Raymond V Damadian

Raymond V Damadian (1936-fl.2021-fl.2021) is a pioneer in the field of MRI and inventor of one of the first MRI scanners.

Early life

Raymond Vahan Damadian was born on 16 March 1936 in Forest Hills, New York City and was a child prodigy. He studied violin at the Juilliard School of musicMusic for eight years, did his first degree in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin in 1956, and was also an accomplished tennis player. He qualified in medicine in 1960 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City ¹³.

Development of MRI

His early research work was on the role of the potassium ion in cells, which he studied with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In 1971 he wrote an important paper in Science showing that tumour cells detected by NMR would have longer relaxation times. He invented the MRI scanner (1972) and believed its role in detecting cancer would be an important one at a time when he faced much scepticism. In 1978 he founded the FONAR corporation to produce and develop the MRI scanner (FONAR: field focusing nuclear magnetic resonance) ^1,2.

Later life

Nobel Prize controversy

In 2003 Damadian was not co-awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology, which went to Peter Mansfield and Paul Lauterbur for their role in developing MRI. This decision by the Nobel Committee caused much controversy at the time and is still debated today ¹.

Accolades

In 1988 he shared the USA National Medal for Technology with Paul Lauterbur for their development of MRI ¹.

Legacy

Damadian is remembered for his major contribution to the development of MRI and the controversial decision of the Nobel Committee to not award him a share of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.