Meet Thomas Brosnan, recipient of this year’s Marsh O’Neill Award

When it comes to medical imaging at Stanford, few people have been more quietly essential than Thomas Brosnan, a longtime research scientist in the Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL) in the Department of Radiology.

This year, Brosnan received the Marsh O’Neill Award for Exceptional and Enduring Support of Stanford University’s Research Enterprise – an honor that recognizes outstanding contributions to Stanford’s research mission. 

Norbert Pelc, the Boston Scientific Applied Biomedical Engineering Professor and professor of radiology, emeritus, said Brosnan has been an essential member of the research program for more than three decades, positively impacting the careers of graduate students, medical trainees, and faculty. 

“His impact extends into the medical center, benefitting thousands of patients,” Pelc continued. “With his outstanding training and exceptional technical skills, Tom could have earned more money if he had continued working at local companies. Instead, he chose to return to Stanford and enrich the lives of others. He is fully deserving of this award and our gratitude.” 

Gary Glover, professor of radiology in the RSL, called Brosnan the “smartest IT scientist he’s ever known.” 

“He is also incredibly kind, patient, and anxious to help everyone who needs it, and has touched the lives of every member of the RSL and beyond,” Glover said. 

Below, in his own words, Brosnan reflects on 34 years at Stanford and why the work still matters. 

A career rooted in purpose 

I really care about the applications of the things we work on in RSL. It’s motivating to come up with techniques that are useful for the diagnosis or treatment of patients, because these are things that can make people’s lives better. 

Although we’re a basic science section in radiology, we work with the clinical faculty who do the hard work of looking at images, diagnosing patients, and watching their treatment. MRIs are used to see exactly what’s going on and figure out what the treatment should be. It’s extremely important to patients’ lives and happiness. 

34 years and counting 

I have been working at Stanford for 34 years, starting in radiology in January 1991. I came to Stanford to work on a PhD in electrical engineering because they had such a good program in medical imaging. I met all sorts of smart, interesting people who were passionate about what they do, and it set me on a career path that led me to where I am now. 

It seemed like a perfect match when I found a medical imaging position at Stanford. I had a great experience here, and I really believed in the mission. 

Building together 

I’ve been with the RSL since it started as a pretty small division of the Department of Radiology with about five people. Now it has around 100 people. MR scanners were not a big part of diagnosis and treatment when I first came to Stanford, and now there is an incredible volume of imaging here. The first things that I worked on were related to developing analytical methods to measure blood flow. I started out with one project, but it’s morphed into supporting lots of other projects in RSL and radiology. 

Solving real-time problems 

Most mornings start with email – checking for any issues that need immediate attention. Someone may be having trouble with a research scan at the Lucas Center for Imaging, or sometimes the service engineers will call me when there’s a problem in the hospital. The priority goes way up if I have to fix something in real time while they’re trying to use the scanner in a clinical setting. I also help address questions like, how can we translate this particular technique into something that’s used clinically? How can we manage and keep track of all this data we’re collecting? How do we deal with the connectivity between the various machines? 

Staying ahead of the curve 

A big part of the job is keeping up with advances in medical imaging. We continually improve scanners’ hardware and software to keep them clinically relevant. On the research side, we have RSL scientists who are just trying to figure out more about the physiology of the body, so they want the most technologically advanced imaging that’s available. 

More than work 

We play Jeopardy during RSL’s annual retreat, which has become a nearly 30-year tradition, and I come up with the game’s questions. A lot of them are specific to RSL, radiology, or Stanford, but I always throw in something general like literature or music. It’s nice to see people’s interests outside of our technical expertise. 

A quiet recognition 

So many people make Stanford a nice place to work. People care deeply about what they do and are working on things that help people. 

I always try to do the best possible job I can do. I want everything to work, and I want it to be easy for people to use. 

It feels very nice to know that people went out of their way to say they appreciate my work. I feel a little embarrassed to be the center of attention, but I am very grateful for this recognition.