William H. Oldendorf - Professional Career

Professional Career

In 1956, Oldendorf joined the faculty of the new medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles and the staff of the nearby UCLA-affiliated West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center. He became an active member of the academic community, where his scientific, clinical, and teaching abilities were admired at the bedside, in seminars, at clinical conferences, in the auditorium, and in his laboratory. He engaged students and colleagues in long discussions about neurologic theory, the scientific process, or results of medical research. By 1959, Oldendorf was an attending neurologist at the Wadsworth VA-UCLA Medical Center where his ability to apply techniques from one field to another did not go unnoticed. He was universally characterized as "likable", "friendly", "amusing", "creative", "intense", and "humble".

Oldendorf's interest neuroimaging was precipitated by a dislike for invasive procedures (like pneumoencephalography and direct carotid puncture) that he performed as a clinical neurologist. Oldendorf found that these traumatic, tedious tests provided only limited and indirect information about the brain. At UCLA, he started his seminal investigations into the two major lines of research that would define his career: X-ray shadow radiography and cerebral angiography. The first line was influential in the evolving concept of neuroimaging; the second yielded fundamental knowledge of brain metabolism and mechanisms of the blood–brain barrier.