Weens Teaching Invitational | Emory School of Medicine

The Weens Teaching Invitational

Wednesday, February 12, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

The inaugural Weens Teaching Invitational asked five of our department’s most talented educators to go head-to-head in expounding on a single topic: What we do for no reason. Each related the topic to their clinical subspecialty with a short but impactful teaching presentation.

Congratulations to Dr. Frank Minja for earning the highest score from both the elite panel of judges and audience voting!

The Weens Teaching Invitational is the next generation of the Weens Lecture, held in honor of Heinz Weens, the first Chair of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. Dr. Weens was an innovative researcher, engaged physician and inspiring mentor who embodied the department’s tripartite mission of clinical care, education, and research.

Meet the Educators/Contestants

Zachary Bercu, MD, RPVI, FSIR Associate Professor

Presented: We Thread the Line

Dr. Bercu is an interventional radiologist and the program director of both the Interventional Radiology - Integrated and Interventional Radiology - Independent Residency programs. He also serves on the steering committee of the Georgia Center for Medical Robotics. He is renowned for fostering innovation for clinical and educational efficacy in both IR and radiology and has championed medical device innovations.

Person standing behind wooden lecturn with arms outstretched gesturing while they speak into a microphone attached to the lecturn

Scott J. Lee, MD Assistant Professor

Presented: "Clearly Benign," Clearly Ignored: Differing Perspectives on TI-RADS Surveillance Recommendations

Dr. Lee is a junior faculty member in the Division of Abdominal Imaging. A graduate of the Emory Diagnostic Radiology Residency program, for which he was chief resident, Dr. Lee completed fellowship training in abdominal imaging at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He is board certified in both diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine.

person talking at a wooden lecturn to an audience and there is a screen beside the speaker with a cartoon of an angry person yelling into a bullhorn

Amy Robben Mehollin-Ray, MD Professor

Presented: Renal Doppler Ultrasound for Pediatric Hypertension

Dr. Mehollin-Ray is a pediatric radiologist specializing in fetal and neonatal imaging. She directs the Pediatric Radiology Fellowship program of Emory Radiology and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She additionally is the director of education for radiology for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and serves as co-director of fetal radiology.

person talking at a wooden lecturn to a crowd and there are ultrasound images projected onto the screen behind the speaker

Frank J. Minja, MD Associate Professor

Winning Presentation: Do We Need MRI for Cervical Spine Clearance?

Dr. Minja is a neuroradiologist and associate chief of radiology and imaging sciences for Emory University Hospital. The recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Service Award from the Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Minja co-chairs the Emory Radiology Global Health Committee and also co-founded Road2IR.

person gesturing while smiling and talking behind a wooden lecturn

Stefan Tigges, MD, MSCR, FACR, FAAR Professor

Presented: Stop Using PowerPoint for Noon Conference

Dr. Tigges is a cardiothoracic radiologist and an award-winning educator. He is the brain behind the “How to Read a (insert imaging study type here)” series on Radiopaedia. He previously directed the cross-sectional anatomy component of the School of Medicine's first-year anatomy course and the third-year medical student radiology rotation. In 2023, he was runner-up for the Aunt Minnie Most Effective Radiology Educator award.

person standing behind wooden lecturn with a screen behind them that has a slide with the word "storytelling" and an x-ray of the torso on it

The History of the Weens Lecture

For fifteen years, the Heinz S. Weens Lecture brought together the Emory Radiology and Imaging Sciences family each fall to celebrate the creative and transformational power of the image. Notable speakers explored the power of images in the arts as well as the sciences.

2009: Molly Faries, PhD
Professor Emerita, Department of History of Art
Indiana University and University of Groningen
Topic: “Seeing Through Paint: Art Historical Research Using IR Imaging”

2010: Robert Spano
Music Director, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Aspen Music Festival
Emory University Distinguished Artist in Residence
Topic: “Sight and Sound”

2011: Brian Baumgartner, Emmy Award-winning Actor
(aka Kevin Malone on “The Office”)
Topic: The Tantalizing Images of Television

2012: Mike Luckovich
Pulitzer Prize-winning Political Cartoonist
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Topic: “Inside the Mind of a Cartoonist”

2013: Ramesh Rankar, PhD
Camera Culture/MIT Media Lab
Topic: “Femtophotography Trillion Frames per Second for New Imaging”

2014: Virgil Wong
CEO, Medical Avatar
Topic: “Health Time Machines: How a 3-D Selfie Can Help You Get Healthy”

2015: Jonathan Wood
Multimedia Director, Time Inc.
Topic: “Making Science Sexy”

2016: Evans Mirages
The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera, and Vice-President for Artistic Planning and Operations for The Atlanta Symphony
Topic: “See/Hear”

2017: Stuart Zola, PhD
Emeritus Director, Emory National Primate Research Center; Neuroscientist; Magician
Topic: “Why don’t you see things my way?”

2018/19: Donna Cox, MFA, PhD
Director, Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL), NCSA
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Topic: “Visualizing the Universe and Empathy”

2020-2021 No Weens Lecture Due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2022: Ann Marks
Author, "Vivian Maier Developed"
Topic: “Vivian Maier: Master of Visualization”