Wade Wong was installed as the sixth president of the American Society of Spine Radiology on April 4, 2000 at the society's annual meeting in Atlanta. The increasing importance of interventional diagnostic and therapeutic spine procedures in the practice of spine radiology is reflected in this presidential choice. Wade is recognized as both an innovator in interventional techniques and an excellent teacher, characteristics that will serve the ASSR well during his year as president.
Wade was born and brought up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and as one might guess, he has remained close to the West Coast of the United States for most of his life. After finishing his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, Wade moved to Missouri in 1968 in order to obtain his DO degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. After an internship at the Naval Regional Medical Center in San Diego, California, he spent 1 year as a resident in aerospace medicine at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida. Wade then returned to California and served 2 years as a naval flight surgeon in Miramar. He subsequently entered a radiology residency at the Naval Regional Medical Center at Oakland in 1976, and after his training, he moved north to Bremerton, Washington for a job in private practice.
After 10 years in that practice, Wade decided to obtain formal training in neuroradiology. He returned to San Diego in 1991 for a fellowship under John Hesselink and Chuck Kerber at the University of California. His training with Chuck was particularly important in his professional career; that experience helped direct his future training, which eventually included both neurovascular and spinal interventional procedures. After fellowship training, Wade was offered a faculty position at UCSD, where he was initially involved in head and neck imaging. In fact, as Wade reflects on his academic work, the article he is most proud of dealt with interarterial chemotherapy in head and neck cancer (AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1998;19:935–994), which he coauthored with Chuck Kerber.
Wade and his wife Louise have two children, Lisa age 21 and Robert age 26, and one grandchild, Jessica age 3. Wade grew up bird hunting in Hawaii and continues to enjoy that activity, joined on occasion by his wife. Ocean kayaking is another of Wade's hobbies; he is still the holder of a northwest ocean kayaking record and to this day trains in the sport.
Wade sees a great opportunity for the ASSR in educating its members in the value and techniques of spine interventional procedures. He recognizes that this rapidly growing area of radiology requires an increase in the number of trained radiologists to help determine the proper clinical management of spine patients. Broadening the membership of the ASSR to include musculoskeletal radiologists is another of Wade's goals for the upcoming year. As the society continues to grow, leaders such as their current president, Wade Wong, will help ensure that the skill levels of its members keep pace with clinical demands and that the ASSR continues to grow as a critical component of the American Society of Neuroradiology.
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