Vascular and Interventional Radiology Research

About Our Vascular and Interventional Radiology (VIR) Research Program

The BIDMC Vascular and Interventional Radiology Team in Boston
The BIDMC Vascular and Interventional Radiology Team in Boston
The Division of Interventional Radiology at BIDMC has an exciting and comprehensive research program. The Minimally Invasive Tumor Therapy Lab, headed by Muneeb Ahmed, MD, Chief, Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Associate Professor of Radiology, and joined by Marwan Moussa, MD, Instructor of Radiology, continues to study biologic effects of targeted cancer therapies—expanding beyond pro-oncogenic effects of ablation into targeted delivery of immunomodulaters using nanocarriers.

Jeff Weinstein, MD, Program Director, IR Integrated and Independent Residencies, received a BID Radiology Foundation Pilot Grant, and is continuing his work using kinematic hand motion tracking to evaluate technical proficiency among trainees and expert proceduralists. Ammar Sarwar, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, is pursuing health services research, with studies on readmission after IR procedures, time-driven activity-based costing in for Interventional Oncology procedures, and analyzing outcomes for HCC after IR treatments in local and national data.

Seth Berkowitz, MD, Instructor in Radiology, continues to develop novel smartphone applications to facilitate patient-reported outcomes, including tracking post-operative pain, and was awarded a BIDMC Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences Grant. Julie Bulman, MD, Instructor in Radiology, oversaw the implementation of our telehealth IR clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting our experience to JVIR and now studying the patient and provider experience during our remote IR clinic. Sahil Mehta, MD, Instructor in Radiology, continues to examine how online search engines influence patient choice for IR therapies.

Salomao Faintuch, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology, is running a clinical trial on the use of a novel embolization device, Sarah Schroeppel DeBacker, MD, Instructor in Radiology, continues to study the role of cone-beam CT during biliary interventions, and Barry Sacks, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, has reported on his vast experience in endocrinology interventions and adrenal venous sampling.

Over a dozen trainees and research fellows are active in IR research, including delivering national meeting presentations, and several of our trainees have received awards for their work in IR. Faculty members have co-authored over 40 original papers, reviews, and consensus guidelines in 2019-2020. Two faculty members, Ammar Sarwar and Jeff Weinstein, were recognized as Fellows of the Society of Interventional Radiology (FSIR) for their contributions to the specialty.