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Anthony Mancuso, M.D., has X-ray vision鈥攁nd not just because he鈥檚 a neuroradiologist.

As chairman of the department of radiology for the past three years, he鈥檚 had the foresight to forge new ties with colleagues around the 网红黑料 Science Center, capitalize on advances in imaging technology to improve patient care and foster new multidisciplinary research initiatives that could change the face of the field.

That should come as no surprise, given his track record before he assumed the leadership post. Mancuso, a specialist in head and neck radiology, was among the first in the world to recognize the extent to which computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging could be applied to the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

He is credited with pioneering the use of CT for staging cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with head and neck cancer. He also discovered that data on tumor volume derived from CT scans could help doctors plan treatment and predict outcomes for patients with certain head and neck cancers. In addition, he helped advance the use of MR imaging for detecting cancers that spread along nerves in the head and neck region.

鈥淲hen I arrived here, Dr. (Nicholas) Cassisi and Dr. (Rodney) Million were running such an advanced and strong interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer that it synergized my work,鈥� Mancuso said. 鈥淭hey were years ahead of others in their field, certainly a decade or more ahead. My arrival here and being able to work with them brought far more meaning to my work than would have been possible if I鈥檇 been working in isolation, as many radiologists did back in those times. In the late 鈥�70s and early 鈥�80s, radiologists were much more isolated from clinicians in their work. 鈥淲e became, quite frankly, one of the best-recognized teams in the world at the interdisciplinary care of head and neck cancer鈥攖hat is, using combined surgery and radiotherapy for treatment in combination with very good treatment planning鈥攑artially because I was able to use these imaging tools to help them understand the extent of the disease better than it could be understood before,鈥� he said.

Mancuso said he also is motivated by other leaders, such as William Luttge, Ph.D., director of the McKnight Brain Institute,and Albert Rhoton Jr., M.D., chairman emeritus of the department of neurosurgery. 鈥淭hey are role models,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think they are the best people I鈥檝e come in contact with who embody what we should be as an academic institution, with the ability to translate those values to better patient care. They鈥檝e been inspirational leaders in the 20 years I鈥檝e been here.鈥�

These days, as Mancuso has traded many of his research responsibilities for administrative duties, he has become a mentor in his own right, particularly in neuroradiology research and radiology education.

鈥淲ith regard to research, we need to help our clinical colleagues use any tools we have in radiology to answer the questions that they need answered in their own research,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or instance, we offer very advanced MR techniques in the brain that we can only have available here through high-level cooperation between us and other institutions and industry.

鈥淢y job is to see that we bring such advances here as rapidly as possible to put us in the most competitive position to get research funding from government sources or industry sources, and if we鈥檙e doing that kind of cutting-edge research, that means those techniques become available to our patients sooner,鈥� he added. 鈥淎gain, our role as radiologists is predominately in supporting the multidisciplinary approach to research. My goal is to create a research infrastructure in radiology that鈥檚 responsive to the needs in other disciplines in medicine that need our tools to answer the clinical questions posed.鈥�

Current partnerships include joint efforts by faculty in radiology and at the Brain Institute to assess the use of MR imaging in evaluating patients with traumatic brain injury. In another project, researchers are looking at advanced MR applications for various brain disorders.

Research also is aimed at improving educational initiatives. UF radiologists Christopher Sistrom, M.D., and Linda Lanier, M.D., have received a grant from the Radiological Society of North America to teach radiology residents how to more effectively transmit radiology results into written reports. They also are studying how to integrate information technology with education and patient services to make data from radiology tests more meaningful and available to clinicians.

Mancuso, meanwhile, works to ensure the radiology business operation remains profitable.

鈥淚n terms of revenue to the hospital and revenue to the College of Medicine, this is a fairly large business, generating over $35 to $40 million a year,鈥� Mancuso said. 鈥淭he business has to be run well enough so that whatever revenues we produce over expenses can be reinvested wisely to promote good patient care, equip the department and stay on the cutting edge.鈥�

One example: Last year, the department transitioned from a film-based system to a picture archiving and computer system that offers electronic versions of all images that can be securely transmitted to physicians worldwide over the Web. UF radiologists also can bring radiology services to their colleagues at affiliated community hospitals using the system.

A voice recognition system has been installed so that once doctors have dictated their reports the information can be rapidly uploaded to the medical record without the need for a transcriptionist. Other new developments include the following:

At Shands at AGH, installation this month of an advanced MR unit capable of high-level cardiovascular and brain imaging. In addition, within the next year, a similar MR machine will be placed adjacent to the Emergency Department at Shands at UF.

Equipping the planned Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Institute with the most advanced CT, MR and routine radiographic equipment available. Related joint research efforts include using a super high-field scanner to explore cartilage changes in patients with the earliest stages of arthritis. New projects will focus on new MR imaging techniques to refine surgical treatment of cancers of the extremities, the development of new radiotracers to improve bone and bone marrow imaging, and multidisciplinary approaches to the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis.

Forging of a cooperative agreement with the cardiovascular medicine and radiology departments in Gainesville and at Shands Jacksonville for advanced noninvasive cardiovascular imaging with CT and MR. An advanced MR machine with cardiac capabilities recently was installed at Shands Jacksonville.

Upgrading of the 3-tesla MR whole-body machine within the next few months, through a joint effort between the College of Medicine, the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Shands at UF. The unit will be used for patient care and advanced research.

Upgrading of an angiography room and creation of a vascular operating room equipped for surgical and nonsurgical endovascular interventions, through a cooperative agreement between interventional radiology and vascular surgery.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this idea that radiology has tentacles everywhere,鈥� Mancuso said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very interesting interdependence. If radiology is in any way weakened, it will weaken the whole.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important that people understand whenever we make decisions with regard to how we allocate capital for new equipment, renovations or technological systems, that we are very cognizant of the needs of the clinical departments, and we try to spread those resources as fairly as we possibly can,鈥� he added. 鈥淓verything we do is for the benefit of patients and the clinicians we serve because without the patients, and without the doctors referring the patients for imaging studies, we have no purpose. My focus is always on what鈥檚 best for the whole.鈥�

All these developments are occurring at a time when intense market demand for radiologists makes it difficult for academic institutions to recruit faculty members because of salary disparities.

鈥淭he marketplace for radiologists right now is highly competitive,鈥� Mancuso said. 鈥淎cademicians work for half to one-third what a private practice radiologist makes. My goal here is to create an environment that is so satisfying they鈥檙e willing to forego that level of compensation for the satisfaction of practicing in a more sophisticated environment with a higher level of patient care.鈥�

Mancuso seeks to recruit an interventional radiologist, a clinician/scientist to work in the field of advanced MR applications related to vascular disease, and an MR physicist who would coordinate the department鈥檚 activities with that of the Brain Institute and the cardiovascular program in advanced MR research.

The son of Italian immigrants, Mancuso credits his drive to become a doctor in part to his mother鈥檚 鈥渒indly brainwashing.鈥�

鈥淢y mother thought being a doctor was the greatest thing in the world,鈥� said Mancuso, the eldest of three children who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., but grew up in North Miami. 鈥淪he brainwashed me when I was a kid. I always wanted to be a doctor. I didn鈥檛 really know why. It turns out my mother brainwashed me starting when I was 2 or 3 years old. She used to play that game with me when I was a kid鈥� that 鈥榙octor, lawyer, Indian chief鈥� game. She related to me she used to do that little nursery rhyme with me, and she鈥檇 say, 鈥榃hat are you going to be?鈥� And she鈥檇 always stop on doctor.鈥�

Mancuso, who graduated second in his class from the University of Miami School of Medicine, said his motto is to live a life devoted to service to others. A diplomate of the American Board of Radiology, he has been president of the American Society of Head and Neck Radiology and is a member of many other scholarly societies and editorial boards.

Outside the 网红黑料 Science Center, he enjoys board surfing and has ridden the waves from Hawaii to Australia. He also is trained in classical dance and has participated in many local productions of 鈥淭he Nutcracker.鈥� These days he spends most of his time on his 90-acre farm near Archer, working with his wife, Nanette, and his 25-year-old daughter Gina to develop a therapeutic riding program for children and adults with mental and physical impairments.

鈥淚鈥檓 learning how to train horses, and ride and drive horses, and helping plan for a startup of that therapeutic enterprise,鈥� said Mancuso, also the father of a 29-year-old son, Nick, and 2-year-old twins, Victor and Marianna. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking now to form a cooperative agreement with the physical therapy department at Shands to develop a hippotherapy program in conjunction with the physical therapy program. That鈥檚 my dream.鈥�