The American Society of Radiologic Technologists has named 109 individuals from across the country to participate in the 2026 Student to Leadership Development Program. See the 2026 active selected participants list.

The SLDP is a three-year program that offers participants an opportunity to learn about the ASRT, attend the ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Meeting, and network with medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals. Participants will attend the annual meeting, June 25-28, 2026, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Airfare, housing and a stipend for meals and other travel expenses are also provided.

The program is open to ASRT student members aged 18 and older enrolled in an accredited, primary medical imaging or radiation therapy program at the time of application. Applicants must be members of the ASRT and an active ASRT affiliate society at the time of application and throughout their three years in the program. To learn more about the program visit this link.

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists is hosting a free Virtual Career Fair on March 17, from 4-7 p.m. Eastern time. Participants may register here through March 17. More than 100 participants have signed up to attend.

The career fair features top employers recruiting professionals in the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession. The interactive virtual platform allows job seekers to connect directly with recruiters via text, audio or video chats.

Participants are encouraged to review the participating organizations’ profiles, browse open positions, provide their background experience and prepare to connect with company representatives. Exhibitors may register here by March 10.

This is the third virtual career fair hosted by ASRT and is part of its ongoing effort to address the current medical imaging and radiation therapy profession workforce shortage. The job fair follows the recommendations outlined in the White Paper from the 2024 Consensus Committee on the Future of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy.

The ASRT is seeking qualified members interested in volunteer positions on the Research and Grants Advisory Panel.

The duties, qualifications and time commitment required for these openings are available through the link below:

Please contact ASRT Volunteer Services at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

To see all current positions available, visit the Open Volunteer Opportunities page.

Members of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists have elected four officers to serve on the 2026-2027 ASRT Board of Directors.

Meet Your Elected Candidates

TJ Gardner,
B.Arch., B.S., R.T.(T)

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists named TJ Gardner, B.Arch., B.S., R.T.(T), of Gilbert, Arizona, as the 2025 Student to Leadership Development Program Alumni of the Year.

Selected in 2023 to participate in the SLDP three-year program, Gardner served as a licensed architect for 25 years involved in the design, planning and renovation of medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics. In 2020, he made a career transition to study radiation therapy. He graduated from the MD Anderson School of Health Professions in Houston, earning membership in the Lambda Nu and Alpha Eta honor societies.

As a radiation therapist at Ironwood Cancer and Research Center in Chandler, Arizona, he focuses on connecting with patients and leans on the knowledge that physical and psychological environments influence treatment quality, safety and staff well-being.

Gardner is an active volunteer nationally and locally. He served as a member for the Sergeant-at-Arms Committee for the 2024 ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Meeting and a 2025 ASRT Committee on Bylaws member. He was one of 50 recipients to receive the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists Education and Professional Growth Grant, administered by the ASRT Foundation in 2024. He is currently a professional mentor for two SLDP participants.

For the Arizona Society of Radiologic Technologists, Gardner is a member-at-large and serves on its advocacy committee. As chair of AZSRT Committee on Bylaws, he led the effort to bring its bylaws current with national standards and remains committed to working on its revitalization.

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists selected the radiation therapy team at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute in Columbus, and Mount Sinai Health System, Department of Radiation Oncology in New York, as the recipients of the 2026 BeRAD Professionalism Award.

The award recognizes health campuses, imaging centers, hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities in which medical imaging and radiation therapy personnel demonstrate a culture of professionalism. The two institutions demonstrated their efforts to support medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals by offering a team approach to patient-centered care, opportunities to earn credentials, continuing education, advanced degrees and opportunities to be active in professional associations as well as local community outreach events. In addition, they detailed processes or programs that deliver equitable and accessible patient care, continuous quality improvements and safe patient care.

The radiation therapists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute reshaped patient care through their Computed Tomography Simulation Cancellation Reduction Project. By building enhanced workflows and implementing advanced practice provider-led telehealth readiness visits, they decreased monthly patient appointment cancellations from 31% to 5%. In addition to significant hospital savings, this benefitted patients by decreasing repeat visits and providing quicker access to care thereby lowering patients’ stress levels, alongside significant hospital savings.

The Mount Sinai Health System, Department of Radiation Oncology is fostering a culture of communication and collaboration to provide patient-centered care across its institutions. Mount Sinai’s Radiation Oncology team earned the recognition for its comprehensive and collaborative approach, which includes a strong culture of teamwork across physicians, radiation therapists, physicists, nurses, and support staff, as well as ongoing professional development and a deep commitment to patient-centered care. In addition to delivering advanced cancer care, the program supports a radiation therapy and medical dosimetry education program, as well as an internal magnetic resonance education certificate.

“The BeRAD Professionalism program drives the mission and enhances the vision of ASRT. As a brand, the award is purposed to bring all modalities together as one service line team and to undeniably impress upon our patients, institutions and communities the value we create. These two health care institutions have shown a level of professionalism honoring the standard we aim to represent,” said ASRT President Brandon A. Smith, M.B.A ., M.S.R.S., R.T.(R)(VI), CIIP.

The winning organizations will receive a customized award to commemorate their achievement, a one-year Group ASRT membership for up to 25 employees and recognition at the 2026 ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Honors Evening in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in June.

Applications for the 2027 BeRAD Professionalism Award will open July 2026.

The ASRT has announced the recipients of its distinguished author awards, recognizing the best peer-reviewed articles published in ASRT’s scientific journals in 2025. Presented annually, the awards are chosen by members of each journal’s respective Editorial Review Board after a comprehensive review of all scholarly articles published in the journals during the previous calendar year.

The Radiologic Technology Distinguished Author Award in Honor of Jean I. Widger goes to Kevin R. Clark, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(QM), FASRT, FAEIRS. His article, “Comparative Analysis of LLMs’ Performance on a Practice Radiography Certification Exam,” was published in the May/June 2025 issue of Radiologic Technology.

Dr. Clark is an associate professor and the associate director for the School of Health Professions at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He also is founder and chief executive officer of CW Elite, LLC, a professional editing and consulting company. He currently serves as president for the Association of Educators in Imaging and Radiologic Sciences and the Texas Society of Radiologic Technologists.

The goal of this study was to compare the performance of multiple large language models on a practice radiography certification exam. Findings from this study provide valuable insights into the performance of multiple LLMs in answering practice radiography certification exam questions. The study concluded that among the five LLMs compared in this study, ChatGPT (OpenAI) was the most accurate model. As interest in generative artificial intelligence continues to increase and new language applications become readily available, users should understand the limitations of LLMs and check responses for accuracy.

This year the Radiation Therapist Distinguished Author Award in Honor of Harold Silverman goes to Danielle McDonagh, D.H.Sc., R.T.(T); Clodagh Starrs, M.Sc., PgC; Samantha Skubish, M.S., R.T.(R)(T); Kavita Dharmarajan, M.D.; Hulya Kocyigit, Ph.D.; Márcio A. Diniz, Ph.D.; and Maria Dimopoulos, Ph.D., R.T.(T), for their article, “Effect of APRT Intervention on Inpatient Radiation Therapy Throughput,” which was published in the spring 2025 issue of Radiation Therapist.

McDonagh is the program director for radiation therapy education at the Mount Sinai Center for Radiation Sciences Education at Stony Brook University in New York. Starrs is a therapeutic radiographer and advanced practice radiation therapist for radiation oncology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Skubish is the chief technical director of radiation oncology at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. Dr. Dharmarajan is the associate professor of radiation oncology, geriatrics and palliative medicine, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Dr. Kocyigit is a biostatistician for the Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Institute for Health Care Delivery Science, Tisch Cancer Institute Biostatistics Shared Resource Facility at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Diniz works for the Department of Population Health Science and Policy; is an associate professor for the Institute for Health Care Delivery Science; and is codirector for the Tisch Cancer Institute Biostatistics Shared Resource Facility at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Dimopoulos is an assistant professor for Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of an advanced practice radiation therapist intervention on throughput challenges in a large academic radiation oncology department by analyzing and comparing inpatient throughput metrics before and after implementation. The study found that APRT intervention enhanced patient care processes and outcomes by reducing delays and improving treatment efficiency. Thus, incorporating APRT roles can address critical care delivery challenges in modern radiation oncology practice, especially for complex patient populations.

The Widger award is named after longtime Radiologic Technology editor Jean I. Widger. The Silverman award is named in honor of radiation therapist Harold Silverman, an advocate for accreditation of radiation therapy education programs.

The ASRT will honor the recipients at the Honors Evening on June 26 at the 2026 ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Meeting.