Ralph Koenker, M.D.

After attending the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Koenker completed a residency and MRI fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital followed by a fellowship in interventional radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Koenker earned board certification in 1990 and received a Certificate of Added Qualification in both neuroradiology and interventional radiology. Over the last 20 years, he has used this background to provide neuroradiology consultation with particular expertise in vascular diseases of the central nervous system.

Dr. Koenker has led the development of the magnetic resonance angiogram practice at California Advanced Imaging Medical Associates outpatient imaging centers. He has served in the university setting at the University of California, San Francisco as an assistant clinical professor. As an experienced invasive neuroradiologist, Dr. Koenker is a lead physician in the Marin General interventional stroke program with expertise in sophisticated neuroangiographic techniques, including intracranial thrombolysis and cerebral artery clot extraction procedures.

Dr. Koenker is a key radiology consultant working with the digital imaging divisions of both Phillips Medical Systems and Siemens Medical Solutions. He was one of the first radiologists to describe “automated image manipulation” as a computerized technique to improve diagnostic accuracy during soft copy viewing of digital radiographs (2003, J Digital imaging). This concept is now a well-accepted and recognized refinement that has become part of the automated viewing workflow commonly employed in soft copy stations. He frequently lectures at national conferences on digital radiography issues. His lectures have included the “Administrative Essentials of Filmless Radiography” course in Nashville and the national course in Las Vegas titled “Going Digital in Radiology: What you need to know.”

Dr. Koenker has presented his research at the Society of Computerized Applications in Radiology, the Association of University Radiologists, and the Radiological Society of North America. He has published in Applied Radiology, Investigative Radiology, the Journal of Digital Imaging, MedicaMundi, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.