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Alexander F. Metherell, MD, PhD
The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science
University of California
444 SICS, Irvine, CA 92697-3425
(949) 824-8756 or (949) 494-2023 Fax: (949) 715-9085
Email: amethere 'at sign' uci.edu
CV is here
Alex Metherell has distinguished himself in the multi-disciplinary fields of engineering, medicine, business and community service. He has held academic appointments at the University of Minnesota, UCLA and UCI. He is currently holds a faculty appointment as a Research Specialist in Information and Computer Sciences at UCI where he is doing computer modeling of muscle contraction mechanisms and developing a novel medical imaging system.
ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Engineering accomplishments include obtaining his PhD in Engineering from the University of Bristol (1964) and his bachelors (the Diploma in Technology) in Aeronautical Engineering from the Kingston Polytechnic in Surrey, England (1961).
Immediately following receiving his PhD he came to the United States as a Research Associate at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Here he did post-doctoral research in structural vibrations.
Joining McDonnell Douglas (1965) as a Senior Engineer in the Structural Dynamics section in Long Beach he did flutter analysis on the DC-9 and was awarded a NASA research contract as Principal Investigator. He then moved to the Douglas Advanced Research Laboratories in Huntington Beach (1966) as Research Scientist doing fundamental research in muscle biophysics and co-inventing the field of acoustical holographic imaging. In this field he founded and ran an International Symposium on Acoustical Holography and Imaging which met every 18 to 24 months for about twenty years. Much of this work led to the technological improvements in medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging, including phased array beam focusing and imaging, that are in use in medical applications today. While doing this work he held Adjunct and In-Residence Associate Professor appointments in the Schools of Engineering at both UCLA and at UCI. He then was given a similar appointment in Radiology in the School of Medicine at UCI.
He currently has a research faculty appointment at the University of California at Irvine in Information and Computer Science where he is doing theoretical research in muscle biophysics.
He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and has served on the editorial board of the IEEE Proceeding which is the world’s pre-eminent journal in EE. He was Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Sonics and Ultrasonics. He also served as a representative on the Council of the Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology.
He is widely published in the field, wrote a cover article for the Scientific American (1969) and has had his work reported in the press and media throughout the world. He has given numerous invited papers in the US, Canada, England, Europe, Sweden and Russia.
Medical accomplishments include obtaining his MD degree in two years from the University of Miami in Florida (1976). He did his Residency in Radiology at UCI while holding an Associate Professor-in-Residence appointment in the department. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Radiology.
He has been a consultant Reviewer for NIH grants and contracts and served on the Cardiology Advisory Committee of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NIH (1978-1981) which was responsible for oversight of 50% of the total NHLBI budget (in excess of $500,000,000.) On this committee he was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Noninvasive Diagnostic Instrumentation, a member of the Subcommittee on Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty, the Subcommittee on Peripheral Vascular Disease and the Subcommittee on Biomaterials.
He was elected to the Governing Board of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) (1976-1979), which is the professional association for the diagnostic medical ultrasound specialists. He was Chairman of the Organizing Committee for Annual Meetings and a member of the Standards Committee.
He served on the Editorial Board of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, (1972-1979) the official journal of the World Federation of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Several papers have been published in medical, biophysical and physiology journals. Invited talks have been given at several medical meetings and medical schools in the US, Canada, England and Russia.
BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR EXPERIENCE
While working at McDonnell Douglas after leaving the Douglas Advanced Research Laboratories, James S. McDonnell, the founder of McDonnell Douglas, promoted him (1970) to became the youngest Director in the company heading up their Medical Imaging Division in Monrovia, California.
Later, after completing medical school and residency and practicing medicine for some time, Metherell set up a successful imaging center business as CEO of MRI Centers (1983-1993) which comprised four MRI Centers in Orange County and LA County. This generated gross annual revenues of up to $7,000,000.
He left MRI Centers in 1993 and in 1994 co-founded EDiX Corporation, an advanced medical technology company, which continues to grow rapidly and is now the third largest medical transcription company in the country employing about 750 people. EDiX’s success has been built on a heavy investment of advanced custom computer software development which allows digital voice files of physician’s dictations to be automatically fed through a national hub and distributed to any of the hundreds of medical transcriptionists all around the country. The transcribed reports are delivered electronically back to the hospital and medical group clients through their own wide area network for prompt posting to the patient’s medical chart. As a member of the senior management group he served as EDiX’s Medical Director being responsible for shaping the sophisticated software design to assure that it ideally fits the needs of the medical market place. The run rate of this fledgling company was at $25,000,000 per year and growing at about 35% when it was merged into the IDX Systems Corporation in 1998.
MEDICAL PRACTICE EXPERIENCE
After completing his residency he joined two other Professors (1979) in private practice. He was Associate Director of the Department of Radiology (1979-1986) at South Bay Hospital, Redondo Beach and Director of Radiology (1984-1986) at Costa Mesa Medical Center Hospital. While there he pioneered the use of MRI imaging in Southern California by opening the first MRI in Orange County (the second in Southern California) several years before any of the universities in southern California had one. He was a radiologist and was the CEO (1983-1993) of this practice which finally had four MRI’s (three in Orange County and one in LA County.)
COMMUNITY SERVICE includes election as an Elder in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach where he has been a member for 30 years. He has been active with the General Assembly (the national body) where he served as a 214 th General Assembly Elder Commissioner in 2002 and has served on the Governing Board of one of its renewal organizations. He served six years on the Board of Directors of the John Guest Evangelistic Team. Since about 1989 he has served as a Presbyterian Corporate Member, one of a small group of about 35 that elects one third of the member of the Board of Directors of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach
In other community service he has participated with a volunteer group of senior executives that work with CEO’s and other high level executives who are cut free from their high level positions for various reasons. These transition periods can be very difficult for these individuals who suddenly find themselves alone and without their trappings of power and influence. Metherell is involved in forming what may best described as a personal “Board of Directors” or “Kitchen Cabinet” around these executives to give them objective advice and council during their transition until they become re-established.
Alex has been a resident of Orange County for the past 36 years and has been married to his wife Pam for 40 years. He has been a US citizen since 1971. Their son Mark (born 1969) graduated Wheaton College 1992 recently completed 8 years on active duty with the US Navy S.E.A.L.s. Mark and Alex are currently developing a light weight system for protecting ships and harbors from terrorist attacks. They hold U.S. and U.K. patents for their inventions. Their daughter Alison (born 1971) graduated UCLA 1994 and Tulane Medical School 1998 and has now completed her Residency in Pediatrics at LA County/USC Medical Center and is in private practice in Encino. Their other daughter Caroline (born 1976) graduated from the BA and teaching program at UCI in 1999 and is now teaching Kindergarten at Eastbluff School in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. She has recently completed her term as one of the youngest elders to serve on the Session of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach.