship, where she built a new curriculum focused on lung biopsies, fiducial localization and ablations. She also serves as Harvard Medical School radiology clerkship director. Her educational exhibits have earned a 2025 RSNA Cum Laude award, a 2024 Summa Cum Laude award from the American Society of Emergency Radiology and two 2026 Society of Thoracic Radiology honors.

Dr. Rodriguez’s scholarship includes first-author research on coronary plaque burden in Radiology, reviews on interstitial lung disease and small airways disease and a New England Journal of Medicine case record. She is a frequent invited speaker at Society of Thoracic Radiology meetings.

Her teaching reaches beyond Boston, as she has taught radiology residents in Tanzania and Rwanda and served as an external examiner for the University of Kigali Hospital radiology residency.