Clare Tempany, MB, BCh, BAO

Clare Tempany, MB, BCh, BAO

Harvard University

Boston, Massachusetts

Dr. Tempany is the Ferenc A. Jolesz Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She also serves as Vice Chair of Radiology Research and Medical Director of the Advanced Multi-modal Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) Suite, a suite of translational clinical research rooms at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Tempany is a native of Dublin, Ireland, and a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She completed her internship and a senior house officer program in internal medicine in Dublin prior to moving to Chicago for residency training in Diagnostic Radiology at Loyola University of Chicago. She went on to a fellowship and her first faculty appointment in MRI at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland. Three years later, she moved to Brigham & Women’s Hospital to join the Abdominal Imaging Division.

Dr. Tempany established the Body MRI Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital with a pioneering focus on prostate and gynecological imaging. Then, through a unique partnership with Anthony D’Amico, MD, she helped establish the first ever MR-guided prostate cancer brachytherapy program in 1997. She followed this by partnering with Noby Hata, PhD, to establish the first MR-guided transperineal in-bore prostate cancer biopsy program. Now, 20 years later, both MR-guided prostate cancer biopsy and MR-guided radiation therapy are rapidly becoming the standard of care to aid in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Today, Dr. Tempany leads trials in mpMRI, is Co-Chair of the PI-RADS international committee, is the PI of a InSightec-sponsored focal therapy trial with MR-guided FUS, and is study chair of the new ECOG-ACRIN trial in prostate MRI. She has had continuous NIH funding for over 20 years and is currently the PI of the NIH funded-P41, and a T32 training grant in image-guided therapy.

Talks by Clare Tempany, MB, BCh, BAO

MRI PI-RADS Standardization and Clinical Evaluation

MRI PI-RADS Standardization and Clinical Evaluation

Posted by | Nov 2024

Clare Tempany, MB, BCh, BAO, Harvard Medical School, addresses the standardization and clinical evaluation of PI-RADS, a key tool in prostate cancer imaging. In her 13-minute presentation, Dr. Tempany begins by tracing the history of the RADS program, emphasizing its role in reducing variability and improving communication in radiological reporting. She highlights the utility of prostate MRI, focusing on its capacity to aid in detection, characterization, and targeted biopsies for clinically significant cancers.

Dr. Tempany reviews the PI-RADS v2.1 updates, which refine imaging protocols and stress the inclusion of previously overlooked areas like the anterior fibromuscular stroma. She provides examples to illustrate how these improvements enhance lesion detection and biopsy targeting. While discussing the growing interest in bi-parametric MRI, Dr. Tempany remains cautious, advocating for multiparametric MRI in most cases due to its added value for less experienced readers or in challenging cases.

She highlights the global shift toward recommending MRI before biopsy, citing changes in major guidelines and increased adoption rates. Dr. Tempany underscores the ongoing efforts to enhance MRI quality and interpretation, focusing on integrating AI for future improvements.

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PI-RADS Standardization and Risk Assessment – Recent Advances and Future Plans

PI-RADS Standardization and Risk Assessment – Recent Advances and Future Plans

Posted by | Mar 2024

Clare Tempany, MB BCh BAO, gives an overview of the role that Prostate Imaging Reporting And Data System (PI-RADS) standardization plays in the treatment and detection of prostate cancer. She begins by giving a history of the RADS program, which is overseen by the American College of Radiation, and the objectives of RAD programs overall.

Dr. Tempany then goes into detail about the PI-RADS program and its specific objectives. She discusses the need to change and update existing RADS, highlighting the lack of consensus on two significant studies that would prompt such changes.

Dr. Tempany concludes by reviewing the technical specifications, clarifications in interpretation criteria and the role of Bi-Parametiric MRI in PI-RADS. She finishes her talk by going over possible research opportunities and other exciting future plans.

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Current and Emerging Imaging Tools for Improving Risk Assessment and Selection of Patients for Biopsy

Current and Emerging Imaging Tools for Improving Risk Assessment and Selection of Patients for Biopsy

Posted by | Jun 2021

Clare Tempany, MD, the Ferenc A. Jolesz Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, summarizes evidence for multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging’s (mpMRI) utility in prostate cancer diagnosis, and goes over recent developments in its use. She first looks at selection criteria for biopsy and biopsy type, including history, digital rectal examination (DRE), prostate specific antigen (PSA), and imaging, arguing that mpMRI is particularly helpful in allowing patients to avoid unnecessary biopsies. Dr. Tempany then defines state-of-the art mpMRI as featuring diffusion/apparent diffusion coefficient, being T2-weighted, being IV contrast/dynamic contrast enhanced, and as being reported using the PI-RADS v2.1 assessment. She goes over the PI-RADS assessment categories, considers the findings of multiple publications backing up the value of mpMRI as compared to transurethral ultrasound (TRUS), and looks at evidence supporting guidance indicating patients with PI-RADS 3 lesions should get a biopsy. Dr. Tempany follows this up by summarizing a paper from the PI-RADS steering committee on how PI-RADS and mpMRI should be used. Suggestions include performing mpMRI in most men suspected of having clinically-significant disease, providing a safety net of monitoring for patients who decline immediate biopsy after low-likelihood MRI findings, and using a combination of systematic and targeted biopsies in biopsy-naive patients while only using targeted biopsies for patients with prior negative findings on TRUS. Dr. Tempany then notes that the AUA, EAU, and NICE guidelines all now recommend MRI before biopsy, and also observes that MRI is cost-effective if it leads to the avoidance of biopsy. She concludes by listing areas for future development, including multi-omics, molecular pathology, germline mutations, CTC/blood biomarkers, and mass spectrometry.

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