Review of Robert Lufkin MD’s La Tomografia Computerizzata e la Risonanza Magnetica nelle Neoplasie Maligne della Laringe (Italian edition)
This Italian language monograph provides a useful, well-organized review of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the normal and tumorous larynx. Normal and abnormal CT anatomy is demonstrated and discussed by means of nicely chosen, well-reproduced, and effectively annotated axial sections that are organized by the individual regions and structures. There is appropriate emphasis on imaging of potential path- ways of metastases, limits of symmetry and asymmetry, and functional imaging. La Tomografia Computerizzafa e la Risonanza Magnetica nelle Neoplasie Maligne della Laringe is a valuable book for radiologists as well as oncologists and ear, nose, and throat physicians who are learning cross-sectional imaging of the larynx.
Robert Lufkin MD has had a lifelong interest in neuroscience and imaging. During high school in the Boston area, he was fortunate to be able to attend classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]. During that time he also worked at the New England Primate Center affiliated with Harvard University where he helped in the laboratories of David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel who studied the mammalian visual system. They later received the Nobel Prize for their work describing the neurophysiology of the visual cortex.
In college at Brown University, Robert did original experimental research in the neurophysiology of the mammalian visual system, specifically the superior colliculus. He also minored in computer science and worked part-time in the main campus computer center as a machine operator to earn extra money.
Robert next attended the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he also studied computer science in healthcare at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of Oregon Center for Health Sciences. He completed a residency in diagnostic radiology [where he served as Chief Resident] at the University of California, Los Angeles[UCLA] School of Medicine. After residency he did a fellowship in Neuroradiology/Head and Neck Radiology with Dr. William Hanafee and was recruited to join the faculty at UCLA where he eventually became a tenured Professor of Radiology.
Internationally known for scientific works in medical imaging, Robert has written 14 textbooks [which have been translated into five languages], over 300 scientific papers and has been an invited and/or keynote speaker in many countries throughout the world. His honors include being elected as President of the Society of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the President of the American Society of Head and Neck Radiology as well as numerous other professional honors and affiliations. He was honored to be listed as one of the 100 most creative people in Los Angeles by Buzz Magazine. His scientific projects received millions of dollars in grants from the National Institutes of Health [NIH] as well as leading medical equipment manufacturers such as General Electric Medical, Siemens Medical, and Fonar MR Systems to develop new medical scientific technology as well as numerous scientific inventions. One of his many inventions is a nonferromagnetic MR compatible medical biopsy needle for fine needle aspiration cytology which is widely sold today as the ‘Lufkin Needle’.
In 2012 with the unprecedented revolution in artificial intelligence and biotechnology in general, he began to devote full time to developing opportunities in that space. He now also works with social media to educate other professionals and the public about the risks and potentials of artificial intelligence and technology in general.
