New chair bolsters Gore’s imaging research
John Gore, Ph.D., has been named the first recipient of the Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The chair is a bequest of Cress to support the work of an outstanding professor at VUMC.
Gore directs the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science and is a University Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering.
John Gore, Ph.D.
“I feel very privileged to hold this chair,” he said. “It provides additional resources to explore novel research directions and will support activities that would otherwise not be possible. Truly new ventures are not in a position to attract traditional funding, but this chair provides the discretionary funding necessary.”
Gore, who joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2002, is an internationally renowned expert in imaging technology with research focused on the development and application of advanced imaging techniques in clinical and basic sciences.
He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of London and has held faculty appointments at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London and Yale University.
Gore is a fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and received the group's gold medal award in 2004.
Mrs. Cress, who died in 2009, established the chair to commemorate the time that she and her late husband, Robert Cress, M.D., spent at Vanderbilt.
Mrs. Cress received a bachelor of arts degree in biology and chemistry from Vanderbilt in 1949 and a master's degree in bacteriology in 1951. Cress received his bachelor of arts and medical degrees from Vanderbilt and was a house officer in 1953.
“An endowed chair supports talented faculty to engage in early, cutting-edge research that is not eligible for traditional funding,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.
“We are so grateful that the Cress family has shown a commitment to research that has the potential to impact millions of patients. John Gore is the ideal recipient of this chair. He is a brilliant scientist and leader who is transforming imaging science.”