Ron Peshock, M.D.

Vice Chair, Imaging Informatics

  • Radiology - Chest & Cardiac

Appointment New Patient Appointment or 214-645-9729

Appointment New Patient Appointment or 214-645-9729

Biography

Ronald Peshock, M.D., is a Professor of Radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, with a secondary appointment as Professor of Internal Medicine. He serves as the Radiology Department's Vice Chair of Information Technology. His clinical interests include atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular imaging, and coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography.

Dr. Peshock holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State University in East Lansing. He earned his medical degree at UT Southwestern, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in cardiovascular diseases and cardiology research.

In addition to his expertise in biomedical imaging informatics, Dr. Peshock is also a primary reader of clinical cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies and CT angiography studies for UT Southwestern University Hospitals and Clinics and Parkland Hospital. 

Dr. Peshock’s research focuses on the development and use of MRI in the evaluation of cardiovascular disease and physiology. These studies begin with the development of basic MRI techniques for the evaluation of myocardial injury and ischemia. After validating these methods in animal models, he began to apply them to specific questions in the areas of myocardial function and blood flow, including the assessment of cerebral blood flow, alterations in skeletal muscle blood flow in an exercise setting, and understanding the fluid shifts in skeletal muscle that occur with exercise. 

As Imaging Director of the Dallas Heart Study, Dr. Peshock has mentored a series of researchers who have applied CT and imaging informatics to clinical investigation.

Dr. Peshock is an active member of multiple professional organizations, including the American College of Cardiology, the American Medical Informatics Association, the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine, the American Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, and the Dallas County Medical Society. He also is on the Committee on Computational Medicine for the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.

He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed works and 25 additions to other texts and has served as a reviewer for numerous medical and scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Heart Association, Journal of the American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Imaging, JAMA Neurology, Circulation Cardiovascular Imaging, BioMedical Research Journal, and Texas Heart Institute Journal. 

Meet Dr. Peshock

Heart Imaging Specialist in Dallas

If you’re having heart trouble, having highly specialized doctors see and interpret the problem using the best imaging technology available can make a world of difference. That’s the kind of difference UT Southwestern’s Ronald Peshock, M.D., makes in patients’ lives daily.

Trained as a cardiologist with a special interest in cardiac imaging, Dr. Peshock uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) to help diagnose and treat cardiac diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart muscle disease or cardiomyopathy, cardiac valve disease, and congenital heart disease.

Patients typically get referred to Dr. Peshock by their cardiologist or primary care physician. He works routinely with physicians throughout the Metroplex but also gets patient referrals  from around the state when special expertise in heart imaging is needed.

“At other institutions, patients might not meet with the doctor who reads their heart imaging study, but I try to have as much face-to-face contact as possible with my patients,” Dr. Peshock says.

“Although I specialize in imaging, my work as a cardiologist means I understand the impact that imaging of the heart has on decisions affecting a patient’s care. I think it’s important to be able to answer any questions they have about their condition or imaging test, both directly and in collaboration with their referring doctor.”

Developing New Techniques

While Dr. Peshock’s overall expertise is in heart imaging, he has a particular interest in cardiac MRI, focusing most of his clinical and research efforts in this area.

Dr. Peshock and his UT Southwestern colleagues have been instrumental in the development and application of new techniques including cardiac MRI to provide moving pictures of a beating heart, which can measure heart function and blood flow and yield detailed information that can be linked to issues elsewhere in the body.

“It’s been a highlight of my career to play a role in the development of new techniques that actually benefit patients,” he says. “Many physicians and researchers never get to see their innovation used in a clinical setting, so I’m proud of that.”

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Education & Training
  • Fellowship - Parkland Health & Hospital System (1979-1982), Cardiology
  • Residency - Parkland Health & Hospital System (1977-1979), Internal Medicine
  • Internship - Parkland Health & Hospital System (1976-1977), Internal Medicine
  • Medical School - UT Southwestern Medical Center
Professional Associations & Affiliations
  • Texas Medical Association
  • Society of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine
  • Dallas County Medical Society
  • American Medical Informatics Association
  • American Medical Association
  • American College of Cardiology
Honors & Awards
  • Clark Foundation Scholarship 1969
  • National Science Foundation Summer Traineeship 1971
  • Phi Beta Kappa 1972
  • Alpha Omega Alpha 1976
  • Kern Wildenthal Research Award 1982, Co-recipient
Books & Publications
Research
  • Detection of early atherosclerosis
  • Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Cardiovascular Imaging
  • Cardiovascular Computed Tomography

Q&A by Dr. Peshock

Appointment New Patient Appointment or 214-645-9729