When you think of medical imaging research, a lot of names come to mind, but when you think of those having the most impact in terms of being an advocate for funding in radiology and imaging sciences, one name stands out—Lee Rosen ( Fig 1 ). Dr. Lee Rosen was a Scientific Review Officer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 26 years and head of the Biomedical Imaging Technology (BMIT) study section where the majority of our grants go for review. On October 22, 2015, Lee passed away after a short but valiant battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He will be dearly missed by those who served on his study sections and by those whose careers have been impacted by his constant efforts to make the grant review process as effective, efficient, and fair as possible. Lee not only went out of his way to recruit the best and the most appropriate reviewers for his study sections, but also took the added time and energy to talk with applicants about their submissions. His dedication to helping young scientists understand the review process was exemplified by the number of grant workshops he arranged and hosted at numerous scientific meetings over the years. It is impossible to count the number of medical imaging investigators that have benefited from Lee’s advocacy, support, wisdom, and above all, friendship.
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Figure 1
Lee Rosen, PhD in his office at the NIH.
Lee received his BS from Eastern Michigan University in Biology, his MS from Pennsylvania State University in Biology, and his PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Physiology with a postdoc in Toxicology at the NIH and another at Case Western Reserve University. Following this, his career was an intriguing mix of scientific and business ventures, starting with managing 12 multidisciplinary assessments and inventory studies for highway and construction projects with SJ Rosen Associates! As a Senior Scientist with Buchart Horn, he provided support for environmental, area drainage and sewage, and corps of engineering dredging construction efforts; with The Aerospace Corporation, he provided technical support on projects including the health effects of 60 Hz electromagnetic fields; and with W/L Associates, he provided technical support on contracts to the Department of Energy (DoE) including establishing a liaison between US and Canadian agencies with similar research interests in electromagnetics health studies. From 1991 to 2003, he conducted independent research at the Food and Drug Administration laboratories on pineal cell physiology, and for 1 year, assisted Food and Drug Administration investigators with computed tomography technology.
From 1989 to 2015, he was a Scientific Review Officer at the center for Scientific Review at the NIH where he was responsible for the review of imaging technology grant applications, which is where most of us know him from either as reviewers or as applicants. According to Lee, his “major strength (was) in the knowledge of specialists in the various fields of study of imaging.” One could hardly disagree—having sat on and chaired a number of his panels, I was always amazed at the number of busy scientists and clinicians from all aspects of imaging that he was able to recruit to provide the fairest and the most appropriate review of proposals.
Lee also organized numerous outreach efforts for investigators ranging from presentations on review for other organizations to all-day seminars, including mock study sections at American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Radiological Society of North America (RNSA), International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) Medical Imaging, the Society Of Interventional Radiology, and the Office of Extramural Research. He organized and conducted workshops as educational events for study sections on topics such as imaging software, electromagnetics, magnetoencephalography, molecular imaging, and validation. Many of us had the privilege of working with him in these efforts, often working well past dinner at society meetings to support him in these tireless but rewarding efforts.
The first grant review meeting Lee recruited me to participate in was an ad hoc special session—in Puerto Rico! It was one of those short meetings attached to an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) meeting with a limited number of grants on a special topic. After the meeting, we all went on a boat ride and scuba dived or snorkeled—scuba diving was really Lee’s passion but not just for himself. He always wanted everyone, whether at a review meeting or after hours, to feel comfortable, relaxed, and appreciated—that is what made working with him so pleasurable. I cannot recall a meeting where he did not have photos to share of his latest scuba diving trip—lighting up with each description of every fish and coral he encountered! He shared his interests with everyone not only about science and NIH but also about himself as well, which made working with him a pleasure and a privilege.
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