NIH institute director receives 2013 Pierre Galletti Award

NIBIB’s Roderic Pettigrew recognized for promoting science, engineering and education

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) presented Roderic Pettigrew, Ph.D., M.D., director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the 2013 Pierre Galletti Award at the 2013 AIMBE Annual Event held in Washington, D.C. this month. It is the highest honor that AIMBE, a nonprofit organization that provides leadership and advocacy in medical and biological engineering for the benefit of society, bestows on an individual.
The distinguished award is named after Pierre Galletti, a luminary in the biomedical engineering field who filled many roles during his life: researcher, inventor, teacher, mentor, entrepreneur, academic administrator and public policy advocate. After Galletti’s passing in 1997, AIMBE recognized their second president with the establishment of the award in 1999. Other prominent awardees include Robert S. Langer, Sc.D. and Shu Chien, M.D., Ph.D., both laureates

of the National Medal of Science awarded by The White House.
Dr. Pettigrew, the first director of the NIBIB at the National Institutes of Health and a class of 2003 Fellow of AIMBE, was honored for impactful contributions to public awareness of medical and biological engineering and the promotion of the national interest in science, engineering and education in his role as director of NIBIB and for cutting-edge research in cardiovascular radiology diagnostic and treatment strategies.
“I am deeply honored to accept this award in recognition of work that really has been a labor of love: advancing the nation’s health through scientific discovery, innovation at the interface of engineering, the physical and life sciences, and educating the next generation of diverse and interdisciplinary scientists,” said Dr. Pettigrew. In accepting the award Dr. Pettigrew gave the Pierre Galletti Award Lecture at the AIMBE annual conference, where he highlighted cutting-edge science funded by NIBIB and its innovative team-based training programs.
Dr. Pettigrew is also known for his pioneering research at Emory University, Atlanta, involving four-dimensional imaging of the cardiovascular system using magnetic resonance. Dr. Pettigrew's other awards include membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the Bennie Award (Benjamin E. Mays) for Achievement, and being named the Most Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Miami (1990). He was the Radiological Society of North America's 75th Diamond Jubilee Eugene P. Pendergrass New Horizons Lecturer. He is also the recipient of the Herbert Nickens Award of the Association of American Medical College, the Pritzker Distinguished Achievement Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Distinguished Service Award of the National Medical Association. He has been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering.
NIBIB’s mission is to support multidisciplinary research and research training at the crossroads of engineering and the biological and physical sciences. NIBIB supports emerging technology research and development within its internal laboratories and through grants, collaborations, and training. More information is available at the NIBIB website: http://www.nibib.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

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