Hertz at Massachusetts General Hospital
Saul Hertz at Massachusetts General Hospital pioneered the medical use of radioactive iodine for thyroid diagnosis and therapy in the late 1930s and early 1940s and his early tracer studies and therapeutic administrations demonstrated that targeted radionuclide approaches could treat hyperthyroidism and later thyroid cancer and his work is recognized as foundational to the field of nuclear medicine and to the concept of combining diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes
Radiopharmacy and Safety Infrastructure
The clinical adoption of radioiodine required development of radiopharmacy standards radiation safety protocols and procedures for dose calibration patient preparation and waste handling and multidisciplinary teams including nuclear medicine physicians technologists and radiation safety officers established practices that enabled safe expansion of radionuclide diagnostics and therapy
Impact on Molecular Imaging and Theranostics
Radioiodine therapy transformed management of thyroid disease and later influenced targeted radionuclide therapies in oncology and the success of early programs demonstrated the potential for molecularly targeted imaging and treatment and spurred research into new tracers and into integrated diagnostic therapeutic approaches