Pamela K. Woodard, MD, a professor of radiology recognized for her expertise in cardiothoracic radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named the inaugural Hugh Monroe Wilson Professor of Radiology.

Noted for her work in cardiovascular imaging and research at the university’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), she was one of the principal investigators on a landmark trial that established a new standard of care for the diagnosis of blood clots in the lungs. Currently, she is leading a clinical trial for an atherosclerosis imaging agent.

MIR funded and established the endowed chair to honor the legacy of Hugh Monroe Wilson, MD, the second head of the Department of Radiology and MIR. Wilson is remembered as a dedicated and inspiring teacher who believed that training medical students, residents and fellows was the unique responsibility of an academic radiology department. A compassionate clinician, he used to say that a missed diagnosis was a personal loss to both the patient and the radiologist. Wilson died in 1978.
Woodard was installed as the Wilson Professor by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of the School of Medicine, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor of Medicine.

“Hugh Monroe Wilson recognized that basic science and engineering drive advances in radiology that refine diagnostic capabilities and help us provide the best possible care for patients,” Wrighton said. “I am pleased that the inaugural holder of this professorship is Pamela Woodard, a gifted physician whose contributions to cardiovascular imaging are changing the way we practice medicine. In holding this professorship, she carries on a legacy of innovation and leadership.”

Woodard is also senior vice chair and division director of the Radiology Research Facilities, director of the Center for Clinical Imaging Research, head of Advanced Cardiac Imaging CT/MRI, and director of the Radiology Research Residency Program.

In 1995, as a resident at Duke University, Woodard published one of the initial papers showing that blood clots in the lungs could be detected by spiral CT scan, a kind of scan that uses radiation to detect small abnormalities. As an assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine, she was one of the principal investigators of a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that resulted in a landmark paper in The New England Journal of Medicine. The research established multidetector CT as the standard of care for diagnosing blood clots in the lungs. This type of CT scan uses an array of detectors to acquire multiple images simultaneously.

More People on the Move