Joseph F. Polak MD, MPH

Dr. Joseph F. Polak MD, MPH, is Professor of Radiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and Chief of Radiology at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston, MA. A graduate of McGill University School of Medicine and of the Harvard School of Public Health, is major clinical interests are in the use of ultrasound imaging to detect and follow atherosclerosis. He has co-authored more than 310 peer-reviewed papers and 100 non-peer-reviewed articles and chapters.

He is the sole author of a textbook on Vascular Ultrasound: ”Peripheral Vascular Ultrasound. A practical guide” as well as co-editor of a textbook: “Introduction to Vascular Ultrasonography”. He has served on the Editorial Board of Radiology and currently serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Neuroimaging, the Journal of Vascular Ultrasound, and the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.

He is past-president of the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories, has served on the Board of the American Institute in Ultrasound in Medicine, and is currently serving on the Board of the Society of Vascular Medicine. He has been co-investigator and director of the Ultrasound Reading Center that was funded by the NIH and evaluated many ultrasound markers of atherosclerosis such as carotid artery intima-media thickness, carotid artery plaque, carotid artery distensibility, brachial artery reactivity, and currently brachial artery intima-media thickness. He is working on developing a calibrated methodology that can be used for cardiovascular risk assessment.