Last Updated: 07/30/08
James L. Tatum, M.D.
Associate Director
Cancer Imaging Program
James L. Tatum, M.D., joined the Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) in 1998 as a special assistant to the associate director, lending his expertise to the areas of molecular imaging and imaging drug development. In 2006, Dr. Tatum became chief of CIP's Molecular Imaging Branch. Since July 2007, he has served as the associate director of CIP.
Dr. Tatum represents imaging from the NCI viewpoint on the steering committee for the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL), a joint effort of NCI, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He is also a member of the NCL review panel and serves on the steering committee of the Small Animal Imaging Program in Frederick. As chair of the imaging drug group of the Joint Development Committee, he plays a key role in overseeing imaging agents in the NCI drug pipeline.
Early in his research career, Dr. Tatum focused on imaging alterations in the pulmonary capillary membrane associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome and the application of imaging techniques to evaluate drug interventions. Later, his research shifted to studies of myocardial ischemia, including acute coronary syndrome, with a focus that continues in his research today on the use of imaging in medical decision making.
Dr. Tatum received his undergraduate degree in biology from the College of William and Mary and his M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia (MCV). He completed his residency in medicine and radiology at MCV Hospitals, followed by a nuclear medicine fellowship at Duke University. He is board certified in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and nuclear cardiology. In 1978, he joined the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where he was ultimately appointed Professor of both Radiology and Medicine. During his tenure at VCU, he served as the Chairman of the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Director of Nuclear Cardiology, Chairman of the Department of Radiology, Associate Vice-President for Health Sciences, and Director of the Molecular Imaging Center.
