 Stephen R. Thomas graduated with a BA degree in physics from Williams College, Williamstown, MA in 1963. He served in the Peace Corps for 2 years in Ghana, West Africa, teaching science and mathematics in a secondary school in the capital city of Accra. Returning to the academic world of Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, he obtained a masters in 1968 and the doctorate degree in 1973 (experimental solid state physics). The switch to medical physics occurred in 1974. He joined the University of Cincinnati faculty within the Department of Radiology in 1975 and was Director of the Division of Medical Physics from 1991 to 1998. Currently he is Professor Emeritus and Director of Medical Physics for University Radiology Associates.
Dr. Thomas served as President of the American Association of Physicists (AAPM) in 1997. He is a Fellow of the AAPM and of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). Currently he is Vice-Chair of the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) Committee of the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Dr. Thomas’ primary research interests have been within the areas of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear medicine dosimetry. On an historical note, the first clinical MRI scan performed in the city of Cincinnati was acquired in 1985 on the 0.15 T whole body imaging system built by the medical physics group under his direction. The focus of Dr. Thomas' research in magnetic resonance has been on the utilization of fluorine-19 MRI techniques to monitor tissue oxygen content (pO2) in vivo through analysis of MR signals from introduced perfluorocarbon compounds (the so-called ‘blood substitutes’). Within nuclear medicine, Dr. Thomas has published extensively on the topic of radiopharmaceutical dosimetry and techniques for in vivo quantitation of radioactivity. These investigations continue through the activities of the MIRD Committee. Ongoing graduate student research projects include Monte Carlo simulation of the radiation dose distribution in coronary vessel walls from radioactive balloon catheters or stents during intravascular brachytherapy procedures.
steve.thomas@uc.edu
|
