Savita Puri, M.B.B.S., M.P.H.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Administrative: (585) 275-6494

Office: (585) 275-5434

Fax: (585) 273-1033

A member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

An Accountable Health Partner

Accepting New Patients

Locations

University of Rochester Medical Center
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 648
Rochester, NY 14642

Faculty Appointments

Professor of Clinical Imaging Sciences - Department of Imaging Sciences (SMD)

Patient Care Setting

Imaging Sciences

Biography

I strive for excellence in educating and making a positive impact on the preparation of future Radiologists in a non-threatening environment.

Educational practices in the 21st century require more time for teaching and learning, yet faculty commitment is increasingly diverted to other concerns. I have tried, in this challenging environment, to improve my skills to teach so as to be a role model and to positively impact the preparation of future Radiologists. I have tried to base my teaching on a foundation of the scientific knowledge I have acquired throughout my career and on this foundation base, I have encouraged residents to develop sound clinical judgment, communicate effectively with the referring physicians and the patients we care for. I mentored many residents with research which have been published and presented at numerous national scientific conferences. Above all, I try to teach "we do not look just at bones, tendons and organs, but we treat people".

Professional Background

EDUCATION
1963-64 Pre-med Delhi University, New Delhi, India
1964-68 M.D. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
2010 MPH Masters of Public Health | University of Rochester School of
Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, New York

POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING
1969 Rotating Intern All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi,
India
1970 Medical Resident All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New
Delhi, India
1971 Research Fellow All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi,
India
1971-72 Medical Resident Muhlenberg Hospital, Major Affiliate of Rutgers
University, New Jersey (R1)
1972-73 Medical Resident New England Medical Center, Affiliated Hospitals,
Boston, MA (R2)
1973-75 NIH Fellow Diagnostic Radiology (Nuclear Medicine), Yale
University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
4/7-6/14/03 PET Fellowship Yale University, Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology New Haven, CT PET Facility, West Haven Veteran Administration Hospital

Research

To date the focus of my research efforts has been the applied clinical research. This includes my own clinical research, as well as the medical students and residents-in-training I mentor. Throughout my professional career I have been involved in guiding the medical students and the residents to critically evaluate and identify existing gaps in the current medical knowledge, formulate a research question, develop a hypothesis he/she would like to test, and then develop a systematic plan to test the hypothesis. In addition, during my teaching exercises, both one-on-one and the didactic lectures, I encourage the residents to step out of their comfort zone, probe deeply into the unexpected imaging results and if not much is known about the findings on hand, follow through with the clinical outcome and ultimately share the unusual findings with the Radiology community by publishing it in the scientific literature. Several of our residents, and a few medical students, have published and presented the results of their clinical research at the national Radiology conferences.

At a personal level, I myself investigated the reasons for unnecessary over-utilization of CT scans in the Emergency Department setting and the associated radiation related cancer risk. I developed a research proposal and obtained the IRRB approval (see attached power point presentation). The research has been completed and data analyzed. Currently one of our radiology residents, with my guidance, is working on obtaining an IRRB approval to investigate incidence and prevalence of second primary tumor during PET/CT lymphoma staging work up.

Ultimately my goal is to continue to ignite and foster a spirit among my students and residents to ask probing questions, develop a disciplined mind to find answers to those questions through systematic investigation and add to the existing knowledge base.

Credentials

Education

1968
MBBS | All India Institute of Medical Sciences

2010
MPH | University of Rochester

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

11/06/2002 - 11/08/2002
Fellowship in at Duke University Medical Center

05/01/2002 - 06/30/2002
Fellowship in Nuclear Medicine at University of Rochester Medical Center

07/01/1973 - 06/30/1975
Residency in Nuclear Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital

07/01/1973 - 06/30/1975
Fellowship in Nuclear Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital

07/01/1972 - 06/30/1973
Residency in Internal Medicine at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital

07/01/1971 - 06/30/1972
Internship in Internal Medicine at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center

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Awards

1997
Letter of Appreciation
Sponsor: Secretary of Veterans affair

1995
Monroe County Powers Chapter 15 Award
Sponsor: Disabled American Veterans

1994
Excellence in Teamwork
Sponsor: VA Medical Center
Location: Batavia

1994
Vice President Gore's Hammer Award
Location: Rochester NY

1993
Award of Merit
Sponsor: E.R. Memorial Post 1917

1993
Citation by New York State Assembly for Outstanding Citizen Worthy of Esteem
Sponsor: Monroe Community & State of New York

1990
Distinguished Service Award
Sponsor: Indo-American Society of Nuclear Medicine

1990
Commendation Award for Commitment to Excellence and Continuous Improvement in the quality of medical staff
Sponsor: Chief Nurse, VAMC Batavia

1975
Bronze Medal for the exhibit "Value of Posterior Oblique Views in Perfusion Lung Scanning
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health

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Publications

Journal Articles

2013
Thompson, Joel; Jones, Luann; Puri, Savita;. "Multimodality imaging features of malignant and benign FDG-avid pancreatic lesions and their impact on clinical management" . J Nucl Med. 2013; 54(Supplement 2): 1294.

5/2012
Drumsta D; Strang J; Puri S. "PET/CT Characterization of Adrenal Masses, Their Mimics, and More" . AJR. 2012; 198(Supplement 5).

5/2012
LoStracco T, Gill G, Sidhu R, Puri S, Almast, J. "Spectrum of Lymphoma: Extranodal Manifestations of a Ubiquitous Mimic" . AJR. 2012; 198(5 Supplement).

Books & Chapters

1980
Chapter Title: Pericardium
Book Title: CRC Handbook of Nuclear Medicine
Author List: Puri S
Published By: CRC Press 1980

1980
Chapter Title: Cardiovascular Section
Book Title: CRC Handbook of Nuclear Medicine
Author List: Puri, S
Edited By: Savita Puri, MD
Published By: CRC 1980

1980
Chapter Title: Pharmaceutical in Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine
Book Title: CRC Handbook of Nuclear Medicine
Author List: Puri, S
Published By: CRC Press 1980

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