American Roentgen Ray Society Names Anna McKenney, Michael Larson 2026 ARRS Scholars


Leesburg, VA, February 26, 2026—The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is pleased to announce two 2026 ARRS Scholarships have been granted to Anna Sophia McKenney, MD, PhD, MPH, of Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Michael Craig Larson, MD, PhD, from University of California Davis–Health.

Provided by ARRS’ own The Roentgen Fund®, the ARRS Scholarship supports early-career faculty members pursuing radiological research that promises to change how medical imaging is practiced. A two-year grant totaling $180,000, the ARRS Scholarship aims to advance emerging scholars, as well as prepare them for positions of leadership.

Drs. McKenney and Larson will be formally recognized as recipients of the ARRS Scholarship during the 2026 ARRS Annual Meeting at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Anna “Sophie” McKenney, MD, PhD, MPH, is an interventional radiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, where she completed her interventional/diagnostic radiology residency. She received her MD from Cornell University, completed her PhD through the Tri-Institutional MSTP program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and holds an MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. McKenney has received prior awards from the NIH/NCI (F30 NRSA Fellowship), Radiological Society of North America (Roentgen Research Award), and Society of Interventional Radiology. She previously served on the board of Weill Cornell and was later selected for the Weill Cornell Leadership in Academic Medicine Program. Additionally, she was selected to be a member of the RadioGraphics Trainee Editorial Board, and now serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying image-guided interventions and leveraging advanced imaging to improve outcomes.

With this ARRS Scholarship, Dr. McKenney will build upon her work by applying advanced MRI techniques to predict treatment response following transarterial embolization, laying the foundation for future advances in image-guided and precision interventional therapies.

Michael Craig Larson, MD, PhD, earned his terminal degrees from the Medical College of Wisconsin before completing a radiology residency at the University of Arizona–Tucson, where he pursued the B. Leonard Holman Research Pathway to advance optical biopsy technology. He then completed an abdominal MRI and non-vascular interventional fellowship before joining UC Davis as faculty in the abdominal radiology division in late 2021. Currently an assistant professor, he directed the division’s cross-sectional interventional radiology service from 2023 to 2025, until a hospital restructuring. Dr. Larson is passionate about teaching undergraduates, medical students, residents, and fellows, and finds joy in discovery and innovation—whether seeing a trainee make a new mental connection, identifying the cause of a patient’s symptoms, recognizing an imaging feature that could potentially improve accuracy, or collaborating on process improvements and novel device development.

Through his ARRS Scholarship, Dr. Larson will expand on others’ work blurring the borders between traditional surgical approaches and image-guided procedures. Piloting image-guided correction of certain abdominal wall hernias, internal/hiatal hernias, and pelvic floor prolapses, his work aims to redefine the therapeutic pathways of corrective abdominopelvic surgery to create less invasive, more efficient treatment options.

Since 1990, The Roentgen Fund has granted millions of dollars to hundreds of imaging professionals for both research pursuits and professional development. Today, through six vital scholarship and fellowship programs, the generosity of The Roentgen Fund’s donors is channeled to every corner of the globe—establishing dual foundations in innovation and leadership for a true diversity of radiology’s next generation.

Medical schools, affiliated hospitals, and clinical research institutions with training interests in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, allied sciences, or other professions fundamental to imaging techniques are invited to submit one nomination for the 2027 ARRS Scholarships.

North America’s first radiological society, the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) remains dedicated to the advancement of medicine through the profession of medical imaging and its allied sciences. An international forum for progress in radiology since the discovery of the x-ray, ARRS maintains its mission of improving health through a community committed to advancing knowledge and skills with the ARRS Annual Meeting, two radiology journals—American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) and Roentgen Ray Review (R3)—ARRS Symposia, free-access multimedia from our Global Partner Societies, as well as awarding scholarships via The Roentgen Fund®.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Logan K. Young
44211 Slatestone Court
Leesburg, VA 20176
[email protected]