RSNA honors Theodore S. Lawrence, MD, PhD with Outstanding Researcher Award

In the opening session of the 100th Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), current president, N. Reed Dunnick, MD presented Theodore S. Lawrence, MD, PhD., with the Outstanding Researcher Award, recognizing his significant contributions and long-term commitment to radiological research. Lawrence’s clinical interests center on combining intensity modulated and 3-D conformal radiotherapy with new chemotherapeutic and radiosensitizing agents in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. His laboratory research interests include chemotherapeutic and molecularly targeted agents as radiosensitizers, and gene therapy. Lawrence graciously accepted the award and he highlighted that innovations in radiology paved the way for the research he conducts. “Radiologists have developed some remarkable tools… I’d like to say thank you to the field of radiology. Without you, we wouldn’t know where to aim. You have developed the tools that lead us to aim directly at tumors and enable us to protect surrounding tissues. This collaborative work produces better outcomes for our patients,” he concluded. “Ted inspires his trainees and a remarkably high number of them go on to enter the field of radiation oncology,” added Dunnick. Dr. Theodore Lawrence received a joint medical and doctoral degree (cell biology) from the Cornell University Medical College/Rockefeller University in New York. After completing internal medicine residency training at Stanford University Medical Center, he received specialty training at the National Cancer Institute, completing both a fellowship in medical oncology and a residency in radiation oncology. Dr. Lawrence is board certified in all three areas. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1987 and currently serves as professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology.