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Focused ultrasound technology pioneer and entrepreneur Narendra (Naren) Sanghvi will receive the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s 2018 Visionary Award. This award is given every two years at our Symposium and recognizes an individual who has created a larger vision for what the future of focused ultrasound may hold and whose effort, passion, and persistence have been crucial to advancing the field. Mr. Sanghvi will be acknowledged during the Symposium’s Welcome Reception where he will briefly share his journey in focused ultrasound and vision of the future.
Mr. Sanghvi began working with focused ultrasound in the Fry brothers’ laboratory at Indiana University School of Medicine more than 45 years ago. Following several years of work on a system to treat brain disorders, he began the pursuit of treating the prostate with focused ultrasound and formed a company, Focus Surgery Inc., now a part of SonaCare Medical. Today, Mr. Sanghvi is the Chief Scientific Officer at SonaCare. He is also the inventor and developer of the company’s Sonablate® HIFU device, which has treated approximately 20,000 patients with prostate cancer at more than 120 clinical sites worldwide.
“Today, diagnostic ultrasound is a major medical imaging modality due to its noninvasiveness and high temporal and spatial resolutions,” says Mr. Sanghvi. “Similarly, highly focused ultrasound has the same attributes to be a significant player for therapeutic applications. Receiving this award from the Focused Ultrasound Foundation is a surprise and very exciting. The Foundation has played an important role in integrating the interests of scientific, medical and commercial entities in this field, and it continues to provide timely synergism to make these novel therapeutic applications a reality.”
Mr. Sanghvi is a member and fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, the Acoustical Society of America, and the International Society of Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU). He was recently presented The William and Francis Fry Honorary Fellowship for Contributions to Therapeutic Ultrasound at the 2018 ISTU meeting.
“Naren is a true pioneer and a driving force behind focused ultrasound’s trajectory,” says Foundation chairman Neal F. Kassell, MD. “From early on he recognized the technology’s potential to disrupt so many areas of care. His decades of experience in innovative focused ultrasound research, developing a clinical system, and leading a focused ultrasound company place him in an elite class of visionaries.”
The 6th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound will take place October 21-25, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Virginia.
Previous Visionary Award recipient have included Kullervo Hynynen, PhD (2016) and Motti Zisser (2014).