Professor Alex Pitman
Director of Imaging, Northern Beaches Medical Imaging|Honorary Professional Fellow, University of Sydney
Special Interests
- Nuclear medicine
- Cardiac imaging
- Diagnostic oncology
- MRI
- PET
About me
During my career I have been the Departmental Director of several departments, including Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and St Vincent’s Melbourne. I was also a partner in Lake Imaging in Ballarat and Geelong before starting Australia’s first regional PET-CT oncologic service at St John of God Hospital in Ballarat.
Since 2018, I have been the Director of Imaging at Northern Beaches Medical Imaging.
On the academic side of my career, I was a Professorial Fellow in the Anatomy and Radiology Departments of the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Professor in Medical Imaging at the University of Notre Dame. I’m currently an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Sydney.
Why I love what I do
Anatomy is my first and greatest academic love, and radiology is the greatest anatomical medical specialty. It shares the anatomical intensity with surgery, but unlike individual surgical specialties it covers the entire body, from the top of the head to the tips of the toes.
I like PET and nuclear medicine because they display macroscopic physiology for almost every system in the body. While many other physiologic specialities exist (such as respiratory medicine, cardiology, exercise physiology and intensive care), only PET and nuclear medicine cover the entire human body.
My Interests outside of work
I like many sports, including hiking, skiing, kayaking and swimming.