About Us

The department attracts faculty who have trained at top-tier programs in the United States and abroad, and offers a highly advanced and diverse environment in which medical students, residents, and fellows learn bioimaging sciences, and diagnostic and interventional radiology.

The residency program in Radiology & Biomedical Imaging is one of the most competitive and highly regarded in the nation, receiving more than 1200 applications for the 16 positions yearly. Our residency is the 4th largest in the United States and provides enviable training to the best and brightest in their field. Residency programs are available in Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Radiology. The new Yale Diagnostic Medical Physics Training Program is for candidates who are interested in pursuing a career as a clinical diagnostic imaging Medical Physicist.

The Department offers fellowship programs in Breast Imaging, Body Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Pediatrics, Musculoskeletal Imaging, Neuroradiology and Administrative Leadership in Radiology.

The Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging provides diagnostic imaging, screening, and interventional radiology services at Yale-New Haven Hospital and multiple ambulatory facilities throughout the State.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is one of the Top 10 largest hospitals in the United States, and is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best hospitals in the country. It is Yale School of Medicine’s primary teaching hospital. The Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital is designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, one of only 41 in the country.

The VA Diagnostic Imaging Service provides imaging consultation and diagnostic procedures for the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, with imaging centers at the West Haven and Newington campuses. Approximately 70,000 examinations are performed annually, including general and emergency radiography, fluoroscopy, multi-slice Computed Tomography, MRI, Ultrasound, Bone Densitometry, Angiography and interventional procedures, nuclear medicine and PET imaging with cyclotron facilities.

High-level research into MRI, MRS, PET, and Image Processing is undertaken by over 46 research faculty and post-doctorates who together generated grants totaling in excess of $21M in 2021.

A unique research opportunity is available to residents in Nuclear Medicine through the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Research Center. The PET Center is comprised of a technologically advanced radiochemistry laboratory that develops and uses PET radiopharmaceuticals labeled with the most common PET isotopes (11C, 15O, 13N, and 18F) as well as an imaging and data analysis section that oversees scanning procedures. The PET center comprises approximately 55 clinician scientists, basic scientists, technicians, and students. The PET Center has a GE PETtrace cyclotron for radioisotope production.

The Yale MR Research Center’s mission is to develop novel MR imaging methods with clinical and scientific applications. Research addresses basic science questions -- from stem cell migration and mechanisms of recovery, to understanding tissue damage and remodeling, to fundamental questions regarding brain function. The MR Research Center is interdisciplinary; its scientists have physics, engineering, chemistry, mathematics, and neuroscience backgrounds.

The Yale Radiology Global Outreach Program provides local and international opportunities for trainees and faculty to help address the global shortage of well-trained diagnostic and interventional radiologists. The Tanzania Elective sponsors Yale radiology residents who spend three weeks in Tanzania. In the fall of 2018, program members inaugurated the first Interventional Radiology training program in Tanzania.

Yale's Department of Radiology began in 1934 with the appointment of Dr. Hugh M. Wilson as the first chairperson. Like so many of America's radiology departments, Yale's Department of Radiology began as a section of the Department of Surgery rather than an independent department. Yale University School of Medicine listed one radiology course for medical students in the Department of Surgery as early as 1921, but a formal radiology residency, rather than apprenticeship, did not begin until the 1940s.

Formal recognition of Radiology as a separate department of the medical school from an administrative perspective occurred in 1945. However, it wasn't until the late 1950s under the leadership of Dr. Arnold Janzen, chairperson of Radiology 1949-1957, and Dr. Alfred Snoke, the president of YNHH, that Radiology became a fully independent department with a separate budget from Surgery for equipment and staffing.

With the opening of the Hunter Radiation Therapy Center in 1958, and the appointment of Dr. Morton M. Kligerman as Chair of Radiology in the same year, Yale's Department of Radiology finally achieved full departmental status, ending years of struggle between past chairs and the deans and presidents of the hospital. By 1961, Dr. Kligerman had appointed Dr. Richard H. Greenspan to lead the newly formed Section of Diagnostic Radiology.

Again, like many other departments in America, Radiation Therapy, now known as Therapeutic Radiology, was diverging from Diagnostic Radiology. It was clear that with the growth of diagnostic subspecialties, the sophistication of imaging technology and radiation biology and therapy, that it was impossible to become proficient in all these specialties during a 3 year residency. By 1967, many of the diagnostic radiology superstars had left Yale for greener pastures, including Dr. Greenspan, who returned in 1972 to lead the newly created Department of Diagnostic Radiology. A new department of therapeutic radiology was formed under Dr. James J. Fischer.

By the early 1970s, diagnostic and therapeutic radiology were separate departments in most American medical schools. The duration of training in diagnostic radiology was 3 years and then extended to 4 years in 1982. Technology in diagnostic imaging was developing rapidly. Computed tomography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and digital subtraction angiography led the advances and prepared the way for MRI in the mid-1980s. Between 1972 and 1986, Diagnostic Radiology continued to grow and many future leaders of American radiology were trained in the department.

Dr. Anne McBride Curtis served as acting chair of Yale Diagnostic Radiology between 1986 and 1988. Between 1988 and 1995, Dr. Robert I. White served as chair, followed by Dr. Bruce McClennan from 1995 to 2002. During these 16 years of tremendous growth in the department, separate sections of imaging science, magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy were formed. The subspecialty of Cardiovascular Radiology became Interventional Radiology complete with clinics and over 150 short-stay admissions yearly. Over the last 2-3 decades, diagnostic imaging transformed from primarily an X-ray based specialty to include sophisticated techniques based on computer tomography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The more recent healthcare revolution of managed care led to an emphasis on controlling cost and decreasing reimbursement. At the same time, the digital revolution was born and the transformation to a filmless department with 24-7 coverage became a reality.

In 2006, Dr. James Brink was appointed Chair of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology. Nationally recognized as an outstanding educator and an authority on abdominal CT imaging, Brink has pioneered technologies for maximizing resolution in multi-slice CT scanning while minimizing radiation dosage and risk to patients and is also a nationally recognized authority on radiation exposure related to medical imaging. He co-chairs the “Image Wisely” initiative, a social marketing campaign to increase awareness of educational materials related to adult radiation protection. In 2013, Dr. Brink left Yale to become chairman of Diagnostic Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Rob Goodman has served as chairm in addition to his duties as Chief of Pediatric Radiology since 2017. Dr Goodman has been the department's Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs since 2007 and was been an integral part of Yale Diagnostic Radiology's integration with the Hospital of St. Raphael since the Yale-New Haven Hospital acquisition in 2012. Despite the “fast forward” changes of healthcare, Yale's Diagnostic Radiology has continued to maintain a leadership role among American diagnostic radiology departments in terms of clinical care, research, and teaching.

Written by Robert I. White Jr., MD
Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist in Diagnostic Radiology