American Roentgen Ray Society Awards 2020 ARRS Scholarship to Theodore Pierce

Leesburg, VA, December 19, 2019—The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is pleased to announce the 2020 ARRS Scholarship has been awarded to Theodore T. Pierce, MD of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Funded by ARRS’ The Roentgen Fund®, Dr. Pierce will use the protected time afforded by this ARRS Scholarship to pursue the development of advanced ultrasound biomarkers for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Affecting more than 100 million Americans, NAFLD is the most prevalent chronic liver disease in the United States and among the most common causes of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure requiring transplantation. 

According to Dr. Pierce, the overall goal of his two-year, two-step research project is “to develop and validate novel ultrasound-based biomarkers of NAFLD through advanced image analysis using machine learning and novel ultrasound-measured tissue properties.” 

Dr. Pierce says further that these biomarkers will serve as “safe, accurate, and noninvasive tools” to “diagnose NAFLD, risk stratify patients, and monitor treatment response.” 

Dr. Pierce will be formally recognized as the sole recipient of the 2020 ARRS Scholarship during the opening ceremony of the 120th ARRS Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 3, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.  

Theodore T. Pierce is an Instructor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and a faculty radiologist in the division of abdominal imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Pierce completed his medical education at Duke University School of Medicine, where he conducted mentored research under James Provenzale, Section Editor for the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), and honed his clinical research skills with a one-year grant from Duke’s Clinical Research Training Program. Following his radiology residency and one-year clinical abdominal imaging fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the Massachusetts General Hospital/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Ultrasound Research and Translation (CURT). At CURT, under the mentorship of prior ARRS Scholarship recipient Anthony Samir, Dr. Pierce focused on advanced ultrasound techniques for liver imaging, as well as translational research methods, regulatory frameworks, and clinical trial design. The author or co-author of seven published manuscripts—including one first author in AJR—and nine book chapters which are published or undergoing editorial review, Dr. Pierce has also received a competitive pilot grant from the Society of Abdominal Radiology to facilitate and expedite his CURT research.


Founded in 1900, the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is the first and oldest radiology society in North America, dedicated to the advancement of medicine through the profession of radiology and its allied sciences. An international forum for progress since the discovery of the x-ray, ARRS maintains its mission of improving health through a community committed to advancing knowledge and skills with an annual scientific meeting, monthly publication of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), quarterly issues of InPractice magazine, AJR Live Webinars and Podcasts, topical symposia, print and online educational materials, as well as awarding scholarships via The Roentgen Fund®.