Hedvig (Hedi) Hricak, M.D., Ph.D., Dr.h.cm., is Chair of the Department of Radiology of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), a position she has held since 1999. Under her leadership, the department has evolved into one of the largest and most prominent oncologic imaging departments in the world, providing state-of-the-art clinical care while conducting innovative and influential translational 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. Before joining MSK, she was a professor of radiology, radiation oncology, urology and gynecology at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical School and served as chief of the abdominal section of the Department of Radiology at UCSF Medical Center.

Dr. Hricak is renowned for developing and validating clinical applications of novel imaging technologies to address pressing patient needs, particularly in oncology, and for going on to disseminate these applications around the globe through publications, presentations, teaching and advocacy efforts. She was one of the pioneers in establishing the clinical value of MRI for kidney cancer, MRI and MR spectroscopy for prostate cancer, and CT and MRI for gynecological cancers. To date, she has published more than 450 original peer-reviewed research articles along with 230 peer-reviewed editorial review manuscripts and 18 books. She continues to be actively engaged in research, with a focus on applying machine learning to enhance the value of oncologic imaging.

Dr. Hricak 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. She is currently a member of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies as well as multiple other national and international advisory bodies. She has also served as President of the California Academy of Medicine, the Society for the Advancement of Women’s Imaging, the Society of Urogenital Radiology, the New York Roentgen Ray Society, the Radiological Society of North America, the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology, and the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research, which is the leading advocate for government funding of imaging research in the United States.

Dr. Hricak has long been dedicated to promoting education and the evidence-based use of imaging worldwide. She has personally mentored many radiologists who have gone on to leadership positions in the United States and abroad, and she has fostered a vibrant research fellowship and observership program across the Department of Radiology at MSK. Her many outreach efforts have included working with non-profit agencies in the United States and abroad and with faculty and staff from MSK to provide education and equipment for breast cancer screening programs in Croatia and Serbia. In addition, since 2004, she has led a fellowship program, funded by a grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which has trained numerous radiologists from 20 countries in breast imaging practice and research, with the goal of improving breast cancer patient outcomes worldwide. She also co-leads an NIH-funded partnership between MSK and The City College of New York aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minority and low-income students who enroll in and complete MD, PhD or MD/PhD programs as well as the number of these students who pursue cancer-related research careers.  Also, in 2004, in concert with the New York City Department of Education, she launched the program “Radiology: Giving Back to New York City” for juniors from New York City public high schools. The program, hosted annually at MSK, aims to inspire and educate students and teachers about careers in healthcare, with a focus on radiology and STEM.

Recently, Dr. Hricak led the steering committee of The 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.

For her scientific achievements and her efforts to advance education, clinical practice and research in cancer imaging around the world, Dr. Hricak has received numerous honors and awards. She is an elected fellow of the American College of Radiology, the Society of Uroradiology, the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the International Cancer Imaging Society, and the World Molecular Imaging Society. In addition, she is a “foreign member” of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Russian Academy of Medicine, and she has been awarded honorary fellowship or membership in the Royal College of Radiologists, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, the British Institute of Radiology, the German Radiological Society, the Austrian Roentgen Society, the Croatian Society of Radiology, the Journées Françaises de Radiologie, the Swedish Society of Medical Radiology, the Chinese Radiological Society, the Japanese Radiological Society, Israel Radiological Association, Indian Radiological & Imaging Association, Argentinean Society of Radiology, Swiss Society of Radiology, French Canadian Society, and the Hong Kong College of Radiologists. She has received the Marie Curie Award from the Society of Women in Radiology; the gold medals of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the Association of University Radiologists, the Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology, the European Society of Radiology, and the Radiological Society of North America; the Beclere medal of the International Society of Radiology; the Schinz Medal of the Swiss Society of Radiology; the Morocco Medal of Merit; the Jean A. Vezina French Canadian Award of Innovation; the Order of the Croatian Morning Star of Katarina Zrinska Presidential Award of Croatia; the Rambam Inaugural Scientific Achievement Award from Rambam Medical Center in Israel; the Jill Rose Award for scientific excellence from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation; and the Lilian Leong Gold Medal from the Hong Kong College of Radiologists.

In addition, she has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany and the University of Toulouse III, Paul Sabatier in France.