Laurence Clarke, MSc, PhD, FAAPM, FISMRM, 1966 (died 16 April 2016, aged 72)
Extract from the obituary on SPIE, a full version of which is available here.
Laurence P (Larry) Clarke was a far-sighted leader of the Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) and steadfast supporter of new and emerging quantitative imaging technologies that address the cancer problem.
A visionary in the field of medical imaging for cancer, he established several NCI programs and research networks for the development and validation of quantitative imaging methods for current and next-generation imaging platforms.
He actively worked with several international scientific societies, including SPIE (the international society for optics and light), to support and adopt physical standards for imaging as a biomarker and to position imaging to play a significant role in NCI future precision medicine initiatives. Larry, who published numerous scientific papers with SPIE and other organizations, had worked at the NCI since 1999. He built strong networks of collaboration across academia, industry, and government to translate research findings into practice.
In the early sevenies, he spent several years in Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Kevin St. During his long career, he was also an adjunct professor of engineering and bioengineering at George Washington University (USA) and taught at University of South Florida, the nearby H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of Miami, and Dublin Institute of Technology.
Born in Derry, Larry received his BSc (1966) and MSc (1968) degrees in Physics from Queen's and earned his PhD in medical imaging physics at National University of Ireland (1978), focusing on quantitative nuclear imaging.
He is survived by his wife Alice, twin daughters Laura and Allisun and by sons-in-law Edward Sfeir and Edward Jose and four grandchildren - Evan, Mariella, Michael, and Sean.
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