Keats Newsletter, Winter 2026

KEATS SOCIETY

UVA DEPARTMENT OF RADIOLOGY

AND MEDICAL IMAGING ALUMNI SOCIETY

PATIENT EXPERIENCE AWARDS

NEW LECTURE SERIES

RESEARCH GRANTS

NEW FACULTY MEMBERS

THE KEATS SOCIETY

Dr. Theodore Keats was appointed the fourth chairman of the Department of Radiology at the University of Virginia in 1963. Drawing on his professional experiences in Sweden, Dr. Keats restructured the department to promote the development of radiologic subspecialties in response to the growing demand for comprehensively trained radiologists capable of performing a wide range of diagnostic and interventional procedures. This strategic reorganization significantly enhanced the capabilities of both the department and the broader medical center. Over the course of his 29-year tenure, the department experienced a threefold increase in imaging study volume and expanded to offer the full spectrum of radiologic services.

In recognition of his enduring contributions to the field and to the institution, the Keats Society was established within the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging at UVA. The Society fosters a sense of community among current and former residents, fellows, and faculty through scientific and social reunions. Its principal mission is to support the educational advancement of current trainees via the Educational Endowment Fund, which provides financial resources aimed at enriching their academic and professional development.

FROM THE KEATS PRESIDENT

Hello from the Keats Society!

I hope you’re having a great start to 2026. I’m sure winter is looking different wherever you are – we’ve gotten quite a few inches of snow in Charlottesville, though warmer days seem to be on the horizon.

Meanwhile, activity at UVA Radiology is also heating up. One item of particular note is the department’s new Matsumoto Endowed Lecture Series, with the first event scheduled for April 23, 2026. The inaugural speaker is someone very special and dear to our department: Dr. Michael Dake, former department chair and professor at UVA Radiology. (You can learn more about the event later in this newsletter.)

We also recently held our first Keats Society board meeting of the new year, which was very exciting. I’m happy to announce that planning is in the works for a UVA reception at RSNA 2026, as well as a Homecoming Reunion in May 2027. After an offyear, we’re excited for both of these events to return. Mark your calendars!

As always, thank you for your support of our department and for being part of the Keats Society.

Best wishes, Jenni Pierce, MD

MAKING AN IMPACT

Professors Arun Krishnaraj, MD, MPH, and Alan H. Matsumoto, MD, MA, FSIR, FACR, FAHA

Professors Celebrate Virginia Proclamation of Lung Cancer Awareness Month

On November 18, UVA Radiology Professors Arun Krishnaraj, MD, MPH, and Alan H. Matsumoto, MD, MA, traveled to the Executive Mansion in Richmond for a special event: the signing of a Virginia proclamation to recognize November as Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

In addition to their roles at the University of Virginia, Drs. Krishnaraj and Matsumoto are both national leaders in radiology: Dr. Krishnaraj serves as chair of the American College of Radiology’s Commission on Patient- and Family-Centered Care, and Dr. Matsumoto is

currently the chair of the ACR’s Board of Chancellors.

“It is vital that those affected by lung cancer have access to quality care and that continued research on all forms of the disease continues to be supported,” reads the proclamation. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world, but annual screenings can reduce lung cancer deaths by up to 20 percent.

IMPACT

Radiology Faculty Earn Annual Patient Experience Awards

In November, a total of six UVA Radiology professors were honored during UVA Health’s annual Patient Experience Awards!

The awards and end-of-the-year celebration honor teams and providers for delivering excellent clinical care. Recipients are selected based on top scores from Press Ganey surveys that assess patient perceptions at UVA Health University Medical Center.

Below are the award winners, along with their divisions:

John Fritz Angle, MD

Vascular and Interventional

Radiology

Ramapriya Ganti, MD, PhD

Breast Imaging

Ziv J. Haskal, MD

Vascular and Interventional

Radiology

Christopher M. Kramer, MD

Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging

Daniel Sheeran, MD

Vascular and Interventional Radiology

Luke R. Wilkins, MD

Vascular and Interventional Radiology

Celebrating a Change in Residency Leadership AROUND THE DEPARTMENT

Matsumoto Endowed Lecture to Welcome Michael Dake, MD, FSIR, ormer Department Chair

This April, the University of Virginia’s Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging will kick off a new lecture series by welcoming a former department chair.

The inaugural Matsumoto Endowed Lecture will feature Michael Dake, MD, a former UVA Radiology professor who also served as department chair from 2005 to 2008. Under Dr. Dake’s leadership, the department began a significant seven-year physical and technological renovation for the department’s facilities and equipment, the benefits of which are still evident today. Dr. Dake currently serves as a professor of radiology and imaging sciences, surgery, and medicine at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Dake’s lecture will take place on April 23, 2026 from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. in the Moss Auditorium.

This will be the first event as part of the Matsumoto Endowed Lecture series, which is supported by the Alan H. Matsumoto, MD, and Julie A. Matsumoto, MD, Endowment to

Advance the Missions and Science of Radiology. Created in 2024, the endowment honors Professor and former Department Chair Dr. Alan Matsumoto and Professor Julie Matsumoto for more than three decades of combined service to UVA Radiology. The resulting lecture series is one of many efforts to support the endowment’s mission: to advance innovation, clinical programs, and education within diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, and the imaging sciences.

DEPARTMENT

Jamieson Bourque, MD, Installed as President of American Society of Nuclear Cardiology

The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) has elected Professor of Medicine and Radiology Jamieson M. Bourque, MD, MHS, as its 33rd president for the 2026 year.

Dr. Bourque serves as a faculty member in UVA Radiology’s Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, as well as in UVA’s Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in its Department of Medicine. He is also the medical director of nuclear cardiology, echocardiography, and the stress laboratory. His research program focuses on microvascular disease, exercise stress testing, and predictive analytics.

“It is my honor to serve as president of ASNC in 2026 and to innovate together. I will work tirelessly so we can innovate together as a global community of nuclear cardiology professionals,” stated Bourque in his first president’s address. “ASNC will drive advances in multiple domains, incorporating artificial intelligence, supporting highest quality nuclear imaging in ischemic heart disease, and expanding and refining nuclear cardiovascular applications in systemic diseases.”

Grand Rounds, Tegtmeyer Lectures Tackle Tech in Radiology

This past fall, the department welcomed speakers who offered a look at radiology’s relationship to technology and the future of medical imaging.

The presentations included two lectures from the UVA Radiology Grands Rounds series: Pixels and Presence: Cultivating Digital Well-Being in Radiology by Angela Orebaugh, PhD, associate professor of engineering at UVA, and Prediction, Interference and Overparameterization in Machine Learning: Guide to Clinical AI by Jeffrey D. Blume, PhD, professor of

data science at UVA.

Meanwhile, the 17th Annual Tegtmeyer Lecture was delivered by James Spies, MD, MPH, professor and chair of radiology at Georgetown University Hospital, whose lecture was titled Challenges in Radiology Practice: Now and in the Future.

Thank you to all of our speakers for sharing your knowledge with our department!

Recordings of these lectures, along with many others from past years,

are available on UVA Radiology’s Career and Professional Development page.

$5.3M Grant Will Fund Four Military Brain Health Studies

University of Virginia School of Medicine and Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC) researchers will use a federal Department of Defense grant to better identify, prevent, and treat brain injuries for military personnel caused by repeated blast exposures.

“This is about moving from concern to capability, turning careful science into practical ways to identify, prevent, and treat blast-related brain injury,” said James Stone, MD, PhD, professor at UVA’s department of radiology and medical imaging, who is helping lead the research. “Together with NMRC, we’ll map how blast affects the brain’s vasculature and deliver objective measures to help support smart training and precise care for our service members and veterans.”

The four research projects funded by the $5.3 million grant will explore the role of the neurovascular unit — the interactions between blood vessels in the brain and brain tissue — in maintaining healthy brain function and how damage to the unit can cause chronic health conditions. The projects will investigate the following: 1) developing non-invasive biomarkers that show blast-induced changes to the brain, 2) helping determine blast exposure limits during training environments, 3) identifying potential treatments, and 4) reducing the impact of blast-related brain function and psychological issues among military personnel and veterans.

Researchers Earn Neuroscience Grant from UVA Brain Institute Program

This past November, two research faculty members from the University of Virginia’s Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging were awarded a Transformative Neuroscience Pilot Grant from the UVA Brain Institute.

Professor Stuart Berr, PhD, and Associate Professor Joseph Rispoli, PhD, are the recipients of seed funding for their project titled Integrated PET/ MRI Performance Evaluation with RF Coil Optimization: NEMA NU 2 Phantom Testing of a Human-Sized PET Insert in the Siemens 3T MRI.

This project aims to significantly advance UVA’s joint PET/MRI research program, by gathering preliminary data to characterize the performance of an NIH-developed human-sized

PET insert in a 3T MRI environment. One hope is that the results will help UVA to compete nationally for high-impact PET/MRI neuroscience research funding.

Established in 2016, UVA’s Brain Institute seeks to cultivate interdisciplinary neuroscience innovation through a variety of programs and funding opportunities. Berr and Rispoli’s project is one of seven awardees in the fall cycle for this grant program, out of 30 submissions. Winning projects were required to progress through several rounds of evaluation, including reviews of a written application and an oral project pitch. Each winning project earned up to $50,000 in funding for the duration of a year.

Amy Taylor, MD, to Serve as Secretary of SIR Foundation

Beginning in April, Associate Professor Amy Taylor, MD, MBA, will serve as secretary for the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Foundation.

Dr. Taylor is a faculty member in UVA Radiology’s Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. She has been an active member of SIR for many years and is currently the development division chair for the foundation.

This role is the first step in a four-year, successive term structure for the SIR Foundation board’s executive leadership. After her one-year term as secretary, Dr. Taylor is slated to serve as vice chair, chair, and immediate past chair of the foundation in the coming years.

THE KEATS SOCIETY

UVA DEPARTMENT OF RADIOLOGY AND MEDICAL IMAGING ALUMNI SOCIETY

Meet the Team Behind This Issue

Design and Illustration

Britney Butch Multimedia Specialist

Written

By

Henry Lin-David Multimedia Specialist