Six MIR Faculty Earn WashU Medicine Dean’s Impact Awards

The Dean’s Impact Awards are an annual recognition of the outstanding work and dedication of the faculty members at WashU Medicine. Given on behalf of Dean David H. Perlmutter, MD, this year’s awardees represented the theme, “Honoring the Focused Excellence of Exemplary Clinicians and Researchers.” Among the many talented faculty members at WashU Medicine, six from Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) were selected to receive this year’s award, representing the compassion, innovation and commitment required to build community and advance health care within the university and beyond.

Joelle W. Biernacki, MD, associate professor of radiology in the community radiology division, was honored for her work providing committed care across multiple BJC HealthCare sites, including Barnes-Jewish St. Peter’s Hospital, Progress West Hospital, Christian Hospital and Missouri Baptist Medical Center. An advocate for accessible, interdisciplinary patient care, she has used her clinical expertise and leadership experience to help bring advanced imaging services — including breast MRI, prostate MRI and liver MRI elastography — to community sites where these capabilities had not previously been available.

Biernacki is also a longstanding member of the Siteman Cancer Center Tumor Board, lending her imaging expertise to cancer care. Her commitment to high quality clinical service has been instrumental in the growth and maturation of MIR’s community practice, reflecting her strong engagement in multidisciplinary, patient-centered care.

Jack W. Jennings, MD, PhD, professor of radiology and senior vice chair and division director of interventional radiology, was recognized for his role in heralding transformative changes to minimally invasive patient care. He oversees interventional radiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and across BJC HealthCare and has helped expand clinical services to new hospital sites and achieved the International Accreditation System for Interventional Oncology Services (IASIOS) accreditation — the first in the U.S. With the operational and physcial expansion of one of the largest and most comprehensive interventional imaging service centers in the country, Jennings was selected to lead the new Division of Interventional Radiology.

Michelle V. Lee, MD, professor of radiology in the breast imaging section, was honored for her leadership and commitment to women’s health. She currently serves as the medical director of breast imaging at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital and assistant program director of the diagnostic radiology residency program and has a bevy of experience overseeing programs that deliver timely, accurate diagnoses for thousands of patients annually.

Lee has spearheaded many patient care initiatives, including Pink and Pearl, a combined lung and breast cancer screening program in the BJC HealthCare system, and a $1 million RAD-AID project to start a mobile mammography program in underserved communities. She also holds leadership positions in national organizations — including the American College of Radiology, Society of Breast Imaging Breast Cancer Screening Leadership Group and the National Mammography Database Committee — that have shaped best practices in safety and diagnostic accuracy nationwide.

Matthew S. Parsons, MD, professor of radiology, demonstrated dedicated excellence and sustained commitment to patient care through his work in neuroradiology. He directs multiple groups throughout WashU Medicine and BJC HealthCare, including emergency neuroradiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the MIR neuroradiology quality and safety office, neuroimaging at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital and neuroimaging at Phelps County Regional Medical Center, a critical access hospital. A highly sought-after clinician, he provides neuroimaging services and stroke coverage to academic sites as well as hospitals in the Metro East. His clinical experience also includes military service as a U.S. Army major and diagnostic radiologist in Iraq and Kosovo.

Parsons is also a dedicated educator who directs the neuroradiology fellowship program, served as the co-course master of the third- and fourth-year radiology clerkship for WashU Medicine and created a case-based curriculum to help residents prepare for the American Board of Radiology exam.

Anup S. Shetty, MD, professor of radiology, has shown his commitment to exemplary patient care through his accomplishments in expanding abdominal imaging care. As the director of body MRI and associate director of MRI, he expanded the Barnes-Jewish Hospital MRI program and the advanced MR imaging services in multiple hospitals and has laid the foundation for MRI protocol consistency across the BJC Health East Region. His clinical expertise in abdominal imaging is nationally recognized, including being inducted as a fellow of the Society of Abdominal Radiology.

Shetty also serves as the advanced abdominal imaging fellowship director. In this role, he has shared his knowledge and his skills through curriculum innovation and increasing training capacity. He has received a teaching award every year since he has been on faculty, including multiple Distinguished Teaching Awards.

Richard Tsai, MD, associate professor of radiology, was recognized for his sustained commitment to patient care in abdominal imaging. Since 2023, he has served as the co-director of the body CT service, where he oversees CT operations at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He lends his expertise, his knowledge and guidance to colleagues and referring physicians on complex patient cases and in academic circles, which was spotlighted with a 2024 Radiological Society of North America Certificate of Merit Educational Exhibit Award.

Tsai was an indispensable leader in protocol optimization as the department incorporated new photon-counting CT technology in the Gary C. Werths Building and Plaza West Tower, optimizing radiation dose and improving the ability to detect disease using these revolutionary scanners.

Learn more about the Dean’s Impact Awards from WashU Medicine.