Ryan Tang
Ryan Tang, second-year medical student at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, recently received the 2024 Dr. Constantin Cope Medical Student Research Award from the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation.
Tang was one of four medical students in the country to receive the award.
According to the foundation website, medical students who have demonstrated an interest in interventional radiology as a career and have participated in an original research project are eligible. The purpose of the award is to introduce interested medical students to the greater interventional radiology community at the annual meeting. The award recognizes the student-author of an accepted abstract that honors the spirit of inventiveness and scientific purity.
Tang helped in a clinical trial that studied the safety and feasibility of using magnetic resonance-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) on treating osteoid osteoma in children. Osteoid osteoma is a benign but painful bone tumor that occurs in the lower extremity long bones of children and adolescents.
MR-HIFU is a non-invasive treatment that uses high-intensity ultrasound to cause thermal ablation and mechanical breakdown to cells instead of using ionizing radiation. The trial concluded that MR-HIFU provided a higher level of pain relief and improved quality of life with minimal adverse events.
“Because of my experiences before medical school, I’ve always been interested in diagnostic radiology,” Tang said. “I look toward interventional radiology because the specialty combines my interests in the technology of radiology with hands-on procedural opportunities. With the growing interest in minimally invasive operations and surgeries, I think being part of I.R. is fascinating because it is on the forefront of utilizing those medical technologies.”
Tang has been accepted to present his abstract MR-HIFU ablation of Pediatric Osteoid Osteoma: Final Results of Pilot Trial at the foundation annual meeting in March 2024.