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In photo l to r: Dr. Ted Harcke, Diego Jaramillo, MD, MPh (SPR President) and Richard Markowitz, MD, presenter and author of tribute to Dr. Harcke

At the recent Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) Annual Meeting, Nemours physician Dr. Theodore (Ted) Harcke was honored with the distinguished SPR Pioneer Award, recognizing his significant contributions to the field of pediatric radiology. Dr. Harcke was instrumental in building the radiology department at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and has served as Chairman of Medical Imaging as well as Director of Imaging Research at Nemours. 

Dr. Daniel Podberesky, Radiologist-in-Chief at Nemours Children’s Health System says, "We are very fortunate to have someone of Dr. Harcke’s stature and experience as a member of the radiology department. We are all very proud of his accomplishments and his continued contributions to Nemours and the pediatric radiology community."

Among Dr. Harcke’s many notable achievements was the development of a standard of care for the diagnosis and treatment of hip dysplasia in infants via pediatric ultrasound. He became widely recognized as a ‘superstar’ in the field of musculoskeletal sonography and the hands-on training course he created around the hip protocol continues to attract clinicians from around the country.

Outside of Nemours, Dr. Harcke has served as a colonel in the Delaware National Guard and worked as a forensic radiologist for the U.S. Armed Services. He was summoned to Dover Air Force Base immediately after 9/11/01 to support the medical examiner there in reading radiographic studies of military casualties. Later, his work analyzing the patterns of ballistic and blast injuries of fallen soldiers has been influential in helping to improve the safety of our military. Currently, Dr. Harcke focuses on research at Nemours while also continuing his role as Chief of Forensic Radiology at the Dover AFB Mortuary. 

An engineering graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Dr. Harcke earned his medical degree from Penn State University College of Medicine - Hershey in the school’s first graduating class.  He completed fellowship training in pediatric radiology at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children where he then set up the hospital’s first Nuclear Medicine Program. Dr. Harcke was subsequently recruited to develop the first nuclear medicine/CT/ultrasound program at Nemours. 

In introducing Dr. Harcke at the SPR conference, his friend and colleague Richard I. Markowitz, MD, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said: "Ted is a role model for his colleagues, trainees, and students.  He is an extraordinary teacher and mentor…Ted is an ‘ordinary’ fellow with extraordinary ability and skill. He has earned the Pioneer Award many times over. He indeed has been among the first to develop and use new methodology and explore uncharted territory.  He questions, he learns, and then teaches what he has learned to the rest of us.  And I’m sure that he is not finished."