The Frederick S. Keller, MD, Award honors an individual who, through exceptional generosity and through inspiring others to give, demonstrates outstanding commitment to SIR Foundation. This year’s winner is Michael D. Darcy, MD, FSIR.
Can you tell us about yourself and your background?
Michael D. Darcy, MD, FSIR: After graduating from med school, I ended up being matched at University of Minnesota for a surgery residency for 3 years. Then I switched to radiology, because my wife and I were starting a family. I didn't know anything about interventional radiology. This was 1982 and IR was still a pretty young specialty at that point. Once I got into radiology, though, I realized I missed taking care of patients. I couldn't stand sitting around just reading films. I was lucky enough to be at the University of Minnesota, where Kurt Amplatz, MD, FSIR, and Wilfrido R. Castaneda-Zuniga, MD, FSIR, were two of the early giants in the field. So, it's by sheer luck that I was able to get into IR.
After doing my fellowship there, my first job was at the Medical University of South Carolina. I was there from 1987–1989. After being the only person there for 2 years, it was getting a little tiresome. Then I went to Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in 1989 and retired from clinical practice in 2022. I still have an appointment at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, so I'm still doing a little teaching. I do some lectures, but I'm also involved in some research. I'm on a clinical events committee for one study and the national principal investigator for another study.
You've been named the Frederick Keller Philanthropy Award winner for 2025. Can you tell me a little bit about what inspired you to support the SIR Foundation?
MD: I was actually quite surprised when I got it. Maureen Kohi, MD, FSIR, the SIR Foundation chair, called to tell me about this, and I was like, “What? Why am I getting this? I haven't given any huge amounts of money or anything.” She said, “Mike, you're not supposed to argue.”
My wife and I have made donations to SIR Foundation every year since I've been in practice. So, for 35 years, we've been consistently donating every year and, similar to your retirement portfolio, it adds up. The main reason why I thought it was important to donate is that IR is constantly evolving, and we’re creating new procedures all the time. We're replacing invasive procedures, and in order to help the development of new procedures, research is critical. You can't develop new things unless you have people doing the research to figure out how to do them and in what way to do the new procedures.
Even though I can't say that I was well known as a researcher, we recognized the importance of research towards the development of our specialty, and that's why we've supported for so long.
Are there any specific areas that you feel should be better researched or that you hope to become a priority for research?
MD: One of the critical things we have not really accomplished in some areas is validating the medical benefit and the superiority of some of our procedures. It's great to develop a new procedure, but unless you actually have data that shows it is as good or better, while being less invasive, it doesn't get accepted. It doesn't rise to the level of getting a CPT code that will allow us to be reimbursed.
I think there are still a number of areas where there have not been enough randomized trials to really validate the worth of what we do. Uterine artery embolization was an example where for a long time they struggled. Once some of the bigger trials were done, it actually got written into the obstetrics and gynecology guidelines. There are a lot of other things we as IRs do that are not yet well validated as being the best option for patients.
Is there anything or
MD: I wouldn't say there was specifically any person in my physician group that really inspired me. My wife Susan agreed with the need to do this, so she deserves some of the credit for that. Sue and I both just felt it was important to donate. You'd always hear talk at the annual meeting from the SIR Foundation chair about the importance of supporting research. And those all talks sunk in.
Do you have any advice for readers who may be interested in philanthropy?
MD: I guess I'm probably an example that you don't have to donate gigantic amounts of money to make a difference. If you just contribute however much you can, even small amounts on an ongoing basis, it'll help SIR Foundation achieve its mission, which is really to support young researchers and foster new trials—all of which is critical to further the development of our specialty.
