Mayo Clinic researcher named by National Academy of Sciences to Institute of Medicine

Mayo Clinic radiologist and researcher Richard Ehman, M.D., has been named by the National Academy of Sciences to the Institute of Medicine. Selection to the Institute (one of the four Academies, based in Washington, D.C.) is one of the highest honors in medicine in the United States.

"This is a great honor and one that is well deserved," says John Noseworthy, M.D., Mayo Clinic president and CEO. "Dick Ehman's service to medicine and science is well known. His advances in imaging research have aided patients around the world. Congratulations from us all."

Dr. Ehman is best known for his groundbreaking work in medical imaging, specifically on nuclear magnetic resonance and its use in diagnosing a variety of conditions. He also is credited with developing magnetic resonance elastography or MRE, which allows physicians to determine the stiffness of internal organs without invasive procedures.

His research program has focused on developing methods to reduce or eliminate flow and tissue motion artifacts in MRI, approaches for vascular imaging, and development of MRI-based techniques for characterizing the mechanical properties of tissue. Dr. Ehman holds more than 20 patents for his work and is currently principal investigator of two major (R01) grants, from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Ehman is a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees and Board of Governors. He is professor of radiology in the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and part of Mayo's Center for Advanced Imaging Research. In addition to radiology, he has a joint appointment in physiology and biomedical engineering.

Dr. Ehman was awarded the Gold Medal of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in 1995 for his research contributions. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the American College of Radiology. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Saskatchewan in 2000.

Dr. Ehman served as a full member of the Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Study Section of the NIH from 1995 to 1999 and returned to serve as chair of that study section from 2002 to 2004. He is an associate editor of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and a member of the editorial boards of several other journals. Dr. Ehman was president of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine for 2002�.

Dr. Ehman was educated in Canada, receiving his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Saskatchewan. His residency was at the University of Calgary, and he held research fellowships at the University of California at San Francisco and Mayo Clinic. He has mentored over 30 graduate students and fellows and published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles. He joined Mayo Clinic in 1985.