Elias A. Zerhouni

In the mid-1980s, cardiologists faced a particularly vexing problem: how to measure, accurately and noninvasively, the thickness of heart tissue as it changed over time. Elias A. Zerhouni, a young radiology professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, struggled over the issue with a small team of physicists. "One day, he walked into the room with this incredible smile on his face, like you would have if you made a great molecular discovery," recalls Myron Weisfeldt, director of Hopkins' Department of Medicine. "'You won't believe what we have, at least in theory,'" Zerhouni announced. Zerhouni and his team had developed a way to tag cardiac tissue, making it visible to noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instruments. The discovery proved to be as practical as it was innovative: The subsequently patented tagging system has become a bedrock MRI technology, used by physiologists, cardiologists, and engineers worldwide.1 "As one of the world's premier experts in magnetic resonance imaging, Elias has extended the role of MRI from taking snapshots of gross anatomy to visualizing how the body works at the molecular level," says Edward D. Miller, dean and CEO, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "In so doing, he has provided a new tool for scientists to understand the origins of disease and how treatments can be tailored to be more effective." Zerhouni "has displayed a remarkable gift for understanding complex basic science outside his field and appreciating all the ramifications of new findings," adds Solomon H. Snyder, director of Hopkins' neuroscience department. "His people skills, coupled with his capacity to cut through a morass of bureaucratic confusion, have enabled him to launch creative new ventures and resolve numerous administrative problems. He handles all of this with a gentle, seemingly effortless grace." President George W. Bush in March nominated Zerhouni to be director of the National Institutes of Health. Unanimously confirmed by the Senate in May, Zerhouni, 51, oversees what is arguably the world's foremost medical research agency--a sprawling complex of 27 institutes and centers whose budget will exceed $23 billion in 2003, the end point of a five-year bipartisan effort to double resources. "It's an honor to be asked to lead the NIH," says Zerhouni. "Its leadership has resulted in profound knowledge about our biological systems and has enhanced our ability to explore health and disease." Elias Adam Zerhouni, a native of Algeria, earned his medical degree from the University of Algiers School of Medicine in 1975. Earlier that year, Zerhouni's uncle, a radiologist trained in France and Sweden, had shown his nephew copies of the first computed tomography (CT) brain scans made by Godfrey Hounsfield in England. "I decided that medical imaging would be the perfect field for me as it combined medicine, physics, and computer science," Zerhouni later said. Later in 1975, with only $300 in his pocket, the 24-year-old Zerhouni and his new wife immigrated to the United States. With limited knowledge of English, he nonetheless had been accepted as a radiology resident at Hopkins. Over the past quarter century Zerhouni has climbed the Hopkins institutional ladder, most recently becoming chairman of the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, radiologist in chief, president of the Clinical Practice Association, vice dean for clinical affairs, vice dean for research, and executive vice dean. Zerhouni has participated in nine NIH-supported research projects (three as principal investigator) with awards totaling more than $7 million. He has authored 157 peer-reviewed articles and numerous monographs and chapters in academic and medical books. He holds, singly and jointly, eight patents for various CT and MRI inventions. Among his innovations are CT densitometry techniques used to determine whether lung nodules are benign or malignant, and a method of high-resolution CT for anatomic and physiologic pulmonary studies. Zerhouni cofounded several companies, including Surgi-Vision in Gaithersburg, Md., which uses his patented miniature coils inserted into various tissues to enhance MRI images, permitting near-microscopic views of specific areas. In 1994, Zerhouni convinced General Electric to collaborate on developing a high-speed cardiac MRI scanner. "He got them to change their whole development process away from the factory floor, to where the equipment would be used in a clinical setting," says Paul Bottomley, director of the magnetic resonance research division at Hopkins. "He's definitely a good program builder." He's also a good institutional fundraiser. Last year, Zerhouni solicited a $58.5 million private donation to help establish a new Institute for Cell Engineering, which will focus its research efforts on stem cells. Zerhouni told senators at his April confirmation hearing that he had been concerned with the lack of federal funding, but he added that Bush's subsequent policy to provide limited funding "was an important advance." "Disease knows no politics," Zerhouni explained. "The NIH director should not be, or made to be, factional but must always be factual." While stressing the present sufficiency of federally funded stem-cell lines, he promised to inform lawmakers and the public about progress and future needs. Zerhouni also knows when to draw a line. "We were at a conference with all these important dignitary people," recalls Norman Beauchamp, a Hopkins radiology colleague and friend. "At 8 pm Zerhouni got up and dismissed himself, saying he had promised his family he would be on time and that was important to him. He's a man of honor, commitment, and prioritization." Ted Agres is a freelance writer in Washington, DC. 1. E.A. Zerhouni and D.N. Parish, "Tissue tagging of the human heart by MRI," US Patent 4,953,554, 1990.

Elias A. Zerhouni

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