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May 22, 2008, the medical imaging community lost a brilliant investigator,
an excellent educator, a devoted mentor, and above all a true friend.
Bruce H. Hasegawa, Ph.D. died suddenly of a massive hemorrhagic
stroke at the age of 56. During his short life, Bruce imparted a
tremendous legacy that would not only touch the lives of many colleagues
but also unknowingly impact the lives of many patients who would
come to benefit from Bruce’s superb research accomplishments.
Bruce was born on June 21, 1951 and grew up on an almond farm on
the outskirts of Fresno, California. He had a diverse educational
background in basic sciences with multiple degrees in Mathematics,
Physics, Radiology Sciences, and Medical Physics. He earned his
Ph.D. in Medical Physics at University of Wisconsin, Madison in
1984 under the mentorship of Charles Mistretta. Bruce joined the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Radiology
in 1986 and rose through the academic ranks to the position of Professor
in Residence and Director of the Physics Research laboratory. Bruce
was dedicated to improving the Medical Physics curriculum at UCSF
to better prepare students for the biomedical imaging field. In
1997, he joined the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University
of California, Berkeley (UCB) and was deeply involved through his
teaching and research with the joint UCSF/UCB Graduate Program in
Bioengineering, serving as Co-Chair for several years.
His distinguished research career at UCSF was highlighted by his
pioneering work combining SPECT functional imaging with CT anatomical
imaging to produce the first combined dual-modality imaging system,
SPECT/CT. His research contributions included x-ray imaging for
medical diagnostics, development of nuclear medicine imaging instrumentations,
tomographic reconstruction algorithms for radionuclide imaging data,
small animal SPECT/CT imaging, and many other areas in medical physics
and bioengineering.
Bruce was also a prolific writer during his career, publishing widely
popular papers mostly in dual-modality imaging. His textbook entitled
“The Physics of Medical X-Ray Imaging,” subtitled “The
Photon and Me: How I saw the Light” is still regarded among
the classic books in medical imaging literature.
In addition to his academic and research accomplishments, Bruce
was an active member in IEEE, as well as several other professional
societies. He served as Co-Chair of the 2006 IEEE Medical Imaging
Conference in San Diego, CA.
He was a consummate teacher and mentor to a generation of graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows. He was unfailingly generous with
his time and attention, often putting the interest of others before
his own. Behind his brilliant mind lay a simple man who appreciated
life’s simple pleasures. Bruce was genuine, kind, generous,
humble, sensitive and thoughtful. His untimely death touches many
of his professional colleagues, friends and students worldwide.
He will be greatly missed.
Youngho Seo, Ph.D.1 and Grant T. Gullberg, Ph.D.1,2
1 Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University
of California, San
Francisco
2 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Dr. Hasegawa’s family has generously requested that donations
in Bruce’s memory be made to the UCSF-Dr. Bruce Hasegawa Memorial
Fund, PO Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94545-0339.
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