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Ernest H. Wood Lecture

In 1996, Dr. Francis Pepper from Winston-Salem established the “Wood Fund for Advancement of Neuroradiology at UNC,” as well as an endowed Chair. The fund and Chair were established to honor the first Department of Radiology Chair at UNC and a pioneer neuroradiologist – Dr. Ernest Wood – and his wife. Income from the fund is used to support pilot research projects, the Annual Wood Memorial Lecture and a Spring Visiting Professorship.

The first Chair of Radiology was Dr. Ernest Wood, who was also the first full-time Neuroradiologist in the United States. Dr. Wood was a native of North Carolina and went to medical school at Duke University. Preceding his time at UNC, he was Chair of Radiology at the Neurological Institute in Columbia University. Dr. Wood was a founding member of the American Society of Neuroradiology and wrote several seminal textbooks together with Dr. Juan Taveras, who is considered the father of American Neuroradiology.

Dr. Wood relocated to Chapel Hill in 1952, the year when UNC’s medical school grew in duration from two to four years, North Carolina Memorial Hospital was built, and the Department of Radiology was established.  Dr. Wood expanded the Department’s general radiology care, initiated a Nuclear Medicine program and launched one of the state’s first screening mammography programs. Clinical research was initiated to assess the utility of magnification radiography, thermography and radionuclide scintigraphy. In 1965, Dr. Wood left to accept the directorship of the Department of Radiology at the Neurological Institute of New York.

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Past Wood Lecture speakers:

  • Dr. Vinil Shah, University of California, San Francisco, November 2023
  • Dr. Achala Vagal, University of Cincinnati, November 2022
  • Dr. Jody Tanabe, University of Colorado, October 2021
  • Dr. David Yousem, Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2019
  • Dr. Pamela Schaefer, Massachusetts General Hospital, 2018
  • Dr. Alex Rovira, Val de Hebron Hospitals, Barcelona, 2017
  • Dr. Pina Sanelli, Northwell Hospitals, 2016
  • Dr. Timo Krings, University of Toronto, 2015
  • Dr. Gordon Sze, Yale University, 2014
  • Dr. Max Wintermark, University of Virginia, 2013
  • Dr. Orlando Ortiz, Winthrop University Hospital, 2012
  • Dr. Jeffrey Ross, Barrow Neurological Institute, 2011
  • Dr. Suresh Mukherji, University of Michigan, 2010
  • Dr. Doug Phillips, Cornell University, 2009
  • Dr. Michelle Michel, Medical College of Wisconsin, 2008
  • Dr. Edmond Knopp, New York University, 2007
  • Dr. Patricia Hudgins, Emory University, 2006
  • Dr. James Smirniotopoulos, Uniformed Services, University of Health Services, 2005
  • Dr. Alisa Gean, University of California in San Francisco, 2004
  • Dr. Ramon Gilberto Gonzalez, The Massachusetts General Hospital, 2003
  • Dr. M. Jensen, University of Virginia, 2002
  • Dr. V. Haughton, University of Wisconsin, 2001
  • Dr. T. Naidich, Mount Sinai Medical School, 2000
  • Dr. R. Jinkins, University of Texas – San Antonio, 1999
  • Dr. J. Weissman, University of Pittsburgh, 1998
  • Dr. R. Bronen, Yale University, 1997

Other Neuroradiology visiting professors include:

  • Dr. Mai-Lan Ho, University of Missouri, March 2024
  • Dr. Claudia Kirsch, Yale Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, March 2023
  • Dr. Zoltan Patay, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, April 2022
  • Dr. Yvonne Lui, New York University, April 2019
  • Dr. Thierry Huisman, Johns Hopkins, April 2018
  • Dr. C. Truwit, University of Minnesota, 1996
  • Dr. R. Quencer, University of Miami, 1995
  • Dr. Scott Atlas, Stanford University, 1994

For interest in supporting the Wood Fund, please contact Dr. Carlos Zamora or go to “Make a Gift” and select this fund from the pull-down menu. Also, please contact Dr. Carlos Zamora if you would like to be included in the mailing list for the Wood Annual Lecture.