Board of Trustees

Chair of the Board

Sue Merritt

Sue Merritt

Sue is the Sr. Director of Education, Training and Professional Services with Varian Medical Systems. She has been acknowledged for her understanding of business technology and her ability to identify customers’ and staff’s emerging technology needs and align those needs with the right training and services. In addition, she provides leadership for Varian’s eight education centers; partnerships with more than 40 clinical education sites; is responsible for the curriculum, quality and standards for all Varian-conducted training; and oversees more than 130 clinical and technical specialists. Sue has more than 35 years’ experience in the radiation oncology industry and has been involved in multiple reengineering and technology adoption initiatives in the clinical environment. Before joining Varian in 2005, Sue worked for a large radiotherapy department as the Program Manager in Calgary, Canada, for 23 years. With Varian, she spent time working in the Help Desk division, managing the Clinical Consulting team, and the Americas applications specialists before accepting her current role. Sue believes that being a radiation therapist is the best career in the entire world and she remains passionate about developing the profession and doing the best for the patients we serve.

Vice Chair/Secretary

Tanya Custer, M.S., R.T.(R)(T)

Tanya is associate professor and distance education director in the College of Allied Health Professions for the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Tanya has a bachelor of science in radiation science technology (radiography and radiation therapy) and a master of science in leadership education with a specialization in distance education from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Tanya is a member of the UNMC Interprofessional Academy of Educators and is active in the Nebraska Society of Radiologic Technologist, the Association of Educators in Imaging & Radiologic Sciences and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. Her research interests include topics related to the education of medical imaging students, such as mindfulness, student-centered learning and the flipped classroom approach.

Treasurer

Nahdia Pirzada, M.S.

Nahdia is Vice President of Imaging Clinical Applications at GE Healthcare, where she drives strategy, processes and key performance metrics that enable customer excellence, team motivation and business growth in the U.S. Nahdia has held various roles across multiple businesses within GE Healthcare. In her previous role as director of service, she was responsible for leading and developing the clinical engineering and diagnostic imaging field service teams, and leading service delivery and customer success management for key accounts in the Boston area. She is passionate about creating a world-class employee and client experience and has a proven track record of solving complex problems, building a culture of teamwork and achieving business results. Nahdia is a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion, and co-leads the Global GE Healthcare Women’s Network. She holds a master’s degree in engineering management and business administration from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Trustees

Rachel Giliotti, M.B.A. R.T.(R)(T)

Rachel is the Region Americas Customer Experience Manager for Elekta's MR Linac, Unity. She supports the Unity install base and works cross functionally with many teams to support some of the top cancer centers in North and South America. Previously, Rachel served as the Clinical Services Director at Hologic, and is a licensed radiographer and radiation therapist. Rachel received an Outstanding Column Award from the Association for Medical Imaging Management for her article, “Exposing Safety: Putting Patients First in Imaging Departments,” that was published in Radiology Management Journal. She also has volunteered for various organizations in her community, including FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered) and the House of Hope.

Daniel L. Gonzales

Daniel L. Gonzales, M.S.R.S., R.T.(R), FASRT

Danny is the Director of Diagnostic Imaging department at Carlsbad Medical Center in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Danny earned his Bachelors in Business Administration and a Master’s of Science in Radiological Administration from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX.

He has been a practicing technologist going on 38 years with 30 of those in a leadership role and has served as director of 3 different facilities. His years of experience include IR, CT and MRI technology. As a director he is over several departments including CT, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, Mammography, Ultrasound, Bone Density and of course Radiology.

Danny currently serves as the ASRT’s Board Chair. He has served ASRT in several capacities and has set goals of making the profession of Medical Imaging renown as a premier profession in the medical community. As a member of the ASRT for over 36 years Danny’s dedication to the profession and to the membership of the ASRT is well documented.

Jeff Legg

Jeffrey “Jeff” S. Legg, Ph.D., R.T.(R)(CT)(QM), FASRT

Jeff is professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. In this role, he teaches in and provides leadership to programs in diagnostic medical sonography, nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy and radiography. He also teaches in the College of Health Professions’ doctoral program. Jeff holds associate and baccalaureate degrees in radiologic technology and radiation sciences from VCU, a master’s degree from the University of Richmond and a Ph.D. in health-related sciences from VCU. He is active in ASRT and in the Association of Educators in Imaging & Radiologic Sciences and has served on their journal editorial review boards. Jeff also has served as a member, vice chair and chair of the ASRT Foundation Research Grants Advisory Panel and has been awarded several grants in support of his research on workforce issues, healthcare utilization and student outcomes.

Angela Reeves

Angela Reeves, M.B.A., B.S., R.T.(R)

Angela Reeves is the Vice President, U.S. Service Sales with Siemens Healthineers. She studied radiologic sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in interventional radiology and cardiac catheterization and later completed her MBA at Brenau University in Georgia. After leaving the clinical arena, she held clinical education and product management positions for GE, IBM, and Siemens Healthineers as well as key positions aimed at driving service sales performance. Angela also was the key clinical consultant for interventional radiology in the 15th edition of the Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery textbook, published by Elsevier.

Robert Thomas

Robert Thomas

Robert “Bob” Thomas is Elekta’s senior vice president of Health Policy and Government Affairs. In this role, Bob creates, builds and leads a formal public policy team in Washington, D.C. He also is responsible for representing Elekta’s interests on important health care policy issues regarding cancer treatment. Bob also serves on the Elekta North American corporate senior leadership team. Before joining Elekta, Bob held positions of increasing responsibility at IBM, MEDRAD and Bayer Healthcare. His roles included sales management, talent acquisition and retention, and public policy. His areas of expertise include legislative affairs, business development, customer engagement, coalition management and corporate affairs. Bob has also served in multiple corporate leadership roles in the areas of diversity outreach, customer relationship management, college recruiting and major event planning.

Vickie Weisgerber

Vickie Weisgerber, B.S.R.S., R.T.(R)(CT)

Vickie is the clinical services director of diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapy at Philips Healthcare where she leads development and delivery of the customer education strategy, focused on delivering quality programs through diverse methods and mediums. Vickie graduated from DePaul Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia and started her career as a registered radiologic technologist. Prior to joining Philips, she worked clinically in computed tomography and magnetic resonance for 10 years. During her time at Philips, she’s held roles as a CT applications specialist, CT applications manager, presales operations leader, and MR clinical services leader and has been recognized with awards for leadership and customer satisfaction initiatives. Vickie also spent five years at Toshiba America Medical Systems, now Canon Medical Systems, leading the North American clinical applications team and providing oversight to the Institute of Advanced Training in Irvine, California.

Vickie previously served on the board of directors for Kam Cares Foundation whose mission was to equip children from underserved communities in Hampton Roads and Seattle areas with educational, health and wellness tools and resources. Vickie is also a frequent attendee of the ASRT Foundation’s Corporate Roundtable and recently celebrated her 25th year as an ASRT member.