Erica Knavel Koepsel recognized at faculty investiture celebration

Erica Knavel Koepsel, MD receives her medallion from Art Walaszek, MD at the 2025 School of Medicine and Public Health Faculty Investiture Celebration. Photo courtesy of UW Health and John Maniaci.

On June 18, 2025, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health honored incredible faculty members at their Faculty Investiture Celebration. One of the honorees, Erica Knavel Koepsel, MD formally received recognition as the Andrew B. Crummy Professor of Radiology, an honor she assumed on July 1, 2024 due to her remarkable work in the department and beyond.

“Dr. Erica Knavel Koepsel has a reputation for making history and connections. She was the first woman elected chief resident in our department and is now chief of the Section of Interventional Radiology,” said Department Chair Scott Reeder, MD, PhD. “She is a remarkable clinician and leader.”

In 2021, she joined the Section of Interventional Radiology as an associate professor. Just a year later, Dr. Knavel Koepsel established the iMRI program, a collaborative initiative with the Department of Urology which focused on performing biopsies and treating prostate cancer with cryoablation. At the time it was established, the program was one of six locations nationwide and the only one in Wisconsin where patients could undergo these procedures.

Last year, Dr. Knavel Koepsel continued to make history within the department, performing the first histotripsy-based ablation in the U.S. on January 11, 2024. The same year, she became section chief of the Section of Interventional Radiology.

Outside the classroom and medical setting, Dr. Knavel Koepsel shares her talent and expertise with future radiologists and health care leaders through mentorship programs. She serves as co-chair of the Women Professionals in Radiology (WPR) group, supporting the success of all women in the field and promoting academic and clinical excellence in all people. Dr. Knavel Koepsel mentors medical students from diverse backgrounds and experiences in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Building Equitable Access to Mentorship (BEAM) program.

From left to right: Fellow honoree Nicholas Burris, MD; Department Chair Scott Reeder, MD, PhD and Erica Knavel Koepsel, MD after the ceremony. Photo courtesy of UW Health and John Maniaci.

The Andrew B. Crummy professorship not only supports the work of the person endowed with this honor, but it also assists the department in its teaching, research and public service roles. A year into her professorship, Dr. Knavel Koepsel strives to continue honoring Dr. Crummy’s legacy through her work.

“As the Andrew B. Crummy Professor, I try to hold firm to the mission that Dr. Crummy set forward,” said Dr. Knavel Koepsel. “He was dedicated to developing the next generation of interventionalists and fostered a sense of community as a founding member of our dedicated interventional radiology society. His legacy continues to inspire me in my personal practice and research, as well as in my role as section chief.”