Dehdashti Named 2025 RSNA Outstanding Researcher
Farrokh Dehdashti, MD, the Drs. Barry A. and Marilyn J. Siegel Professor of Radiology at WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), has been selected for the prestigious Outstanding Researcher Award from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) . Each year, this award is presented to an individual whose significant contributions to radiologic research and pioneering advancements in the industry have made a lasting impact.
Dehdashti is the senior vice chair and director of MIR’s nuclear medicine division — the first woman to hold the position — and the positron emission tomography (PET) medical director of the Center for Clinical Imaging Research. She is also the co-leader of Siteman Cancer Center’s Oncologic Imaging Program, which focuses on translational research studies in all fields of imaging.
Dehdashti has been pivotal in expanding the role of PET in oncology research for over 30 years, focusing primarily on translational oncologic studies and receptor imaging. She has spearheaded first-in-human, phase 1 and phase 2 studies of numerous novel radiotracers developed at the university. These include imaging tumor receptors for breast cancer and prostate cancer and radiotracers for imaging hypoxia, proliferation and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Additionally, she has conducted pioneering studies on several novel PET diagnostic compounds for various cancers, including cervical, breast, pancreatic and prostate.
Her work has been recognized by several institutions, including the 2024 WashU Medicine Dean’s Impact Award and the 2018 Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research Distinguished Investigator Award.
Dehdashti will be presented with the RSNA Outstanding Researcher Award during the society’s 111th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. She is the second MIR faculty member to receive this honor, as the department’s director Pamela K. Woodard, MD, was named the 2021 Outstanding Researcher.
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