Hedvig (Hedi) Hricak, MD, PhD, has been Chair of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Department of Radiology since 1999 and built it into one of the best cancer imaging departments in the world, acclaimed for excellence in both clinical practice and research. Dr. Hricak holds the Carroll and Milton Petrie Chair at MSK and is a professor at the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences as well as a professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. She was one of the pioneers in establishing the clinical value of MRI for prostate, kidney and gynecological cancers, and she continues to conduct innovative research. Her lab in the Molecular Pharmacology Program of the Sloan Kettering Institute integrates imaging with genomic and other data to better understand molecular and anatomic tumor profiles.

Dr. Hricak has long been dedicated to promoting education and the evidence-based use of cancer imaging worldwide. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and received the David Rall Medal for Distinguished Leadership in service to the NAM. She has served on the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academies, the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute, and the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and she is currently a member of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies. Her many international collaborative efforts have included leadership of the recent Lancet Oncology Commission on Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine—an initiative that brought together representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency, renowned academic centers, and many other organizations around the globe to demonstrate the survival and economic benefits to be gained from improving access to cancer imaging worldwide.

In recognition of her scientific accomplishments and tireless global outreach, she has received numerous awards, including five gold medals and 14 honorary fellowships or memberships from societies on five continents, as well as honorary doctorates from the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany and the University of Toulouse III, Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.