Aashtim Bhatia

Aashim at the BMW performance driving school in Greenville, SC

Aashim Bhatia MD
Professional Title: Assistant Professor in Radiology and Radiological Science
Locale: Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN
Fellowships: Pediatric Neuroradiology, Pediatric Radiology
ASPNR member since 2011

ASPNR: What attracted you to pediatric neuroradiology?
Aashim Bhatia: The unlimited opportunities. I believe the next 10 years will show more growth in the field of Pediatric Neuroradiology than any other radiological specialty will. Research possibilities are endless in further understanding the developing brain and spine and I had to be a part of this ride. The future is BRIGHT!

ASPNR: Do you have a colleague or mentor that inspired you in your career?
AB: There are many amazing people that have inspired me, going back to my young days as an undergraduate, Dr. Wade Sisk, my professor in chemistry at UNC-Charlotte, Dr. Mark Clemens, my master’s degree advisor, and Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, a surgical oncologist at Howard University. All of the attendings at CHOP were instrumental in my development into a pediatric neuroradiologist. Dr. Robert A. Zimmerman at CHOP was very influential in showing me that even after 30 years of practice, his passion for the field has not changed and he is still willing to learn more from new pathology and challenging cases. Even in retirement he is writing a textbook on pediatric neuroradiology – wish I could preorder it now.

ASPNR: What is your favorite part of your job?
AB: 3 T’s, Taking challenging cases in the reading room, Tweeting about #PediNeuroRad, and Traveling to conferences. The other part is improving imaging capabilities in MRI and working with and learning from amazing clinical and surgical colleagues.

ASPNR: What is the biggest challenge of your job?
AB: Trying to keep up with the many changes in CNS pathology, which is best shown in the WHO 2016 CNS classification of brain tumors. The imaging correlation is lagging, but that’s what makes this job exciting.

ASPNR: What is the most interesting project you are working on right now?
AB: Quantifying diffusion tensor imaging indices in the pediatric spinal cord as a potential imaging biomarker in patient populations such as post myelomeningocele repair and Chiari I patients. More to be discussed at the 1st ASPNR Conference in New Orleans. ☺

ASPNR: Name a helpful online resource that your colleagues may not be aware of.
AB: http://www.yottalook.com/index_web.php. Google for radiologists, including a filter by modality.

ASPNR: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
AB: I got a need for speed, love to drive fast sports cars on the track, and hope to drive and survive the Nürburgring in Germany one day.

ASPNR: Will you be attending the ASPNR meeting in NOLA 2019?
AB: Yes, tickets booked. See you in the Big Easy.

December 11, 2018