Sadek Hilal

Sadek Kamil Hilal (1930, in Cairo – 2000, in New Jersey, United States) was a Columbia University radiologist and one of the most influential researchers in advancing imaging science and radiology in the twentieth century.

He received his medical degree from the University of Cairo in 1955 and earned a doctorate in radiology from the University of Minnesota in 1962. His thesis entitled, The Measurement of Blood Flow by Radiologic Technique, became one of the most frequently cited references in the field, according to the journal Radiology.

Columbia University recruited him in 1963 as an assistant professor and assisting attending radiologist. He then became the director of Columbia's division of radiology and was a professor of radiology and neurological surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1979 until his emeritus status four years before his death. At his death, age 70, he was president of the International Society of Neuroradiology, a position he held since 1998.

In 1968, he developed the technique of embolization, a way to treat malformations of blood vessels in the brain by injecting substances to occlude them. This step is considered pivotal in the history of interventional radiology. The findings were published in 1975 in the Journal of Neurosurgery.