Our Vice President, Ms. Chitra Saxena, set the ball rolling with yet another scintillating episode of ‘Chai’. In today’s webcast we were privileged to introduce a women leader in the field of nuclear medicine, Dr. Jyotsna Rao. Her national and international accolades form a long list, few of them are enlisted as follows; Director of NCPI California in 2001-2002, Nuclear Medicine consultant in Medwin hospital, Hyderabad in 2003-2004, current PET/CT consultant in Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, founding member of infectious disease imaging group of World Molecular Imaging Society, founding member of women interest group of World Molecular Imaging Society, founding member of Molecular Imaging Society of India (MISI).
When asked about Dr. Rao’s fascinating and successful journey in the field of nuclear medicine, she replied that after her medical school, she completed her nuclear medicine residency in Cincinnati and spent 4 years working in USA. She returned to Hyderabad where she worked with Medwin hospital for few years before joining Apollo Hospital which was the first hospital to have PET/CT in private set up.
Looking back at the long journey, Dr. Rao said she had an amazing and exciting time and she would not like to change anything. She would, however, like to add some experience of basic sciences. Asking about Dr. Rao’s role model for the successful journey, she devotedly named Dr. Beat…, who taught her the basics of PET imaging and its correct approach. She said she was also fortunate to work with Dr. Sam Gambhir and collaborated with him on multiple projects. He had a true vision of molecular imaging and had ideas to look at the different aspects of imaging while taking it forward. Ms. Saxena took a brief moment to commemorate Dr. Sam Gambhir, who was a true visionary in the field of Nuclear Medicine and also supported IASNM immensely. It is a great loss to not have him with us today.
Moving forward, Dr. Rao spoke about her involvement in Women in Imaging, and the chapter that she started to ease the pathway for women scientists. The goal was to include as many women as possible. Speaking about the corona crisis, Dr. Rao showed her empathy. She heavily relied on online webinar tools to communicate and to continue the education. She would like to continue to use these tools in her near future. Putting forward her thoughts for major mission for MISI and merging basic sciences with clinical imaging, Dr. Rao explained that the aim of the organization is to get academia and industry together for the benefit of the patients. Ms. Saxena thanked Dr. Rao for her time and involvement in field of Nuclear Medicine.
Dr. Deepak Bahera also appreciated Dr. Rao’s mentorship and advice. Looking back, Dr. Rao wished she would have had more hands-on in research and wished to learn more from her and other experiences. The journey of knowledge, experiences and research continues and so does the journey of ‘Chai!’
