Thomas H. Helbich MD, MSc, MBA, Professor of Radiology, finishes his medical degree at the Medical University of Vienna in 1998. From 1990 until 1996 he was trained as a radiologist at the Department of Radiology at the Medical University of Vienna. He was a research fellow at the Department of Radiology, Center of Molecular Imaging of the University of California in San Francisco from 1996 to 1998. In 2007 he became Division Head of the Breast Imaging Department of the University of Toronto and Full Professor of Radiology of the University of Toronto. Since October 1st, 2008 he is Professor of Molecular & Gender Imaging and Vice Chair of the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image guided Therapy of the Medical University of Vienna. The main field of research interest are clinical and experimental investigation on a cellular and sub-cellular level to diagnose cancer earlier, more accurate, minimal and/or non-invasively. His working group developed and optimized several methods on the basis of MRI, different molecular imaging tools, as well as minimal invasive diagnostic techniques.

He is author/coauthor of more than 215 scientific articles. He was honored with several national and international awards. Prof. Helbich serves as section editor and reviewer of several Medical Journals. He is board member of the European Society of Molecular and Functional Imaging in Radiology (ESMOFIR), the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI), and the Austrian Society of Senology (ÖGS). From 2009 to 2012 he served as the president of the EUSOBI and ÖGS. He is member of the Senate of the Medical University of Vienna since 2016.

Most important grants (PI or Co-PI)

VH-PRISM: Virtual Physiological Human: Personalized Predictive Breast Cancer Therapy FP7; Proposal number: 601040; Start March 2013-2016, 3.7M EUR

HYPMED: Digital Hybrid Breast PET/MRI for Enhanced Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Horizon 2020; Proposal number: 667211-2; Start January 2016-2019, WP 3 leader, 5.8M EUR

MURAB: MRI and Ultrasound Robotic Assisted Biopsy Horizon 2020 Proposal number: 688188 Start January 2016-2019, 3.9M EUR

Christian Doppler Labour: Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology; WP 3 leader – Functional pre-clinical and clinical imaging; 2013-2017, 5.5M EUR

Österreichische Nationalbank Jubiläumsfond Nr. 16219: MR Mapping of tumor vessel architecture as a new imaging biomarker for breast cancer; 2015-2017, 110.000 EUR

Most important publications

Marino MA, Helbich T, Baltzer P, Pinker-Domenig K. Multiparametric MRI of the breast: A review. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2017 Jun 22. doi: 10.1002/jmri.25790. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID: 28639300.

Magometschnigg HF, Baltzer PA, Fueger B, Helbich TH, Karanikas G, Dubsky P,Rudas M, Weber M, Pinker K. Diagnostic accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT compared with that of contrast-enhanced MRI of the breast at 3 T. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2015;42(11):1656-65. doi: 10.1007/s00259-015-3099-1.

Pinker K, Baltzer P, Bogner W, Leithner D, Trattnig S, Zaric O, Dubsky P,Bago-Horvath Z, Rudas M, Gruber S, Weber M, Helbich TH. Multiparametric MR Imaging with High-Resolution Dynamic Contrast-enhanced and Diffusion-weighted Imaging at 7 T Improves the Assessment of Breast Tumors: A Feasibility Study. Radiology. 2015;276(2):360-70. doi: 10.1148/radiol.15141905.

Riedl CC, Luft N, Bernhart C, Weber M, Bernathova M, Tea MK, Rudas M, Singer CF, Helbich TH. Triple-modality screening trial for familial breast cancer underlines the importance of magnetic resonance imaging and questions the role of mammography and ultrasound regardless of patient mutation status, age, and breast density. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33(10):1128-35. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2014.56.8626.

Bogner W, Pinker K, Zaric O, Baltzer P, Minarikova L, Porter D, Bago-Horvath Z, Dubsky P, Helbich TH, Trattnig S, Gruber S. Bilateral diffusion-weighted MR imaging of breast tumors with submillimeter resolution using readout-segmented echo-planar imaging at 7 T. Radiology. 2015;274(1):74-84. doi: 10.1148/radiol.14132340.

Pinker K, Bogner W, Baltzer P, Karanikas G, Magometschnigg H, Brader P, Gruber S, Bickel H, Dubsky P, Bago-Horvath Z, Bartsch R, Weber M, Trattnig S, Helbich TH. Improved differentiation of benign and malignant breast tumors with multiparametric 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography magnetic resonance imaging: a feasibility study. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Jul 1;20(13):3540-9.

Memarsadeghi M, Riedl CC, Kaneider A, Galid A, Rudas M, Matzek W, Helbich TH. Axillary lymph node metastases in patients with breast carcinomas: assessment with nonenhanced versus uspio-enhanced MR imaging. Radiology 2006;241(2):367-77.

Helbich TH, Gossman A, Mareski PA, Radüchel B, Roberts TP, Shames DM, Mühler M, Turetschek K, Brasch RC. A new polysaccharide macromolecular contrast agent for MR imaging: biodistribution and imaging characteristics. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2000 Jun;11(6):694-701.

Helbich TH, Roberts TP, Gossmann A, Wendland MF, Shames DM, Adachi M, Yang S, Huber S, Daldrup H, Brasch RC. Quantitative gadopentetate-enhanced MRI of breast tumors: testing of different analytic methods. Magn Reson Med. 2000;44(6):915-24.

Gossmann A, Helbich TH, Mesiano S, Shames DM, Wendland MF, Roberts TP, Ferrara N, Jaffe RB, Brasch RC. Magnetic resonance imaging in an experimental model of human ovarian cancer demonstrating altered microvascular permeability after inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2000;183(4):956-63.