Aaron Bertrand (Randy) Brill, MD, PhD, former director of Nuclear Medicine and Biophysics at VUMC, died Feb. 13. He was 94.
Dr. Brill first joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1964 as an associate professor of Medicine with joint appointments in Radiology and Physics. In 1971, he was promoted to professor of Radiology where he served as co-director for the Radioisotope Center and director of Nuclear Medicine and Biophysics.
He left Vanderbilt in 1979 to pursue various research projects before returning as research professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences in the Section of Radiological Sciences in 1997.
Throughout his tenure, Dr. Brill gave a combined 37 years of service to Vanderbilt in the Departments of Radiology, Medicine, Physics, Epidemiology and Biomedical Engineering. In 2019, he was awarded Emeritus status before retiring at the close of the academic year.
“Randy Brill was an exceptional physician and nuclear scientist,” said Martin Sandler, MBChB, professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences. “We are most grateful for his decades of dedicated service and investigation to the science of theranostics in nuclear medicine.”
Dr. Brill was a native of Brooklyn, New York, and earned his medical degree from the University of Utah. He subsequently attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his fellowship in nuclear medicine and medical physics and his PhD in Biophysics.
His primary areas of research included radiation epidemiology and radiobiology dosimetry of internal emitters using single-photon emission computerized tomography, positron emission tomography, ultrasound and optical imaging. More specifically, Dr. Brill focused on the development of novel radiation detectors and computer applications in medicine.
Dr. Brill was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Joan Morrison, and their eldest child, Paul. He is survived by his children, Laurie and David, and his twin grandchildren, Shea and Louis. He is also survived by his significant other, Jane Norris.
A memorial service will be held Feb. 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Richland Place Retirement Community in Nashville.
