Ochsner Health announced that radiologist Edward Bluth, MD, FACR, has been awarded the 2023 Gold Medal of the American College of Radiology (ACR). Bluth received the recognition on May 7, during the ACR 2023 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
The ACR Gold Medal is awarded by the Board of Chancellors to an individual for distinguished and extraordinary service to the ACR or to the discipline of radiology. Bluth was one of only three recipients to receive the award this year and is only the second person from Louisiana to receive it. In the 100-year history of the ACR, just over 200 people have been so awarded. In 1981, Seymour Ochsner, MD, who practiced in Ochsner’s Department of Radiation Oncology and served as chairman of radiology, was the first Louisianan to receive the honor.
Bluth is responsible for several advances in ultrasound, including developing the first internationally adopted criteria to grade carotid artery stenosis, the use of diagnostic ultrasound to identify abnormalities of the stomach, small bowel and colon including appendicitis, and numerous criteria used to identify solid organ transplant abnormalities of the liver, pancreas, and kidneys.
“I feel very privileged to be so immensely recognized by my peers in what I consider the most prestigious and important organization in radiology,” said Bluth. “This is an amazing cap on the wonderful career in radiology I have had. I am grateful to my teachers, colleagues across the country and my associates at Ochsner—a workplace I am proud to call my own for the past 46 years. I take great pride in the academic and professional achievements I have earned over the years and they would not have been possible without the love and support of my wife, Elissa, our three children and nine grandchildren. This award makes me very proud because it suggests that I am not just an observer, but part of the history of radiology.”