Tessa Cook, MD, PhD, CIIP, FSIIM

What is your current imaging informaticist role?

Fellowship Director, Imaging Informatics Co-Director, Center for Practice Transformation in Radiology; Chief, 3-D and Advanced Imaging, Penn Medicine.

What do you love most about imaging informatics?

It enables us to solve problems and rapidly pilot new innovations. A seemingly small change brought about by imaging informatics has the potential to improve not only patient care but both patient and clinician experience.

If you could choose anyone as a mentor, who would you choose?

Chef Gordon Ramsay. Look past the bluster and made-for-TV bravado (i.e., watch his UK-based shows) and there are unexpected lessons about human nature and managing teams to be learned.

What one thing, either industry-related or not, did you learn in the last month?

I learned how to make frosted cookies – made some ghost cookies for Halloween (from scratch, not from a box, for the record). They were devoured on the spot, so I think I got them right!

How do you define success?

Achieving a goal, no matter the size of it.

What’s the last book you read or TV series you binged?

Ted Lasso.

People love the networking at SIIM. Do you have a networking story?

Early in my career when I first met Chris Roth, our Program Committee chair, he said something to me like, “You’re Tessa Cook; I was told I should meet you.” I remember thinking – me, why?! But that’s one of the wonderful things about SIIM – we all have something to contribute to the community, and everyone is welcome and encouraged to get involved.