PRESS RELEASE
The American Society of Spine Radiology Presents 2016 Gold Medal to Wade H. M. Wong, D.O., FACR, FAOCR During 2016 Annual Symposium
The American Society of Spine Radiology (ASSR) presented the Society’s 2016 Gold Medal to Wade H. M. Wong, D.O., FACR, FAOCR on February 20 during the ASSR 2016 Annual Symposium, February 18-21 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida. Dr. Wong is the fourth recipient of the ASSR Gold Medal, which was established in 2013. The ASSR Gold Medal is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the Society and to spine radiology.
Dr. Wong is a Past President of the American Society of Spine Radiology. He is also a Past President of the Western Neuroradiological Society (WNRS) and of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology (AOCR.) Dr. Wong is a Fellow of the American College of Radiology (ACR) and a Fellow of the AOCR. He is a Senior Member of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR), WNRS, and the Society for Interventional Surgery (SNIS.)
Early in his involvement the ASSR, Dr. Wong initiated the hands-on training courses for the ASSR starting in 1999 at the Annual Symposium. About the same time he also introduced similar hands-on spine interventional courses for the RSNA, which led to his becoming the Chairman of the How-to and Hands-On Refresher Courses.
Dr. Wong is Professor Emeritus of Radiology at the University of California, San Diego. His involvement in teaching has been his hallmark. He is a three-time recipient of the Silver Spoon and two-time recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award for Neurosciences at UCSD. He is the recipient of the Trenery Medal for outstanding Lecturing. For 2015, Dr. Wong was selected to be the Outreach Professor to South Africa for the ASNR.
His list of publications exceed more than a hundred peer review articles, books, book chapters, scientific abstracts and exhibits. His invited lectures throughout the world number more than six hundred.
Dr. Wong has been an innovator. Early in his career, he worked with his mentor Dr. Chuck Kerber in developing a protocol for treating advanced stage Head and Neck Cancer with super dose intraarterial Chemotherapy and concurrent Radiation. This led to the best paper award at the ASNR Annual Meeting in 1997. He was one of the leaders in Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty. His collaborative work with Dr. Bassem Georgy introduced the concept of incorporating heat by RF Coblation for cancer mass destruction and cavity creation prior to augmentation. His work with Functional Anesthetic Discography led to the Gabriel Wilson Award for best paper at the WNRS Annual Meeting in 2006.
However, probably his most significant innovation was to carve a pathway for which radiologists could be recognized as physician experts in Pain Medicine. This he did by sacrificing a year from his busy interventional practice in order to take an ACGME Fellowship in Pain Medicine which led to a successful challenge to sit for the Pain Medicine Board Examination, resulting in ABMS Board Certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Pain Medicine and a precedent setting pathway for which radiologists could be certified in Pain Medicine. Today Radiologists can become Board Certified in Pain Medicine through the American Board of Radiology (ABR.)
For more information on the ASSR Gold Medal, or the society in general, contact Business Manager Ken Cammarata at ASSR, 800 Enterprise Drive, Oak Brook, IL 60523-4216, Phone: 630-574-0220, ext. 226, Fax: 630-574-0661, Email: kcammarata@asnr.org.
