RSNA recognizes significant contributions to education and research in radiology with the Outstanding Educator and Outstanding Researcher awards. This year the awards go to Mark E. Mullins, MD, PhD, and David Mankoff, MD, PhD.
Outstanding Educator
Mullins
A prolific author, researcher and expert neuroradiologist, Mark E. Mullins, MD, PhD, is professor of radiology and imaging sciences, neurology and neurological surgery at Emory University School of Medicine (EUSOM) in Atlanta.
Dr. Mullins is director of radiology medical student education, vice chair for education and program director emeritus of the diagnostic radiology residency program in the Department of Radiology at EUSOM. He has been on the faculty since joining EUSOM as the associate program director of the diagnostic radiology residency in 2005.
Dr. Mullins' primary clinical interests include stroke and brain tumor imaging. He has authored or co-authored over 120 publications and served in a variety of editorial roles on journals, including Academic Radiology, Neurographics, American Journal of Roentgenology II/Integrative Imaging, Neurosurgery and Seminars in Ultrasound, CT and MRI.
Dr. Mullins earned his medical degree from the Health Sciences and Technology (HST) Program at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA. He also earned an MS and a PhD, both in chemistry, from Harvard University. Dr. Mullins began his postgraduate training in 1997 as an internal medicine intern at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. He completed his radiology residency and fellowship in neuroradiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) where he was co-chief fellow and received the RSNA Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award in 2002.
As an attending at MGH, Dr. Mullins ascended to assistant director for medical student radiology education and director of neuroradiology education before leaving to accept an appointment at EUSOM.
A lifelong learner, Dr. Mullins has pursued personal excellence through professional development activities such as the Harvard Medical Leadership Development for Physicians and Scientists program, Association of University Radiologists (AUR)/Philips Academic Faculty Development Program, and the EUSOM "Learning to be Better Teachers" program.
Dr. Mullins is a past president of the Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology, the Alliance of Clinician-Educators in Radiology and the Association of Program Directors in Radiology. He serves on the AUR Board of Directors as chair of the Fellow Nominating Committee. He previously served as an examiner for the American Board of Radiology (ABR) and has chaired the ABR Essentials of Diagnostic Radiology Committee since 2017.
Recognized for excellence in teaching, Dr. Mullins has received the Alliance of Clinician Educators in Radiology Achievement Award (2018), the American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology Outstanding Teacher Award (2017), EUSOM Dean's Teaching Award (2016) and was also named a EUSOM Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences Outstanding Mentor (2017). In 2007, he was named a Valerie P. Jackson Fellow in Education from the American College of Radiology. Earlier this year, Dr. Mullins was also named the ARRS Distinguished Educator for 2020.
Outstanding Researcher
Mankoff
As one of the foremost authorities in nuclear medicine/PET, David Mankoff, MD, PhD, is a leader in molecular imaging science and a pioneer in the development of whole body PET imaging.
Dr. Mankoff is the Gerd Muehllehner Professor of Radiology and vice chair of research at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Perelman School of Medicine and associate director of education and research at the Abramson Cancer Center, both in Philadelphia.
While earning a PhD in bioengineering, Dr. Mankoff worked with his thesis advisor, the late Gerd Muehllehner, PhD, to develop a commercial version of the scanner that later formed the basis for the PennPET Explorer, a whole body PET imaging system recently developed at Penn.
After earning his PhD and MD at Penn, Dr. Mankoff completed his residency in internal medicine and nuclear medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. He remained there, eventually becoming a full professor of radiology, medicine and bioengineering. During his time in Seattle, Dr. Mankoff developed research interests in translational cancer molecular imaging and quantitative PET imaging and image analysis. In 2013, he returned to Penn School of Medicine as a professor of radiology and the PET Center Director.
A leading researcher with a particular interest in breast cancer, Dr. Mankoff has maintained more than 20 years of continuous funding from federal sources and has been recognized as a Susan G. Komen Scholar since 2012. Key research achievements include defining applications of FDG PET to breast cancer staging and response evaluation, translating novel tracers to early human trials, studying the in vivo biology of cancer metabolism, and imaging estrogen receptor expression in breast cancer using PET.
At the national level, Dr. Mankoff has served as a committee leader and scientific planning co-chair of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ECOG-ACRIN). He is a former steering committee chair of the NCI Quantitative Imaging Executive Committee, former member of the NCI Clinical Trials Advisory Committee and former past president of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine.
Dr. Mankoff is associate editor for RSNA's newest journal, Radiology: Imaging Cancer. He also serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. Dr. Mankoff is co-chair of the RSNA Vice Chairs of Research Group and a member of the RSNA Committee on Scientific Affairs. He has also been active in the RSNA Clinical Trial Methodology Workshop and he has served as workshop co-director.
Recognized for his many contributions to the field, Dr. Mankoff was named an RSNA Honored Educator in 2013, 2018 and 2019. He received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Academy of Radiology Research in 2018.
