RSNA Press Release

CHICAGO – Ronald L. Arenson, M.D., F.A.C.R., was named chairman of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors today at the Society's annual meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Arenson is the Alexander R. Margulis Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California San Francisco, where he has been since 1992.

As chairman, Dr. Arenson will support RSNA's mission to promote excellence in patient care through education, research and technological innovation.

"I am hopeful that during the coming year, we can focus attention on informatics, especially on providing RSNA members with useful informatics tools to help them in their careers," he said.

Dr. Arenson also believes it is crucial to reach out to international members and societies.

"The RSNA annual meeting is extremely important to radiologists around the globe. Our new emphasis on international relationships will translate into a number of new programs designed for the international professional," he said.

Dr. Arenson earned his medical degree in 1970 from New York Medical College in New York. He completed his internship at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and his diagnostic radiology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Arenson began his academic career in 1976 at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) after serving in the U.S. Navy at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. During his tenure at Penn, Dr. Arenson was associate chairman of clinical services in radiology, director of administrative services and interim vice provost for information systems and computing for the campus.

Dr. Arenson has authored or coauthored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, four book chapters, three books and numerous exhibits, audiovisuals, abstracts and editorials. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including Radiology, Investigative Radiology, Journal of Digital Imaging, Academic Radiology and Journal of the American College of Radiology. Dr. Arenson has been an invited lecturer nationally and internationally at nearly 250 universities and institutes.

During his career, Dr. Arenson has been an active member of several medical societies and organizations, including the American Association for Medical Systems and Informatics, American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) and the American College of Radiology (ACR), where he has served on several committees. Dr. Arenson holds fellowships in the ACR, ACMI and Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine. He is past-president of the Association of University Radiologists, Society of Chairmen of Academic Radiology Departments and the Academy of Radiology Research.

Throughout his career, Dr. Arenson has received many honors. He received the Alumni Medal of Honor from New York Medical College in 2001. He has been asked to be the keynote speaker at many events including RSNA 2007, and the American Board of Radiology Foundation Summit.

Research achievements for Dr. Arenson include the development of a catheter that can be steered in a magnetic field allowing interventional radiologists to reach further into smaller blood vessels. Dr. Arenson and fellow researchers filed a patent on the invention in 2001. The patent was recently nominated for a national fair on technology, and Dr. Arenson is now working with faculty on the next stage prototype.

A member of RSNA since 1974, Dr. Arenson has served on numerous committees, such as the Publications and Education Committee, Public Information Advisors Network, Research Development Committee and the Radiology Informatics Committee (formerly Electronic Communications Committee), of which he served as chairman from 1999 to 2005. In 2007, he was elected to the RSNA Board of Directors and served as the liaison for radiology informatics from 2007 to 2012.

Note: Copies of RSNA 2012 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press12 beginning Monday, Nov. 26.

RSNA is an association of more than 50,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists, promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)