Go to the Department of Radiology Timeline

Charles Lester Leonard (1861-1913)

Charles Lester Leonard received degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. By the late nineteenth century, he was a member of the surgical staff at the University Hospital in Philadelphia (now the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, or HUP). At the news of Roentgen’s discovery of the X-ray, Dr. Leonard began studying this developing method of viewing the human body. His successor, Henry K. Pancoast, described Leonard’s first dark room as comprising “a small closet containing a light, a sink with running water, two shelves, no ventilation and just sufficient additional space to accommodate his body.”

Dr. Leonard was active in research in his position at HUP and co-authored an early paper on the clinical value of Radiology. He was the President of the American Roentgen Ray Society from 1904-1905 and a founder of the Philadelphia Roentgen Ray Society. 

In 1912 Dr. Leonard became the first and only radiologist at CHOP. He died one year later at age 51 from metastatic carcinoma caused by X-ray exposure. He had written “… the first paper on the hazards of X-rays. That work began a long tradition of Penn research into developing better, and safer, X-ray equipment and techniques. Dr. Leonard was one of several radiology pioneers who would eventually lose his life due to X-ray exposure from his groundbreaking work.”  After his death, the CHOP Board decided not to appoint another head radiologist. 

Ralph S. Bromer (1886-1957)

Ralph S. Bromer graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1912 and served in the United States Army in World War I, after which he practiced radiology in Philadelphia. Concerned with the dangers of radiation — he hosted dinners with many radiologists who were missing parts of their fingers — Dr. Bromer emphasized radiation safety in his work. Dr. Bromer introduced new radiation safety methods to such institutions as Bryn Mawr Hospital for the protection of patients and staff. He was appointed to the staff of CHOP in 1921 and went on to serve as the part-time visiting radiologist until 1951 – the hospital's only radiologist until Dr. John W. Hope replaced him. Dr. Bromer read X-rays for CHOP twice a week, acquired radiology equipment for CHOP, and led his small staff of technicians in collecting clinical material for study and research. His interests lay in bone radiology, and he wrote and lectured on rickets, scurvy and syphilis – all prevalent diseases at the time. Dr. Bromer demonstrated his national leadership in radiology through service as a member of the American Board of Radiology, as well as an examiner. Materially, Dr. Bromer's efforts led to a bronze plaque in honor of his 30 years of service, still displayed at CHOP. On another level, his focus on radiation safety and a continued pursuit of newer and better equipment drove the Department's high standards of patient care, and his collection of research material foreshadowed the Department's future focus on cutting-edge research.

John Westgate Hope (1914-1969)

John Westgate Hope trained in pediatrics at Stanford University before serving during WWII in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps from 1942-1947. He was awarded eight Battle Stars for his service. After returning home from the service, Dr. Hope trained in radiology at the University of Pennsylvania and became Radiologist-in-Chief at CHOP in 1951. He directed the Department until 1969 when, at the age of 55, he died from carcinoma of the stomach. Dr. Hope’s legacy lives on in the Department’s commitment to pediatric radiology.  

Dr. Joseph Stokes, CHOP Physician-in-Chief from 1939-1964, wrote: “I shall think of [Dr. Hope] with rolling gait or lively step, always in motion, in front of a medical audience that he held in the hollow of his hand, head and shoulders bent forward, transfixing his audience almost through his eyebrows and with emphatic motions of his head, while he turned from time to time, with rapidly moving pointer, for sharp clear-cut explanations of the slides or film he was demonstrating — these are the scenes that come back to all of us who so deeply respected the dedication of his life and the emotional power of his personality." 

Patricia Flint Borns (1922-2009)

Patricia Flint Borns was born in Barstow, Calif., and received her BS from Purdue University and MD from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia (now part of the Drexel School of Medicine). She interned at Philadelphia General Hospital and was a resident and fellow in Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania – the first woman radiologist to graduate. She worked at Thomas Jefferson Hospital before coming to CHOP, where she pioneered pediatric radiology alongside Dr. John Westgate Hope.  

Dr. Borns was the first woman radiologist at CHOP. She was appointed a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and would go on to work as Acting Director of CHOP Radiology and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in a career spanning 1955-1973. Dr. Borns’s colleagues remember her as an excellent radiologist and a woman of principle. Her legacy persists in the field of cancer treatment, recognizing the side effects of treatments among other original observations.

Soroosh Mahboubi, MD (1940- )

Born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940, Soroosh Mahboubi received his MD from the University of Tehran Medical School. After his rotation in CHOP Radiology during his radiology residency at Thomas Jefferson University, Dr. Mahboubi went on to a CHOP fellowship that quickly turned into a staff radiologist position. Dr. Mahboubi served as the radiologist for the multidisciplinary team of physicians for the Trauma Center at CHOP. He also specialized in bone abnormalities. He is the author of the book Pediatric Bone Imaging, published by Little Brown & Co in 1989.  

Dr. Mahboubi led an almost 50-year career as a full-time CHOP radiologist, retiring from CHOP and his professorship at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2018. Dr. Mahboubi’s many accomplishments include driving the policy of 24-hour radiology coverage for the CHOP Trauma Center, working as acting director of the department, directing the CT section of the department, developing the formula used to image GI tracts with CT at CHOP, identifying victims of the Osage Street Bombing, and famously helping to separate conjoined twins (recorded in an episode of PBS’s Nova). In addition to his ongoing per diem work, Dr. Mahboubi’s contributions further the Department’s mission with the Soroosh Mahboubi International Fund, which enables international visiting radiologists to come to CHOP Radiology. 

Larissa T. Bilaniuk, MD (1943- )

Larissa T. Bilaniuk began her career as a resident in radiology at CHOP and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) in 1966. She pursued a medical career at a time when men dominated the field, transitioning from a resident to full-time staff at HUP. Having performed the first neuro CT scan at HUP in 1974, Dr. Bilaniuk established CHOP’s own CT scanning capacities in a brief "loan" to CHOP in 1980. Along with Dr. Robert Zimmerman, she would go on to help establish CHOP’s first full-time pediatric neuroradiology service in 1988-89, and then to develop the neuroradiology fetal imaging MRI program, spearheading many landmark publications before her retirement in 2021.  

Dr. Bilaniuk’s tireless work contributed to the extraordinary growth and development of CHOP’s world class Neuroradiology division. Her legacy also lives on in the Larissa T. Bilaniuk Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neuroradiology Research. 

Kenneth E. Fellows, MD (1938- )

Born in Grand Rapids, MI, to a nurse mother and radiologist father, Kenneth E. Fellows could be termed a “congenital radiologist.” Dr. Fellows’s medical studies were at the University of Michigan and his internship at the University of Oregon, after which he served as a Medical Officer in the U.S Navy during the Vietnam War. With interests in both Pediatrics and Radiology, he completed his radiology residencies at both the Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Michigan. Beginning his academic career on staff at Boston Children’s Hospital, he focused his clinical and research interests on cardiac and vascular diseases of children, becoming a pioneer there in the new specialty of pediatric interventional radiology. After 18 years in Boston, he was invited to become Radiologist-in-Chief at CHOP in 1987.  

In Dr. Fellows’s 13-year tenure at CHOP, the number of radiologists increased from 8 to 25, some of whom were full-time researchers supported by departmental funding as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other sources. Clinical services also grew in his time at CHOP, including the establishment of 24-hour, in-house staff radiologist coverage, the installation of multiple MRI units, and the transition to complete digital imaging and reporting. Dr. Fellows also served as President of the CHOP Medical Staff and President of the Society for Pediatric Radiology. He retired in December 2000 and has pursued an artistic career as an award-winning water colorist at his home in Maine. An annual lectureship in the Department is named in his honor. 

Robert A. Zimmerman, MD (1939-2021)

Robert A. Zimmerman received his MD from Georgetown Medical School and completed his residency in diagnostic radiology and fellowship in special procedures at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania. In 1969, he began his service in the U.S. Army in Europe for three years, returning to Hospital of University of Pennsylvania in 1972. In 1988, he moved over to CHOP and along with Dr. Larissa Bilaniuk established the Division of Neuroradiology at CHOP.  

Dr. Zimmerman served as division chief and director of the neuroradiology fellowship program, growing the division to 11 neuroradiologists by the time of his retirement in 2018. As the University of Pennsylvania Almanac notes, he was among the first researchers to "describe the craniocerebral findings of abusive head trauma, cerebral edema and shear injuries related to trauma, and evolution of hematomas on CT.”1 In addition, Dr. Zimmerman left a legacy as a beloved colleague and leader in the Department. 

Henrietta Rosenberg, MD (1944- )

Henrietta Rosenberg received her MD from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed an internship in pediatrics from St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, residencies at Boston University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Boston, and a fellowship in pediatric radiology from Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Rosenberg then directed the ultrasound section at CHOP Radiology and taught at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. 

Dr. Rosenberg has become a respected international figure in the realm of ultrasound, producing 129 publications and clinical research projects. She has received Fellowships from the American College of Radiology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Society for Radiologists in Ultrasound, as well as an Excellence in Clinical Teaching Citation from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Her legacy remains in the form of CHOP’s strong ultrasound section. 

Richard I. Markowitz, MD (1944- )

Richard I. Markowitz was born in Brooklyn, NY, and graduated from Queens College of the City University of New York. He attained his MD at Upstate University Medical Center in Syracuse, NY; his residency at the Graduate and University of Pennsylvania/ Presbyterian Hospitals; and Pediatric Radiology fellowship at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. After several years as an attending radiologist at St. Christopher’s, he moved to Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital.  

Dr. Markowitz was recruited by Dr. Kenneth Fellows to be his Deputy Radiologist-in-Chief, arriving at CHOP in 1988. Dr. Markowitz worked as general Pediatric Radiologist in the Body Division at CHOP and served as CHOP Radiology’s Acting Radiologist-in-Chief from 2003-2004. He also served as President of the CHOP Medical Staff from 2004-2006. He is Professor Emeritus at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.  

Dr. Markowitz’s legacy is carried on by the many radiologists he has taught. In 2012, he was awarded the Jack Haller Teaching Award by the Society for Pediatric Radiology. During his tenure he has seen the completion of the transition of the department from analog to digital imaging and helped plan the current location and layout of the main department. His research on the history of pediatric radiology in the Philadelphia region was published in Pediatric Radiology and has greatly informed this timeline. 

Diego Jaramillo, MD (1957- )

Diego Jaramillo earned his MD at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas, then a fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts. He has a master's in public health from Harvard School of Public Health. Before coming to CHOP, he worked as a radiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and headed the pediatric radiology division at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Jaramillo was the Radiologist-in-Chief and Van Alen Chair of Radiology from 2004 to 2015. He served as president and chairman of the board for the Society of Pediatric Radiology and is a fellow of the American College of Radiology. He has been the principal investigator of three major National Institute of Health grants and has authored more than 250 publications. His research has focused on the imaging of growth disorders in children. With his extensive research background in imaging musculoskeletal disorders, Dr. Jaramillo made research a strong priority for CHOP Radiology, hiring new research assistants and directors and expanding lab space.  

Dr. Jaramillo’s legacy continues in the ongoing efforts of the Department to produce cutting-edge research. Dr. Jaramillo is currently a professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Radiology at Columbia University. 

Kassa Darge, MD, PhD, DTM&P, FSAR, FAIMU

Kassa Darge, MD, PhD, received his MD from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and Heidelberg University in Germany, where he also completed his residency in radiology and fellowship in pediatric radiology. Dr. Darge also completed a research fellowship with the World Health Organization in Tropical Medicine at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany. Before working at CHOP, Dr. Darge chaired the Department of Pediatric Radiology at the University of Wuerzburg, Germany. Dr. Darge’s research focuses on MR and ultrasound further enhanced CHOP Radiology’s burgeoning research work. 

He is currently Chair of the Department of Radiology and Radiologist-in-Chief. As Chair, Dr. Darge established eight different subspeciality sections within the Division of Body Imaging, and restructured the departmental leadership with the appointment of Vice Chairs (for Clinical Operations, Clinical Research, and Education). He expanded support for clinical research through a “Clinical Research Core” support team and bolstered the Department's education efforts by establishing the CHOP Radiology Global Outreach and Education pediatric radiology fellowship program in Ethiopia and a mentorship program for faculty within the Department of Radiology. His establishment of the Center for Pediatric Contract Ultrasound at CHOP created a legacy of groundbreaking contrast ultrasound technique in CHOP and internationally.