Prof. Dr. Zoltán Patay PhD (Fig. 1), Chair of the Diagnostic Imaging Department at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA and Professor of Radiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine, passed away unexpectedly on 23 July 2022 at the age of 65 years.

Fig. 1
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Prof. Dr. Zoltán Patay PhD (photo courtesy of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

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His professional career began in his home country of Hungary, with stations in his training in Budapest, Colmar and finally Brussels with Prof. Balériaux. For 10 years he held a senior position as Chief of the Section of Neuroradiology at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and in January 2007 he moved to Memphis to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where he worked most recently.

Prof. Dr. Zoltán Patay was one of the most world-renowned pediatric neuroradiologists. His scientific focus was on the diagnosis of childhood brain tumors. He was an excellent teacher and his lectures were extremely popular because he was able to convey science in an understandable way. In recognition of his scientific achievements, he was elected an honorary member of the European Society of Neuroradiology, along with numerous other awards.

We had been personal friends since the 1980s. We met regularly, including at the congresses of Hungarian neuroradiologists. At our last meeting, he promised me to write a review article on pediatric neuro-oncology for Clinical Neuroradiology and I’m sure we could have published an excellent paper. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete this project.

The global neuroradiology community has lost a great scientist, an excellent teacher, a valued colleague and I have lost a good friend.

László Solymosi