Loyola Radiologist Jennifer Lim-Dunham, MD Wins Award for Best Clinical Research Paper

MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola Medicine radiologist Jennifer Lim-Dunham, MD, and colleagues have received the Society for Pediatric Radiology's prestigious Walter E. Berdon Award for best clinical research paper appearing in the journal Pediatric Radiology in 2017.

The award was given during the society's recent annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Lim-Dunham is a professor in Loyola's department of radiology. Her clinical expertise includes diagnostic radiology and radiology imaging. Dr. Lin-Dunham is board certified in diagnostic radiology and pediatric radiology.

The award-winning study found that ultrasound guidelines issued by the American Thyroid Association can reliably identify pediatric patients who should be biopsied for thyroid cancer.

Thyroid cancer is a common cause of cancer in teenagers, and the incidence is increasing for reasons that are unclear. Adolescents have a ten-fold greater incidence than younger children and the disease is five times more common in girls than in boys. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck that secretes hormones needed for regulation of growth, development and metabolism. Cancer may occur within lumps in the thyroid called nodules.

The study by Dr. Lim-Dunham and colleagues found that American Thyroid Association guidelines "may provide an appropriate and reproducible method for estimating risk of malignancy for pediatric thyroid nodules."

The study is titled, "Ultrasound risk stratification for malignancy using the 2015 American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for Children with Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer." Co-authors are Iclal Erdem Toslak, MD, Khalid Alsabban, MD, Amany Aziz, MD, Brendan Martin, PhD, Gokcan Okur, MD, and Katherine C. Longo, MD.

The Society for Pediatric Radiology is dedicated to fostering excellence in pediatric health through imaging and image-guided care.

Loyola Medicine's radiology specialists are nationally recognized for their innovative diagnostic and therapeutic methods. Loyola offers a complete spectrum of imaging services ranging from radiographs and ultrasounds to CT scans, MRIs and nuclear medicine. Our radiologists perform the latest interventional techniques for the vascular, musculoskeletal and nervous systems as well as the abdomen and breast.