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It all started with a faint glow. It was November 1895, and the German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen,  was experimenting with an early cathode ray tube—a vacuum tube with a contained electric current. During his experiments he noticed an odd fluorescence in crystals on a nearby table. Surprisingly, the glow continued even when he covered the tube with heavy black paper.

Finding cancer early may make it easier to treat—and possibly cure. Imaging plays a role in screening to detect breast cancer (mammography) and lung cancer (CT). Vanderbilt has made recent advances in both areas, with the implementation of powerful new breast imaging technology and the launch of a lung cancer screening program.

Several faculty from the Department of Radiology reached out to Vanderbilt medical students in an effort to create interest in interventional radiology and interventional oncology. As a result, Mary Ellen Koran, PhD, in the Medical Scientist Training Program rounded a group of medical students and formed the Interventional Radiology Interest Group (IRIG).

Twenty retiring faculty members were recognized during Vanderbilt’s Commencement ceremony May 9, when the university honored their years of service and bestowed on them the title of emeritus or emerita faculty. Two of them included Radiology faculty, Thomas S. Dina and Richard M. Heller, Professors of Radiology and Radiological Sciences.

Noninvasive biomarkers that detect programmed cell death – apoptosis – would be valuable for predicting early responses to anticancer therapies and for improving drug discovery. Potential targets for molecular imaging of apoptosis include caspase enzymes, which play essential roles in apoptotic signaling pathways. H.