Clare Tempany-Afdhal

Dr. Tempany is the Ferenc A. Jolesz MD Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, Vice Chair of Radiology Research and Medical Director of the Advanced Multi-modal Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) Suite - a suite of translational clinical research rooms at Brigham & Women’s hospital. She is a native of Dublin Ireland and a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She completed her internship and a senior house officer program in internal medicine in Dublin prior to moving to Chicago for residency training in Diagnostic Radiology at Loyola University of Chicago. This was followed by fellowship and first faculty appointment in MRI at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Three years later she moved to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston to join the faculty and the Abdominal imaging division.

She established the body MRI program at BWH with a pioneering focus on Prostate and Gynecological MR. The prostate cancer program pioneered not only diagnostic imaging but image guided interventions in prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy. She leads an active prostate cancer research group which encompasses basic research in IGT and multiple clinical trials. Them through a unique partnership with Anthony D’Amico, MD, (Radiation Oncology) they jointly established the first ever MR guided prostate cancer brachytherapy program in 1997. Then, along with Noby Hata, PhD, established the first MR guided transperineal, in bore prostate cancer biopsy program. Now 20 years later, both MR guided prostate cancer biopsy and MR guided radiation therapy are rapidly becoming the standard of care to aid in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Today she leads trials in mpMRI, is Co-Chair of the PI-RADS international committee, is the PI of a InSightec sponsored Focal therapy trial with MR guided FUS and Study chair of the new ECOG-ACRIN trail in Prostate MRI. Prior to this she pioneered MRgFUS for the treatment of uterine fibroids, along with Elizabeth Stewart she led the trials leading to FDA clearance of the ExAblate device for this novel disruptive technology. She has had continuous NIH funding for over 20 years and is currently the PI of the NIH funded P41, National Center for Advanced Technologies Image Guided Therapy (AT-NCIGT) and a T32 training grant in Image Guidance, Precision Diagnosis and Therapy.