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Martin W. Donner Professorship in Radiology

School of Medicine
Radiology

Established in 1988 by current and former faculty, fellows, and house staff of the Department of Radiology in honor of Martin W. Donner

DonnerMartinGerman-born MARTIN W. DONNER arrived at Hopkins in 1957 and for three decades researched the radiological aspects of understanding gastrointestinal functions. As chairman from 1972 to 1987, he led the Department of Radiology through three successive waves of technological advances in the imaging field–ultrasound, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. A past president of the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists, Dr. Donner was honored with that society’s Canon Medal in 1983. In 1980, he formed a multidisciplinary research and clinical facility at Hopkins, the first center of its kind in the nation, to study and treat swallowing disorders. Over the course of his career Dr. Donner contributed more than 150 articles and book chapters, and went on to become editor of Dysphagia, a journal that focuses on the treatment of these disorders. Dr. Donner, who died in 1992, retired as department director in 1987 to work full time at the swallowing center he had established.

 

Held by Karen M. Horton

KAREN M. HORTON MD, the Martin W. Donner Professor of Radiology, joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1988 to attend medical school. After completing a radiology residency and a fellowship in cross-sectional imaging at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Horton joined the radiology faculty as an assistant professor in 1998. Dr. Horton’s research focus is on abdominal CT imaging, 3D imaging of the gastrointestinal tract and the mesenteric vessels, and virtual colonoscopy. She is a frequently featured speaker nationally and has been an author on more than 250 publications. Dr. Horton was promoted to associate professor in 2002, and in 2008 became the 144th female to be promoted to full professor.

In 2009, Dr. Horton assumed the role of radiology residency program director. During her more than four years as program director, the residency program was ranked #1 twice by Aunt Minnie and #4 by Doximetry. During her tenure, in addition to making significant improvements to the residency curriculum, she increased diversity by recruiting more women and underrepresented minorities. In the fall of 2013, she became acting chair of the Department of Radiology at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center where the radiologists were primarily community practice physicians without subspecialty training. Dr. Horton established a dedicated body imaging division and hired new faculty who now rotate to the main hospital on the East Baltimore Campus.

While acting chair at Bayview Medical Center, Dr. Horton became the vice chair of operations for the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins in 2014. In January 2015, she transitioned back to the East Baltimore Campus of Johns Hopkins full-time and was promoted to executive vice chair in July 2015. Dr. Horton served as interim director of the Department, and Chair of the Board of Johns Hopkins Imaging, LLC from February 2016 until September 2017.

After an extensive national search, in October 2017, Dr. Horton was named the Director of the Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Director of Radiology for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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