Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
8th Annual Richard M. and Toni Heller Lecture in Pediatric Imaging
"Pediatric Contrast Ultrasound - Implementation of a Successful Program within a Department of Radiology"
Kassa Darge, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Radiology and Surgery
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
The William Van Alen Endowed Chair, Department of Radiology
Radiologist-in-Chief
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Monday, April 9, 2018 | Noon - 1 p.m.
MCN CCC-1111
View/Download Grand Rounds Poster Here
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This grand round is designed for faculty, residents, staff and medical students.
Learning objectives of this presentation include:
- Learn about the justifications of doing pediatric contrast ultrasound.
- Identify the steps needed for implementing a pediatric contrast ultrasound program
- Appreciate the spectrum of the current indications for pediatric contrast ultrasound.
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Kassa Darge, M.D., Ph.D., is a pediatric radiologist and The William Van Alen Endowed Chair of the Department of Radiology and the Radiologist-in-Chief at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Professor of Radiology with secondary appointment as Professor of Radiology in Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he is an Honorary Professor of Radiology at the Department of Radiology of the Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, where he is responsible for the CHOP International Pediatric Radiology Outreach Program. Dr. Darge is the President of the Board of the Radiology Associates of the Children’s Hospital (RACH) and the Radiology Associates of New Jersey (RANJ). ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP: Dr. Darge has been Chief of the Division of Body Imaging for the last 10 years. This Division is the largest one in the Department encompassing 2/3 of the pediatric radiologists and generating almost similar fraction of the departmental revenue. Prior to his appointment at CHOP Dr. Darge served for seven years as the Chairman of the Department of Pediatric Radiology at the Institute of Radiodiagnostic of the University of Wuerzburg, Germany. He had been appointed to this over 600-year-old prestigious university, where Roentgen discovered the x-ray, at the highest professor rank (C3) for his subspecialty and granted a lifetime position. In preparation for such a position Dr. Darge had earlier undertaken over a period of 2 years a certificate course entitled “Advanced Course for Physicians at University Hospitals on Leadership and Responsibility in Hospitals", which was offered by the Wuerttemberg Academy of Management and Economics in Germany. Another notable position of his was as a member of the Executive Board of the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (DAHW), which runs more than 300 projects in different parts of the world.
Dr. Darge did his radiology residency and pediatric radiology fellowship at the University of Heidelberg. This is not only the oldest university in Germany, but regarded as the most elite educational institution in the country. He received his second medical doctor degree (Dr. med.) from the University of Heidelberg 11 years after he was awarded his first MD degree from the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. Dr. Darge has been practicing as a medical doctor, radiologist and pediatric radiologist 30, 20 and 18 years, respectively. Currently, he is fully dedicated in his practice scope in all areas of body imaging in children. Prior to his radiology career Dr. Darge practiced tropical medicine at the Bernhard-Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany and its research outposts in Liberia and Ghana.
Dr. Darge started his research career in basic science parasitology and immunology research. He was awarded a three-year research fellowship from the World Health Organization (WHO). This also gave him the opportunity to earn his “Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Parasitology”. Once he joined radiology he focused on clinical research. Dr. Darge earned a PhD with his work on the use of ultrasound contrast agent in children. He lists 515 items under his bibliography encompassing 235 publications including alternative media and 280 abstracts. He had received 14 different research grants in the past with 2 currently pending. Dr. Darge has over the years mentored many trainees in various research projects. These included 20 medical students, four residents, 24 pediatric radiology and research fellows, a master’s student and 2 post-docs. Moreover, Dr. Darge established the mentoring program for junior faculty members in the Department of Radiology. He has been the primary mentor for 10 assistant professors. He has also mentored 6 external pediatric radiology faculty members at various institutions nationally and internationally including one Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) scholar. For successfully establishing for the very first time a mentoring structure in the Department of Radiology Dr. Darge was awarded the “2011 Mentor Award” and the endowed chair from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Darge is currently a member of 22 professional societies nationally and internationally. He is a reviewer for 33 scientific journals and serves on the editorial board of two of them.
Dr. Darge has been engaged actively for the past 20 years in various forms of teaching of trainees and peers. He not only teaches at CHOP, but also takes part in teaching for the Masters in Public Health course at the University of Pennsylvania. His Hamster score is 4.9/5.0 and thus exceeds expectations. He has given 315 invited talks at 188 different institutions or meetings nationally and internationally. Dr. Darge had been invited as a visiting professor 44 times. He has organized 35 continuing medical education (CME) courses locally, nationally and internationally. Dr. Darge established in 2008 the CHOP Radiology International Pediatric Radiology Outreach Program in the Department of Radiology. Under this program a two-year accredited international pediatric radiology fellowship program is being carried out allowing the training of pediatric radiologist in low-resource countries locally.
Dr. Darge has received a total of 28 awards and recognitions for both his research and educational undertakings. Among these the following stand out: the "Schinz Medal" and "Honorary Membership" by the Swiss Radiological Society, the "Heidi Patriquin International Fellowship for Education Award" by the Society of Pediatric Radiology (SPR), "Contrast Agent Research Award" by the German Radiological Society, "The Schering Prize" by the European Federation of Societies of Ultrasound in Medicine (EFSUMB) and the “Honored Educator Award” by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).