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SIR and SIR Foundation 2024 awardees

Awarded during the Opening Plenary Session
Sunday, March 24, 10:30 a.m.–noon

SIR Annual Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecture

The Dr. Charles T. Dotter Lecture honors one of the founding fathers of interventional radiology and selection by the SIR president is based on extraordinary contributions to the field, dedicated service to the society and distinguished career achievements in interventional radiology. The Dotter lecture is made possible with funding from SIR Foundation.

Ezequiel “Zeke” Silva III, MD, FSIR is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He completed his medical education and residency at Baylor College of Medicine before pursuing a fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Silva has an impressive track record of leadership and contributions in the field of interventional radiology. He previously served as the chairman of economics for the Society of Interventional Radiology and as the editor of the Interventional Radiology Coding Guide. Additionally, he was a board member of the Radiology Coding Certification Board for five years and also held the position of Past President of the Texas Radiological Society.

His commitment to advancing the field of interventional radiology extends to national organizations, where he plays significant roles. Dr. Silva is the Co-Chair of the AMA Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group (DMPAG) and is a member of the AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee (RUC), where he serves as Chair of the RUC Research Subcommittee. Furthermore, he is a valuable member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Delegation to the American Medical Association and the TMA Council on Socioeconomics.

In terms of academic contributions, Dr. Silva boasts an impressive body of work. He has authored 77 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, along with over 55 non-peer-reviewed publications. His expertise has been acknowledged through more than 55 CME approved scientific lectures and exhibits. Notably, in 2016, his paper on alternative payment models received the "Best of 2016" award from the Journal of the American College of Radiology. He was also a semi-finalist for Aunt Minnie's Scientific Paper of the Year in the same year.

Dr. Silva's academic achievements have been primarily focused on payment policy and quality initiatives in radiology and across the broader healthcare landscape. In 2010, he chaired the ACR Task Force on Teleradiology Practice, with a particular emphasis on establishing technical and practice standards for the digital practice of radiology. This effort resulted in the publication of the "ACR White Paper on Teleradiology Practice," for which he served as the lead author.

Locally, in San Antonio, Dr. Silva is an esteemed member of the board of directors for the South Texas Radiology Group and Diagnostic Imaging Management. He also holds the position of Medical Director of Radiology at the Methodist Texsan Hospital and serves as an adjunct professor at the UT Health-San Antonio. Recognized among the "40 Under Forty: San Antonio's Rising Stars," he is also a multi-year recipient of San Antonio's "Best Doctors" accolade, as chosen by his peers within the medical community.

Dr. Silva's clinical interests encompass digital applications in healthcare, with a particular focus on oncology imaging and interventions. His unwavering commitment to the field of interventional radiology and healthcare at large underscores his reputation as a distinguished and influential figure in the medical community.

The Gold Medal, the Society of Interventional Radiology's highest honor, is awarded not only for extraordinary service to SIR but to those who have dedicated their past and present talents to advancing the quality of medicine and patient care through the practice of interventional radiology.

Fred T. Lee Jr., MD is a Professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Urology and The Robert A. Turrell Professor of Imaging Science at the University of Wisconsin Department of Radiology. Dr. Lee has a special interest in cancer imaging and intervention with an emphasis on percutaneous tumor ablation. As an early pioneer in the field, he established the tumor ablation laboratory at Wisconsin in 1995, one of the first of its type in the world, and his work has resulted in nearly 300 scientific publications, 22 book chapters, more than 70 major awards including multiple “Best Doctor” and leadership awards, 25 patents and inventions, and substantial federal and industrial grant support. The UW Clinical Tumor Ablation Program draws patients from all over the world to Madison. He is an inventor of two of the world’s most widely applied tumor ablation devices, which have been used to cure, prolong life, or relieve symptoms in over 80,000 cancer patients. The FDA has designated two devices he invented or helped develop as “Breakthrough Devices.” Dr. Lee is a founder of two venture-backed medical device companies: NeuWave Medical Inc., a University of Wisconsin spin-off company that sold to Ethicon (Johnson & Johnson) in 2016, and Elucent Medical, Inc. a commercial-stage company improving surgery for breast and lung cancer and has been used in almost 10,000 patients. Dr. Lee is currently leading the translation of histotripsy for clinical use and is a board member and Senior Medical Advisor for Histosonics, Inc., a venture-backed company developing the EdisonTM platform for delivery of histotripsy.     

Dr. Lee follows in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Fred Lee Sr., who developed ultrasound-based solutions for the detection, characterization, and treatment of prostate cancer and was an early pioneer in cryoablation. Dr. Lee is especially grateful for the support of his wife, Dr. Marjorie DiMaggio, and children, Dr. Mary Bridget Lee and Nicholas Lee.


Albert A. Nemcek, Jr., MD, FSIR - Al to friends and Andy to family - was born in Spokane, Washington, to a radiologist (Al Sr.) who loved to perform “special procedures” and a nurse (Shirley) who was passionate about patient care. The firstborn of six siblings, he spent his formative years in Wisconsin and attended Brookfield East High near Milwaukee, graduating as a Salutatorian.

Wishing to pursue gymnastics at the collegiate level and combine sports with a solid university curriculum, Al attended Stanford University as an undergraduate, majoring in Biological Sciences and graduating with distinction. While there, he received the “Block S” Honors Award, given to the Stanford varsity athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. He started a medical career and headed to southern California to attend the UCSD School of Medicine.

Following graduation, Al pursued a diagnostic radiology residency in San Diego. He decided to further subspecialize by entering the relatively new field of interventional radiology, which he felt optimally combined diagnostic acumen and problem-solving with direct patient interaction and procedural skills. He returned to the Midwest to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he completed his fellowship and stayed as an attending and where he has spent the remainder of his career. He has been fortunate to work with many amazing partners and trainees.

Al has served for many years as co-chair of Quality for Radiology; in 2014, he obtained a Master’s degree in Health Care Quality and Patient Safety from Northwestern. Al has been named a Top Doctor by Chicago Magazine on multiple occasions and has been honored by the establishment in 2011 of the Albert A. Nemcek Jr. endowed professorship in Interventional Radiology at Northwestern.

Al’s love for teaching has led to frequent lectures at regional, national, and international meetings. He also became active in SIR, participating on multiple committees, including the Annual Meeting committee, and serving for five years as Editor-in-Chief for JVIR. As a result of this tenure, he met the woman who has become his life partner, Christine Battle. Her intelligence, kindness, and good humor continue to inspire him.

Outside of medicine, Al has pursued interests in fly fishing and music. He has developed modest proficiency in harmonica and bass guitar and has even been observed singing in public.

Al is incredibly proud of his four children and their spouses (Erich and Kasey, Rachel, Mitchell and Jenny, and Grace) and his three grandchildren (Nolan, Rie, and Calvin).



Bien Soo Tan, MD is a Senior Consultant at the Department of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and a Clinical Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School.

Dr. Tan’s initial training in interventional radiology was in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at the SGH, followed by a fellowship at Guy’s Hospital in London, where he trained under Professor Andy Adam and Dr John Reidy. On his return, he helped to develop the interventional radiology services in SGH, establishing the center as the largest in South East Asia. It is now a stand-alone Department of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. The department has also trained more than 50 fellows from Asia and beyond,

Dr. Tan has served in various leadership positions at his institution and professional organizations. He was the Academic Chair of the Radiological Sciences Academic Clinical Programme at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Center from 2014 to 2020, the Chair of the Division of Radiological Sciences at SGH from 2017 to 2020, and the Head of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology, SGH from 2002 to 2010.

He is a past President of the Asia Pacific Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (APSCVIR), and a past President of the College of Radiologists, Singapore. He is currently on the team of editors of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology.

Dr .Tan is a fellow of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe (CIRSE). He is active in research and has authored several publications in key interventional radiology clinical trials.

Dr. Tan has been recognized for his contributions with several awards, among which are the CIRSE Distinguished Fellow Award in 2013, and the 2022 Gold Medal of the APSCVIR.

Dr. Tan is married to Soo See, a breast radiologist, and they are the proud parents of four children: Sarah, Deborah, Joanna and Yuancheng. They were recently elevated to grandparent status with the arrival of Jeremy. Despite everyone’s busy schedules, the Tan family makes it a point to gather for a meal weekly.

Since his knees gave way many years ago, Dr Tan has had to give up running, and he now enjoys a good swim. He also loves discovering new food haunts on the island of Singapore, where eating is a favorite pastime, and aspires to start a food blog when he retires.

SIR Foundation Leader in Innovation Award

The Leader in Innovation Award recognizes and promotes innovation within interventional radiology, continuing IR’s historical innovative development that has revolutionized medicine over the last 40 years. The award acknowledges individuals who have conceptualized and implemented an idea that has had an advantageous impact on the practice of interventional radiology.

Suresh Vedantham, MD, FSIR is widely recognized as a distinguished leader in the clinical delivery and rigorous investigation of image-guided therapies for venous thromboembolism (VTE). He completed medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (1992), medical internship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (1993), radiology residency at UCLA Medical Center (1997), and interventional radiology (IR) fellowship at Stanford University (1998). In 1998, Dr. Vedantham joined the faculty of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, where he is currently a Professor of Radiology & Surgery, Assistant Dean for Clinical Research, and Founder-Director of its Trial-CARE Center that focuses on multicenter clinical trial innovation.

Dr. Vedantham played a central role in refining innovative IR treatments for venous disease and devoted his career to developing high-quality evidence to guide venous care. In 2008, he was publicly thanked by the U.S. Surgeon General for his leadership in bringing together diverse stakeholders around VTE awareness. The recipient of more than $30 million in grant funding, including over $22 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a central accomplishment of his career has been in defining a pathway for IR physicians to obtain large-scale NIH grant support.  Dr. Vedantham serves as National Principal Investigator (PI) of the landmark NIH-sponsored ATTRACT and C-TRACT Trials and as National Co-PI of the NIH-sponsored PE-TRACT Trial that are defining the optimal role of catheter-based therapy in the management of VTE.  The results of ATTRACT, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and other journals, yielded deep insights into the effects of endovascular therapy upon post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), and heavily influenced societal guidelines for clinical practice and research.

Dr. Vedantham service to IR has included mentoring many young physicians and researchers, chairing SIR’s Service Line Division and Task Force on Innovation and Intellectual Property, and serving on the SIR Executive Council (2009-2019) and as SIR President (2017-2018). He has also served on the boards of the American Venous Forum, American College of Phlebology, American Board of Phlebology, Vascular Disease Foundation, and Venous Disease Coalition.

Dr. Vedantham has authored more than 165 articles and has given hundreds of educational presentations. He has received a Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award (Clinical Research Forum, 2018), Distinguished Investigator Award (Academy of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research, 2018), Venous Educator Innovator and National Statesman (VEINS) Award (VIVA Physicians, 2019), Charles T. Dotter Memorial Lecturer Award (American Heart Association, 2021), and multiple Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology awards.

SIR Foundation Frederick S. Keller, MD, Philanthropy Award

Awarded during the Monday Plenary Session
March 25, 10:30 a.m.–noon

The Frederick S. Keller, MD, Philanthropy Award honors an individual who, through exceptional generosity and through inspiring others to give, demonstrates outstanding commitment to SIR Foundation.


John Lipman, MD, FSIR is a board-certified Interventional Radiologist and renowned authority in the non-surgical treatment of uterine fibroids. He is also a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and an award-winning public speaker. He received his Masters and Medical degrees from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1985. He completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Then, he did a Vascular and Interventional Radiology fellowship at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine.

He was awarded the highly acclaimed Fellowship status in the American College of Radiology and Society of Interventional Radiology, honors that only ~10% of Radiologists ever achieve in their career. He has delivered over 200 invited lectures to some of the most prestigious medical centers in the country, including Harvard, Morehouse, Vanderbilt, and Yale Medical Centers. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Medical Association of Atlanta (MAA) and Cobb County Medical Society (CCMS).

He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Sharecare, an interactive internet healthcare platform founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jeff Arnold (the creator of WebMD). He was an Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Health Care Hero of the Year, a “Top Docs” in Atlanta from Atlanta magazine, the 2019 Trailblazer Physician of the Year from the Atlanta Medical Association, the 2021 Vanguard Award for Philanthropy from Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and in October 2022 he was recognized by AmeriCorps and President Biden with a Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding Community Service.

Dr. Lipman is the Founder and Medical Director of the Atlanta Fibroid Center and an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MSM.