Ralph Drosten
- Clinical Professor, Radiology
- Professor, Radiology & Imaging Sci - (Clinical Scholar Track)
- (602) 827-2078
- Health Science Innovation Bldg, Rm. 245067
- rdrosten@arizona.edu
Biography
Dr. Drosten is a Thoracic Radiologist and holds medical and radiology specialty licenses in South Africa, England, Ireland and the U.S.A.
Dr. Drosten moved to the U.S.A. in 2001 and completed two Radiology Fellowships; Thoracic Imaging at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (2001-2002) and Oncologic and PET Imaging at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital (2002-2003), Harvard University, Boston, MA.
Dr. Drosten was Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Utah, SLC, UT from 2004-2008 and was a member of the Huntsman Cancer Committee, the steering committee for the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, UT.
Dr. Drosten and his family moved to Phoenix, AZ in 2009 where he joined the largest outpatient private Radiology practice in the Southwest and was Head of Oncologic and PET/CT Imaging.
Dr. Drosten joined Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix AZ as a physician leader, initially as Vice Chair of Radiology, then Administrative Chair and Chair of Radiology from 2010-2021.
Dr. Drosten was a member of the Foundation Board of Directors and Finance Committee of the Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation from 2011 to 2021.
Dr. Drosten was elected Treasurer and then Vice Chief of Staff by the medical staff and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital Medical Staff.
Dr Drosten was a member of the Executive Committees of the Dignity Health Medical Group, University of Arizona Cancer Center in Phoenix, Creighton Medical School Phoenix and the Common Spirit Imaging Council.
Dr. Drosten is Professor at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Tenured Professor at Creighton University School of Medicine.
Dr. Drosten joined RP-SMIL radiology practice in Scottsdale, AZ in 2021 and became partner of RP and of SMIL, Chair of Radiology at Honor Health Osborn Hospital, Scottsdale AZ and was a member of the Honor Health Medical Executive Committee.
Dr. Drosten joined Banner Health University of Arizona in 2023 where he is Professor of Radiology and was elected to and is Co-Chair of the Dean's Committee of Ten after one year with Banner UofA, an elected position voted on by the medical faculty.
Dr. Drosten is Assistant Editor of the American Journal of Radiology (AJR) and received recognition as Distinguished Reviewer (2020), Silver Reviewer Lifetime Achievement Award (2023) and Distinguished Reviewer (2024).
Dr. Drosten enthusiastically engages in national professional radiological societies, advocacy, leadership and administration, including;
- American College of Radiology (ACR) invited by ACR President Howard Fleishon MD to join the ACR Commission on International Relations, Dec 2020-May 2024
- American College of Radiology (ACR) Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) 2.0 Steering Committee, Mar 2020-May 2024
- Arizona Medical Association Legislative and Governmental Affairs Committee – recruited and appointed to the committee by ArMA’s President, Chic Older, May 2017-Aug 2023
- Arizona Healthcare Advocacy Coalition (AHAC), Aug 2022-2023
- American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) Quality and Practice Improvement Committee, July 2022-current
- American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) Wellness Committee, July 2022-current
- American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) Membership Committee, July 2020-current
- Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Health and Wellness Committee, Nov 2018-current
- Society of Thoracic Radiology (STR) Health and Wellness Committee, Mar 2019-current
- Society of Thoracic Radiology (STR) Practice Standards and Technical Guidelines Committee, 2013-2020
- Society of Thoracic Radiology (STR) Publications Committee, 2006-2013
Degrees
- MBChB Medicine
- University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Work Experience
- Medical Imaging, University of Arizona (2023 - Ongoing)
- Honor Health Osborn Hospital (2021 - 2023)
- Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center (2014 - 2021)
- Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center (2014 - 2021)
- Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center (2010 - 2014)
- Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center (2010 - 2013)
- University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (2004 - 2008)
Licensure & Certification
- Board Certified, American Board of Radiology (2005)
- FCRad (Diag), South African College of Medicine (1999)
- Physician, South African Medical and Dental Council (1992)
Interests
Teaching
Leadership, Quality, Efficiency, Clarity, Appropriate Utilization of Resources, Thoracic Radiology, Lung Transplant, Radiation Risk, Lung Cancer
Courses
No activities entered.
Scholarly Contributions
Journals/Publications
- Drosten, R. (2025). Editorial Comment: U.S. Radiologist Workforce Challenges and Opportunities. American Journal of Roentgenology, 224(Issue 5). doi:10.2214/ajr.24.32535
- Drosten, R. (2021). Editorial Comment: Practical Considerations in the Application of Recommendations for Suspected Infectious and Inflammatory Lung Abnormalities on Lung Cancer Screening CT. American Journal of Roentgenology, 217(Issue 5). doi:10.2214/ajr.21.25447
- Scheuba, C., Kaserer, K., Moritz, A., Drosten, R., Vierhapper, H., Bieglmayer, C., Haas, O. A., & Niederle, B. (2009). Sporadic hypercalcitoninemia: Clinical and therapeutic consequences. Endocrine-Related Cancer, 16(Issue 1). doi:10.1677/erc-08-0059More info'Calcitonin screening' is not accepted as the standard of care in daily practice. The clinical and surgical consequences of 'calcitonin screening' in a series of patients with mildly elevated basal calcitonin and pentagastrin stimulated calcitonin levels are presented. 260 patients with elevated basal (>10 pg/ml) and stimulated calcitonin levels (>100 pg/ml) were enrolled in this prospective study. None of the patients was member of a known medullary thyroid carcinoma family. Thyroidectomy and bilateral central and lateral neck dissections were performed. Testing for the presence of germ-line mutations was performed in all patients. Histological and immunohistochemical findings were compared with basal and stimulated calcitonin levels. All patients were subsequently followed biochemically. C-cell hyperplasia (CCH) was found in 126 (49%) and medullary thyroid cancer was found in 134 (51%) patients. RET proto-oncogen mutations were documented in 22 (8%) patients (medullary thyroid cancer:18, CCH:4). In 56 (46%) of 122 patients, sporadic CCH was classified neoplastic ('carcinoma in situ'). Of 97 (72%; 10 with hereditary medullary thyroid cancer) had pT1 (International Union against Cancer recommendations 2002) and 33 (25%) had pT2 or pT3 and 4 (3%) pT4 tumors. Of 39 (29.1%) had lymph node metastases. 106 (79.1%; 15 (38.5%) with lymph node metastases) patients were cured. Evaluation of basal and stimulated calcitonin levels enables the prediction of medullary thyroid cancer. All patients with basal calcitonin >64 pg/ml and stimulated calcitonin >560 pg/ml have medullary thyroid cancer. Medullary thyroid cancer was documented in 20% of patients with basal calcitonin >10 pg/ml but 100 pg/ml but
- Scheuba, C., Kaserer, K., Bieglmayer, C., Asari, R., Riss, P., Drosten, R., & Niederle, B. (2007). Medullary thyroid microcarcinoma recommendations for treatment - A single-center experience. Surgery, 142(Issue 6). doi:10.1016/j.surg.2007.09.016More infoBackground: Conflicting recommendations exist regarding lymph node (LN) surgery in microMTC (≤10mm). This study aims to correlate biochemical and pathohistological findings in an attempt to define the characteristics of microMTC, thus allowing recommendations for LN surgery. Methods: Patients with elevated basal (bCT:≥10pg/ml) and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin levels (sCT:>100pg/ml) were selected for initial surgery. None of the patient was a member of any known MTC family. Biochemical and morphological data of microMTC were compared with 146 patients with C-cell hyperplasia (CCH). Results: MicroMTC (tumor diameter: 4.2±2.6mm; unifocal:68; multifocal:29) was documented in 97 of 159 (61%) MTC patients. In 11 (11%) patients, 1-19 LNs were involved. Correlating bCT and sCT levels neither predicted N-stage, nor differentiated between microMTC and CCH. Conclusions: The biochemical discrimination cannot be made between patients with CCH and MTC, and patients with MTC with/without LN metastasis. Thus, thyroidectomy and central neck dissection is indicated in patients with "mildly" elevated sCT levels (
- Szot, A., Jacobson, F. L., Munn, S., Jazayeri, D., Nardell, E., Harrison, D., Drosten, R., Ohno-Machado, L., Smeaton, L. M., & Fraser, H. S. (2004). Diagnostic accuracy of chest X-rays acquired using a digital camera for low-cost teleradiology. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 73(Issue 1). doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2003.10.002More infoStore-and-forward telemedicine, using e-mail to send clinical data and digital images, offers a low-cost alternative for physicians in developing countries to obtain second opinions from specialists. To explore the potential usefulness of this technique, 91 chest X-ray images were photographed using a digital camera and a view box. Four independent readers (three radiologists and one pulmonologist) read two types of digital (JPEG and JPEG2000) and original film images and indicated their confidence in the presence of eight features known to be radiological indicators of tuberculosis (TB). The results were compared to a "gold standard" established by two different radiologists, and assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. There was no statistical difference in the overall performance between the readings from the original films and both types of digital images. The size of JPEG2000 images was approximately 120KB, making this technique feasible for slow internet connections. Our preliminary results show the potential usefulness of this technique particularly for tuberculosis and lung disease, but further studies are required to refine its potential. © 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Presentations
- Meyerson, B. E., Iftikhar, A., Drosten, R., Bosco, A., & Copeland, N. (2024, August). COM-T Faculty Straw Poll Results. Meeting and presentation to COM-T Deans Abecassis, Crees and Wertheim. Tucson, AZ: College of Medicine, Faculty Committee of Ten.More infoPresentation to COM Deans' suite stake holders on results of college wide faculty satisfaction survey study
Creative Productions
- Meyerson, B. E., Iftikhar, A., Drosten, R., Bosco, A., & Copeland, N. (2025. Committee of Ten Faculty Satisfaction Straw Poll. Whitepaper publication/COM-T faculty. Tucson, AZ: COM-T Faculty Committe of Ten.More infoCOM-T Faculty Committe of Ten college wide faculty satisfaction and retention study. Survey of 255 faculty responses across 15 departments with approprate analysis and recommendations
- Copeland, N., Bosco, A., Drosten, R., Iftikhar, A., & Meyerson, B. E. (2024. C10 Satisfaction Poll- Department Sub-study Reports. Whitepaper publications/COM-T departments. Tucson, AZ: COM-T Faculty Committee of Ten.More infoIndividualized department report and analysis of study of faculty satifaction and retention. Total of 15 reports were produced for the following departments: Anesthesiology, Family and Community Medicine, Immunobiology, Medical Imaging, Neurology, Neurosurgery, OB-Gyn, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology
