Paul Parizel, MD, PhD

Paul M. Parizel graduated summa cum laude as M.D. from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Belgium, in 1982. He is a board-certified radiologist, and completed fellowships in neuroradiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Prof. Dr. Juan M. Taveras), and at Hôpital Erasme, University of Brussels (Prof. Dr. Danielle Balériaux). He developed the neuroradiology division at Antwerp University Hospital. In 2016 Prof. Parizel was elected as the first radiologist to be President of both the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) at the same time. (2) In 1994, he obtained a Ph.D. degree with a dissertation entitled “The influence of field strength on magnetic resonance imaging (a comparative study in physicochemical phantoms, isolated brain specimens and clinical applications).” He was able to continue his research thanks to a 3-year ‘Fundamental Clinical Research’ grant from the “Foundation for Scientific Research” in Belgium.

In 2019, Dr. Parizel moved from Belgium to Australia where he is the inaugural David Hartley Chair of Radiology at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) and the Director of the Western Australian National Imaging Facility (NIF) node. (3) In recognition of his outstanding, internationally-recognised achievements and leadership in the areas of neuroradiology and artificial intelligence, Professor Parizel received the ESR Gold Medal at ECR 2021. From 2003 to 2019, he was Chairman of the Department of Radiology at the Antwerp University Hospital, and tenured Professor of Radiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp. He is was member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Antwerp, representing the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Prof. Parizel has authored or co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers (listed in PubMed) and more than 30 book chapters. He is editor and co-editor of several books, including “Clinical MR Imaging, a Practical Approach” (Reimer P, Parizel PM, Meaney JFM, Stichnoth F-A, Eds.) and “Spinal Imaging” (Van Goethem J, van den Hauwe L, Parizel PM, Eds.). His main fields of interest are neuroradiology and MRI, with a focus on integrating basic science with clinical applications. Throughout his career he has always strived to combine scientific research with patient-oriented imaging. He has presented invited lectures in many scientific meetings and courses on neuroradiology. Prof. Parizel received several international awards, including the prize of the European Society of Neuroradiology, ECR best presentation award, CompuRAD Exhibition Award. His national awards include the Award of the Belgian Government, Kodak Grant of the Royal Belgian Society of Radiology, and the “Astra Foundation Chair” for Lectures in Medicine. In 2014 he presented the Honorary Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Honorary Lecture during the European Congress of Radiology (ECR 2014) in Vienna. During the Swiss Congress of Radiology (SCR) in May 2018 Prof. Parizel was awarded the Swiss Society of Radiology's highest honour- The Schinz Medal. Prof. Parizel is an active member of many scientific societies and organizations. He served as President of the Royal Belgian Radiological Society (RBRS) from 1999 to 2000, was chairman of the Scientific Program Committee of the 2003 ESMRMB meeting in Rotterdam, and chairman of the Postgraduate Educational Course Programme for ECR 2011 in Vienna. From 2010 to 2012, he served as President of the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR). From March 2016 to March 2017 he was the President the European Society of Radiology (ESR) which is the largest radiology society in the world with more than 65,000 members. Since March 2017, he has been the Chairperson of the ESR Board of Directors. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian and New-Zealand College of Radiology (2002), honorary member of the Serbian Society of Neuroradiology (2012) and honorary and founding member of Russian National Society of Neuroradiology (2012). He became Honorary Member of the Serbian Society of Radiology (2013) and Honorary Member of the Societatea Radiologie și Imagistică Medicală din România (2015). In 2016 he became honorary member of the Sociedad Española de Radiología Médica, the European Society of Neuroradiology, the Société Française de Radiologie, the Israel Radiological Association and the Hellenic Radiological Society. In 2017, he became the Honorary Member of the American Society of Neuroradiology and the Iranian Society of Radiology. Dr. Parizel became an Honorary Member of the Radiological Society of North America during a plenary session at the RSNA 2018 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, USA. He has been a member of the Harvard Club of Belgium for almost twenty years.

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References:

1. Parizel identifies youth as central theme for ECR 2017. By Julia Patuzzi. March 7, 2016. Accessed July 26, 2018. https://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=rca&sub=ecr_2016&pag=dis&ItemID=113648

2. Paul Parizel, MD: 10 Things to Know about the ECR 2017 President. By Philip Ward. February 15, 2017. Accessed July 26, 2018. https://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=rca&sub=ecr_2017&pag=dis&ItemID=116558

3. Parizel quits Europe, heads Down Under. By Philip Ward. September 26, 2018. Accessed September 26, 2018. https://www.auntminnieeurope.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=cto&pag=dis&ItemID=616408