Endowed Chairs

Michael L. Manco-Johnson Endowed Chair

Michael L. Manco-Johnson received his MD from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1972. While a medical student, he worked with Dr. Joseph Holmes to help pioneer the use of ultrasound in the evaluation of the kidneys, and with Drs. Gil Blount and Bruce Patton to expand the field of echocardiography. After completing a Radiology Residency and Cardiology Fellowship at Duke University, he returned to the University of Colorado where he served as Chief of Ultrasound until 1985. During that tenure he built a world renowned Ultrasound Section which made many contributions to the field, including placing the 1^st in-utero fetal shunt to treat hydrocephalus, and the 1^st in-utero fetal blood transfusion, and describing the timing of neonatal intracranial hemorrhage. Additionally, he served as a co-investigator of the largest NIH funded Human Polycystic Research Disease study in the country. He also worked with or trained other physicians who also went on to make significant contributions to ultrasound, including, Horace Thompson, Ken Gottesfeld, John Hobbins, Larry Mack, Tom Stavros and Dolores Pretorius. As Chief of Ultrasound, Michael was also responsible for founding the School of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, which has trained over 300 Sonographers.

In 1985 Michael was appointed Chairman of Radiology at the University of Colorado. A position he held until 2004. Additionally, he served as Co-Director of the Prenatal Diagnosis Center at the University of Colorado from 1992-2004. Under Michael’s leadership, the Department reorganized from a modality—based to an organ-based approach which included a newly formed MSK Division, expanded its subspecialty trained faculty and strengthened ties between radiology departments at affiliated hospitals. His tenure also oversaw the implementation of the first MRI, SPECT camera, PET scanner and PACs system in the University of Colorado Hospital.

Michael’s academic accomplishments were many. He published 115 papers, 4 books and 28 book chapters, in addition to participating in many NIH funded grants. For his contributions to the field of Diagnostic Ultrasound he also received numerous awards, including the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine’s (AIUM) Joseph H. Holmes Pioneer Award in 1996 for his “significant contributions to the growth and development of diagnostic ultrasound”. In 2010 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound and recently was inducted into the AIUM’s Memorial Hall of Fame.

Michael Manco-Johnson was a leader in the field of Diagnostic Ultrasound, an accomplished physician and researcher, a mentor to many. Most importantly he was a friend and family man who was devoted to his wife Marilyn, his 5 children and his 10 grandchildren.

David A. Kumpe Endowed Chair

Dr. David Kumpe joined our department in August 1977, at a time when interventional radiology was just over the horizon. He was the first person in Colorado to devote his career to this new specialty. He had worked for a year at the Universitätsspital in Zürich with Dr. Andreas Grüntzig during the early developmental days of balloon angioplasty, a procedure which was unknown in the U.S at the time. His scientific poster at the 1976 RSNA was the first introduction of balloon angioplasty to the American Radiological community. He started and developed body IR at the University of Colorado with the support of surgeons, first in vascular surgery and then with others surgeons as they saw the value of the interventional procedures. Dave introduced more than 40 new procedures to our university and to Colorado. The Kumpe catheter which he developed around the time of his arrival at U CO, became the largest selling catheter worldwide. He was Director of Interventional Radiology from 1978 until 2005.

In 1987-88 he became interested in interventional neuroradiology, after treating two strokes intraarterially - at that time only 4 IA treatments of stroke had been reported from the US. After a sabbatical getting updated on neurointerventional techniques he started the NIR service, and was Director of Interventional Neuroradiology from 1990 until 2017. He set up the IR program for visiting medical students, and the fellowships in IR and NIR; he has trained over 60 fellows in body IR and 6 in NIR.

Because of his early involvement in developing procedures he continues to be a sought-out speaker to teach a wide variety of new procedures to IR and NIR physicians, both at national and international meetings, as well as myriad medical centers in the US and in Asia, the latter particularly in China and Korea. He has given over 800 invited presentations. His work on dural sinus stent placement in pseudotumor received the Best Original Scientific Poster award at SIR in 2011. He has been listed as a 5280 Top Doc, and in America’s Top Doctors since 2000 and Best Doctors in America since 1996. On the basis of his contributions he has been awarded both the Gold Medal of the Society of Interventional Radiology and the inaugural International Cooperation Award of the Chinese Society of Interventional Radiology.

During his long career at the University of Colorado he established our IR and NIR services - both of which are now indispensable in our medical center. It is seldom that a physician initiates one entirely new vital service during an academic career, and Dr. Kumpe did it twice. He accomplished this by creating a climate of open multidisciplinary cooperation with the referring surgical services. This led to the atmosphere of multidisciplinary cooperation between interventional radiology, interventional neuroradiology, interventional cardiology, vascular surgery, and neurosurgery we enjoy in our institution, which is quite unusual in major medical centers.

Howard M. Sheridan Endowed Chair

Howard M. Sheridan, MD, is a medical pioneer, businessman, and benefactor of CU Radiology, whose generous gifts throughout the years have made a lasting impact on the quality of education trainees receive in our program. Dr. Sheridan, a former CU Resident, was honored by the department when we renamed our resident conference room the Sheridan Conference Room on September 9, 2015.

Dr. Sheridan received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and his medical degree from Tulane University Medical School before joining the University of Colorado for his radiology residency. After residency, he moved to Fort Myers, FL where he practiced radiology, interventional radiology, and nuclear medicine. He served as president of the medical staff of Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and chairman of the Department of Radiology.

He is also credited with inventing the first self-retaining percutaneous nephrostomy tube and developing Florida’s first high energy linear accelerator out-patient radiation therapy center. The latter led him to becoming a co-founder and chairman of Radiation Therapy Services, Inc. (RTSX, nasdaq) – the largest radiation oncology provider in America at the time.

Dr. Sheridan’s business acumen is not limited to just medicine. In 1997 he co-founded Edison National Bank and is currently chairman of its parent company, Edison Bancorp. He is also the founder of the Fort Myers Kids Wrestling Club, a youth wrestling organization for elementary and middle school children and co-founder of 21^st Century C.A.R.E., a non-profit dedicated to cancer patient assistance, cancer research and cancer education.

Dr. Sheridan is an avid fly fisherman and wildlife photographer who won the National Geographic International (English speaking countries) photo contest in 2007. This photo of frozen, wintry bison gathered around geothermals in Yellowstone National Park adorns the wall, along with other photos from Dr. Sheridan, in the eponymously named conference room. His photography also appears in children’s books and many nature magazines.

 

Peter B. Sachs, MD Endowed Chair

Dr. Sachs was educated at Williams College and Harvard Medical School. After completing an Internal Medicine residency at Yale New-Haven Hospital in 1986, he completed Radiology residency at Case Western Reserve University Hospitals of Cleveland in 1990 and Interventional Radiology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in 1991. He achieved Board Certification in both Internal Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology. During his 20-year career on the faculty at CWRU he served as Section Chief of both Genitourinary and Interventional Radiology and chaired the department’s operations group. After 10 years in IR, he transitioned to Cardiothoracic imaging.

Dr. Sachs joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Department of Radiology in 2010 as an Associate Professor and Section Chief of Cardiothoracic Imaging. The Cardiothoracic team he helped build is recognized as one of the most collaborative and respected sections in the institution. He is most proud of the accomplishments of his faculty and the success of their academic careers. Dr. Sachs helped develop a workflow to support one of the region’s first lung cancer screening programs. It has since become the foundation for similar workflows across the country.

Early in his tenure he volunteered to serve as the department’s first liaison with the hospital’s Imaging IT team. That evolved into a Vice Chair of Informatics role and serving as the UCHealth system’s Imaging informaticist. His work has focused on optimizing the imaging experience for patients, providers, and radiologists. He has published extensively in this realm, lectured at RSNA and SIIM national meetings, and fostered the development of multiple innovative tools in concert with the system’s EHR, PACS, Voice Recognition and Workflow vendors. This work resulted in promotion to Professor in 2017.

He was selected for Fellowship in the American College of Radiology in 2014 and received the University of Colorado Hospital Outstanding Full-Time Physician Award in 2014 and the Clinical Effectiveness and Safety Award in 2016.

 

Carol M. Rumack Endowed Chair

Carol M. Rumack, MD, is a pioneer and leader in radiology who has impacted generations of medical trainees, attending physicians, and patients nationally in her role as Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair in the department of Radiology and Pediatrics and Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Rumack received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Wisconsin before completing her residency and fellowship at the University of Colorado. She stayed on as faculty in the summer of 1976, where she continues to serve as invaluable member to this day. She is most known for her work in diagnostic ultrasound, where she wrote the gold standard “Diagnostic Ultrasound” in 1991, a book that is still published and is currently on its 5^th edition.

Dr. Rumack’s clinical achievements include pioneering the use of portable ultrasound machine in intensive care nursery that allowed non-invasive imaging of the brain to detect intra-cranial hemorrhages and hemorrhages which had not been previously imaged in premature infants. There was controversy over her findings as these hemorrhages were thought to occur in less than five percent of premature infants. Her work demonstrated that they occurred in more than 50 percent of premature infants and led to changes in clinical practice to treat these patients.

She has served on numerous boards, committees and won several awards. Recognition includes the Pioneer Award from the Society of Pediatric Radiology and the Gold Medal from the American College of Radiology, its highest award. Dr. Rumack was only the 8th woman to receive the award. Previous women recipients include Nobel Prize winners Marie Curie, PhD in 1931 and Rosalyn Yallow, PhD in 1993.

Dr. Rumack is the Founding President of the AAWR (American Association for Women in Radiology), Founding Director of the CU SOM Office of Women in Medicine and Science, former President of the ACR, and previously served on the ACGME Board of Directors and is currently part of its Institutional Review Committee.

James P. Borgstede Endowed Chair

James Borgstede, MD, joined the faculty of the University of Colorado department of Radiology in July 1978. He has held an appointment with CU School of Medicine every year since – giving him 43 years of service – 47 counting his time as a resident at the CU Health Sciences Center in Denver, where he completed his training in 1978. He received his medical degree in 1974 from the University of Illinois, Chicago. After spending the bulk of his career in private practice, Dr. Borgstede joined CU Radiology full time in 2008 as Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical Operations, Quality and Safety.

He has served as president of the ABR, president and chairman of the board of the ACR, chair of RSNA’s Research and Education Foundation Board of Trustees, president of the Board of Directors of the RSNA, the International Society of Radiology, the Colorado Radiological Society, the Rocky Mountain Radiological Society, the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners, and Chair of the Colorado Physician Health Program.

Dr Borgstede has a particular interest in international radiology service, arranging and performing two projects. One in the Philippines where he and his family purchased and delivered diagnostic medical sonographic equipment and trained the local personnel in its use. The second was in Cameroon and focused on ultrasound. Dr Borgstede started the American College of Radiology Committee on International Service and has performed four working visits to Grace Children’s Hospital in Haiti.

Borgstede’s research is in the areas of socioeconomics, government relations, quality, and safety. He has delivered more than 130 lectures on these topics nationally and internationally.

His honors and awards include the Gold Medal of the ACR, the Gold Medal of the Colorado Radiological Society, the President’s Award for Leadership from UCH, the Presidential Citation for Meritorious Service Award from UCH, the RSNA Honored Educator Award, and Honorary Membership in the European Society of Radiology.

 

John D. Strain, MD Endowed Chair

 

John D. Strain, MD, was Professor, Chief of Pediatric Radiology and Chair of Radiology at Children’s Hospital Colorado. A lifelong Coloradan, Dr. Strain trained at the CU School of Medicine and spent his 33-year career at Children’s Hospital Colorado.  His leadership established one of the preeminent pediatric radiology programs in the country.