RONALD S. WEINSTEIN, M.D.
Ronald S. Weinstein, M.D. is Director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program and Professor and Head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. He received his M.D. degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and did his residency and fellowship training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard. He has chaired US academic pathology departments for 23 years.
Dr. Weinstein, a cancer cell biologist and pathologist by training, has been involved in the field of telemedicine since 1985 when his research group published the first human performance study to show that pathologists viewing images on video monitors can achieve essentially the same diagnostic accuracy as that achieved doing conventional light microscopy. He then designed the first robotic telepathology system, for which he was awarded US patents, organized an engineering research team to build the system, and presided over the first demonstration of dynamic-robotic telepathology, between El Paso, Texas and Washington, D.C. in 1986.
Dr. Weinstein founded the Arizona Telemedicine Program, which includes a large statewide award-winning multispecialty telemedicine practice, the Arizona Telemedicine Technology Assessment Program, and the Arizona Telemedicine Training Center. Currently, the program provides teleconsultations in 35 subspecialty areas and includes 12 spoke sites. The staff includes physicians, clinical investigators, cognitive psychologists, computer engineers and professional educators.
Dr. Weinstein has participated in numerous telemedicine and telepathology symposia in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was the leadoff speaker at the First International Conference on Medical Uses of Telemedicine in Tromso, Norway, in 1992, and was a member of the Organizing Committee of the First European Meeting on Telepathology and subsequent meetings. He also promoted telemedicine during terms as President of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, President of the International Society of Urologic Pathology, and during his current term as President of the International Council of Societies of Pathology, which includes 45 member nations. He serves on the editorial boards of nine professional journals.
Dr. Weinstein has had a career-long interest in developing innovative medical school curriculum. He has won seven Basic Science Educator of the Year Awards including the University of Arizona College of Medicine's Basic Science Lifetime Teaching Award. He has been elected by three senior classes to "hood" them at graduation.
Dr. Weinstein has published many papers on telepathology and telemedicine. He co-authored the paper that received the "Manuscript Excellence-1997 Paper-of-the-Year" Award of the Telemedicine Journal. He also received the "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Telemedicine" Award at the national TeleCon Conference in 1998. He has authored or co-authored over 200 publications.