A pioneer and leading expert in diagnostic radiology, Claudia Henschke has long believed that smokers and those exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke should be screened for early detection of lung cancer, when a tumor is still small enough to be cured. She has authored more than 500 scientific articles and chapters in statistics and medicine, authored three books and received 14 patents. She has mentored more than 80 medical students, fellows, and faculty, including for doctoral and master’s degrees. Her PhD thesis and statistical efforts included work on the use of neural networks and modeling of large national databases for large scale national programs.

In 1992, she started the first low-dose CT screening study in the world, the Early Lung Cancer Action Project (ELCAP), reported in the Lancet on July 9, 1999. Since then, she has led city, state, national, and international projects implementing lung screening, providing invaluable research in over 400 publications. Dr. Henschke has always been mindful of the unique needs of women and has shown that women are at greater risk of lung cancer than men.

Dr. Henschke developed and heads the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP), an international collaborative group of physicians and scientists who are experts on lung cancer-related issues. The I-ELCAP sites have screened over 85,000 people at 82 institutions in 10 countries around the world. This rich and internationally diverse collaboration has met two times per year since 1999 (41 conferences to date) for continued improvement of lung screening as well as the added benefits of early detection of cardiovascular, breast, and other diseases that can be identified in a single low-dose CT scan. I-ELCAP’s computer management system is currently being translated into an open-source system (VAPALS-ELCAP) to be implemented by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for CT screening for lung cancer for veterans nationwide. The success of the I-ELCAP program has led to another multi-national study, The Initiative for Early Lung Cancer Research on Treatment (IELCART) which started in 2016. Its goal is to assess the efficacy of various early lung cancer treatments in the context of clinical care. Dr. Henschke strives to be a role model for women in the areas of medicine and research where women are significantly underrepresented.

Dr. Henschke joined the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2010 as a radiologist and Professor of Radiology. She received a B.A. and M.S.in mathematical statistics from Southern Methodist University, Ph.D. in computer science and mathematical statistics from the University of Georgia, and M.D. from Howard University. She completed her residency and fellowship training at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where she then became a faculty member. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Henschke was Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College.