How close is the link between music and medicine? Very close, according to Juilliard Pre-College Division alumnus Raymond Damadian, M.D., inventor of one of the world's most revolutionary inventions in the field of medicine, the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (M.R.I.) technology.

Dr. Damadian is the C.E.O. of Fonar Corporation, the first company to manufacture M.R.I. equipment. Fonar Corporation was established in 1978, and now owns several subsidiaries that manage diagnostic imaging centers and physician practices. The company reported sales of $31 million in 2000, and according to Dr. Damadian, business continues to thrive.

Damadian strongly believes there is a connection between musical training and scientific research. Both fields of study require an incredible demand for perfection, attention to detail, imagination, and discipline. Evidence of Damadian's ability to excel in these areas is seen in both his music education and professional success as a scientist.

In 1947, Dr. Damadian enrolled in Juilliard's Pre-College program, where he studied violin until 1951. Damadian has many fond memories of his teacher, Andrew McKinley, with whom he remained close until McKinley's recent death a few years ago at age 90.

Music played a major role in Dr. Damadian's childhood. Both his parents are very musical; his mother and sister played the piano and both parents sang. This musical legacy has been passed on to Dr. Damadian's own family. His son, now 30, also studied violin with Andrew McKinley and with Rochelle Walton at Juilliard. Like his father, Damadian's son pursued science as a career. Damadian continues to embrace musical instruction, and has recently begun taking piano lessons.

Damadian's success started early in life. At 15, he received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the University of Wisconsin, where he began his undergraduate degree in math. While in college, Damadian played in the symphony. After Wisconsin, he pursued a degree in medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University's School of Medicine. From Harvard, Damadian went on to serve in the Air Force for two years as a medical officer. Upon his return from active duty, he was offered a faculty position in internal medicine and biophysics at the State University of New York Medical School Downstate. During this time, Damadian started a laboratory in basic scientific research, where his focus was on how living cells generate electric potentials. His discovery that cancer cells generated a different signal from normal cells was a breakthrough for cell scanning research.

By 1977, the first live human body was scanned using this new M.R.I. technology. Eventually Damadian started his company, which began selling commercial machines in 1980.

Future developments for the M.R.I. technology include a stand-up machine, an M.R.I operating room where doctors can see their surgical instruments through the scanner as they're operating, and faster and better scanners. Additional uses may include large animal M.R.I. scanning and agricultural scanners for disease-infested products. Clearly, the applicability and demand for this technology is growing.

While Dr. Damadian's success in medical advances no doubt gives him immense satisfaction, music continues to be a primary passion.

- Sarah J. Roth, Director of Alumni Affairs