Helen Ruth Nadel, MD, FRCPC

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Get to know Pediatric Radiologist Dr. Helen Ruth Nadel, who serves patients in Palo Alto, California.

A highly trained pediatric radiologist, Dr. Nadel is an expert in determining and using the imaging technology that will present the most accurate diagnosis for the child. Her areas of clinical focus include pediatric radiology, PET/MRI, theranostics and molecular imaging, nuclear medicine, and bone densitometry.

At Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Dr. Nadel is the Director of Pediatric Nuclear Medicine, including co-directing the clinical PET/MRI program. She also offers her services at the Children’s Thyroid Center, and is a part of the Neuroblastoma Program and Nuclear Medicine Program care teams. 

Among her academic appointments, she is a Clinical Professor within the Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also a member of the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute.

Educated in Canada, Dr. Nadel graduated with her Medical Degree from the University of Manitoba Office of the Registrar in 1977. She then went on to perform her internship at Toronto General Hospital in 1978, and her residency at the University of Toronto in 1983.

Furthering her training, she performed fellowships at The Hospital for Sick Children and at the University of British Columbia in 1983 and 1989, respectively. 

Board certified in pediatric radiology and diagnostic radiology, Dr. Nadel is a Diplomate of the American Board of Radiology (ABR). The ABR is a not-for-profit physician-led organization that oversees the certification and ongoing professional development of specialists in diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, radiation oncology, and medical physics.

To boot, Dr. Nadel is board certified in diagnostic radiology by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and in nuclear medicine by both the American Board of Nuclear Medicine and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Inducted as a Fellow of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (FSNMMI). Dr. Nadel is the 2022-2023 President-Elect of the said Society. 

In affiliation with various Boards, Advisory Committees, and Professional Organizations, she is a member of the Diagnostic Imaging Committee at Children’s Oncology Group, a member of the Membership Committee of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, a member of the Continuing Education Committee of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Co-Chair of the Pediatric PET Task Force at the PET Center of Excellence of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, a member of the Oncology Committee of the Society for Pediatric Radiology, a member of the Membership Task Force of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, a member of the Nuclear Medicine Committee of the Society for Pediatric Radiology, a member of the ACR Committee on Practice Parameters of the American College of Radiology, a member of the Radiographics Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Panel of RSNA, a member of the Nuclear Medicine Committee of RSNA, a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, a member of the Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging Subcommittee of the Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee of RSNA, a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and a member of the Board of Directors of CT Section, Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.

Pediatric radiology is a subspecialty of radiology involving the imaging of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. Many pediatric radiologists practice at children’s hospitals.

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