Hedvig Hricak, MD, PhD

2009-2010 BCRF Project:
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer occurring in women and is the leading cause of cancer mortality in women. The World Health Organization has reported 519,000 deaths from breast cancer in 2004 and globally, among men and women it ranks as the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality. Breast cancer is also the most prevalent cancer in the world. As a result of funding from BCRF and global teamwork efforts, Dr. Hricak and her team have translated the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) into several languages. Publication of the translation is critical, as the use of BI-RADS is required for the initiation of clinical breast cancer imaging research, data collection and breast cancer screening.

The program has resulted in the translation, publication and distribution of the BI-RADS in Croatia and Serbia. Initial results prompted expansion of the program and this global program has been expanded to include Russia and China. BI-RADS has been translated into Russian and Mandarin and screening efforts are underway. Breast cancer screening began in Croatia in October 2006 and since its inception over 1,130 breast cancers have been discovered. This statistic gives the researchers great hope that the BCRF screening program will have a major impact on women's health in Croatia and around the world. In the coming grant year, collaboration will continue with global teams; screening programs are planned for Serbia and for Russia, the BI-RADS will be published in Mandarin and development of a screening program in China will continue. These global team efforts are crucial to the goals of better outcomes in patients and breast cancer prevention.

Bio:
Hedvig Hricak is Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She holds a senior position within the Program of Molecular and Pharmacology Therapeutics at the Sloan-Kettering Institute and is Professor of Radiology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

She earned her MD degree from the University of Zagreb and her Dr. Med. Sc. from the Karolinska Institute. Previously, she was a professor of radiology, radiation oncology, urology and gynecology at the University of California at San Francisco and was the chief of the abdominal section of the Department of Radiology at the UCSF Medical Center. She has helped develop applications in ultrasound, MR, and CT for gynecological cancer as well as MR and MR spectroscopy for prostate cancer. She continues to investigate diagnostic methods for cancer detection, staging, and management and is involved in developing clinical approaches for molecular imaging of cancer.

Dr. Hricak is President-Elect and Secretary Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). She served as President of the Society for Advancement of Women's Imaging (1997-1999), President of the California Academy of Medicine (1999), and President of the Society of Uroradiology (2000-2003). She was a member of the board of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and now serves on the Executive board of the Academy of Radiology Research. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and a fellow of the American College of Radiology, the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and the Society of Uroradiology.

Dr. Hricak has authored or co-authored 328 peer-reviewed original research articles, 150 review/ editorial articles, and more than 130 book chapters. She has given 135 named or keynote lectures and has been a visiting professor at more than 30 institutions worldwide. In recognition of her career accomplishments, she has received the Marie Curie Award of the American Association of Women Radiologists, the gold medals of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and the Association of University Radiologists, the Béclère medal of the International Society of Radiology, and the Morocco Medal of Merit. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists and an honorary member of the British Institute of Radiology, German Radiological Society, Austrian Roentgen Society, Croatian Society of Radiology, Journées Françaises de Radiologie and the Swedish Society of Medical Radiology. In 2005 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany.