Biomedical & Molecular Imaging Track

The Biomedical and Molecular Imaging Track within the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, or related physical science. The Track emphasizes the development and application of cutting-edge imaging technologies, molecular imaging probes, and image processing techniques.

Through coursework, seminars, journal clubs, and their own research, students in the BMI Track will be exposed to a wide range of traditional and emerging imaging methodologies.

Current Research

The current BMI faculty consists of basic scientists, biomedical engineers, and clinicians interested in developing new imaging methodologies in both basic and clinical research at scales ranging from the molecular level to the whole body. Examples of current NIH-funded research projects include:

Novel applications of noninvasive imaging including MRI, MRS, SPECT, PET, ultrasound, and optical imaging
Functional brain imaging using fMRI and near infrared imaging (NIR)
RF pulse sequence development for clinical MRI
Metabolic imaging using isotope tracers and NMR spectroscopy
MRI-guided high intensity focused ultrasound for tissue ablation and therapeutics
Responsive MR agents and targeted PET agents for imaging biological function in vivo
Molecular imaging of cancer using targeted nanoparticles
Combinatorial chemistry to identify and image biological targets

Track Director

Research Interests: MRS studies of intermediary metabolism in intact tissues, development of MRI molecular imaging agents

Faculty

Research Interests: Immunotherapy and radiotherapy in cancer prevention and treatment; premature aging and carcinogenesis; DNA damage response signaling in heart development

Research Interests: NMR spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy in conjunction with the application of stable isotope tracers to study metabolic function

Research Interests: Developing non- and minimally invasive optical tools to monitor deep tissues in health and disease, as well as throughout therapy

Research Interests: In vivo ¹H and ¹³C MR spectroscopy; MRS applications in brain tumors and neuropsychiatric diseases; MR physics and MR method development

Research Interests: Development of MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound for preclinical and clinical imaging

Research Interests: Molecular imaging techniques and nanomedicine-technology development to better understand and characterize liver disease

Research Interests: The long-term goal of our lab’s research is to develop and implement imaging technologies that provide unprecedented insight into cancer biology.

Research Interests: Activatable optical/MRI imaging probes to study tumor metabolism and theranostic nanomedicine for cancer-targeted drug therapy

Research Interests: Heart-lung interaction; lung morphometry; structure-function correlation of lung growth

Research Interests: High-performance computing for radiation therapy and medical imaging; radiation-dose calculation; Monte Carlo simulation; 3D/4D cone beam CT reconstruction; image-guided radiation therapy

Research Interests: Cloud and GPU-based high-performance computing in medical physics and imaging; automatic radiotherapy treatment planning; adaptive radiotherapy; image-guided radiotherapy; low-dose and dynamic-cone-beam CT

Research Interests: Real-time imaging of hematopoietic stem cells and their niches using two-photon intravital microscopy

Research Interests: Generation and application of hyperpolarized¹³C-labeled compounds and⁸⁹Y-complexes for MRI/Radiopharmaceutical applications

Research Interests: Engineering probes and assays for monitoring islet beta-cell mass or function in vivo; physiological regulation of hormone secretion in pancreatic islets; functional analysis of microRNA

Research Interests: Development of novel MR-imaging techniques for whole-body cancer screening and staging

Research Interests: ¹³C MRS methods for measuring cardiac intermediary-metabolism flux and function analysis/neurotransmitter metabolism of human brain

Research Interests: Tumor pathophysiology and MR assessment of prognostic biomarkers/hypoxia and pH

Research Interests: fMRI; DICOMs

Research Interests: Developing state-of-the-art machine-learning approaches to extract radiological imaging and imaging-genomic biomarkers for individualized prognostics in neuroscience and oncological applications

Training Track: Biomedical and Molecular Imaging

Research Interests: Application of structural (X-ray, CT, and MR) and functional (SPECT and PET) imaging methods to quantify changes in bone mass and metabolism induced by metabolic bone diseases; in vivo assessment of beta-cell mass and function by novel probes; novel PET and SPECT probe development for bone cells

Training Track: Biomedical and Molecular Imaging

Research Interests: Development of novel MRI techniques for improved diagnosis of abdominal/pelvic diseases and noninvasive in vivo assessment of physiology and response to therapy in tumors

Research Interests: Heart, lung, and perfusion preservation, magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Research Interests: Cell motility and mechanics, corneal repair and regeneration, in-vivo confocal imaging

Research Interests: Spatial organization of tumors by combining machine identified phenotypes and existing pathology scoring within the framework established by cancer biology

Research Interests: Development of PET, SPECT, and MRI imaging probes to assess biological abnormalities and evaluation of disease treatment

Research Interests: Endogenous and exogenous MRI contrast agents and mechanisms in vivo, CEST and PARACEST imaging, hyperpolarization

Research Interests: Tomographic image reconstruction; cone-beam computed tomography; image-guided radiation therapy; medical imaging processing

Research Interests: My methodology research is focused on model development for high-dimensional data such as gene expression, epigenomics, copy number variation, proteomics, genome-wide RNAi functional screening data and brain image data.

Research Interests: Applied mathematics and MRI methods for translational research in liver imaging with special focus on evaluation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Associate Members

These faculty members do not accept graduate students. They participate in teaching, co-mentoring, exam and dissertation committees, and all other program activities.

Research Interests: Urology; laparoscopy, telesurgical mentoring

Research Interests: Evaluate the use of newly designed biodegradable stints to treat pulmonary artery stenosis

Research Interests: Molecular-imaging instrumentation, linear and nonlinear diffraction tomography, tensor tomography, applied inverse problems

Research Interests: Development of reporter genes and evaluation of different gene reporters

Research Interests: Development of noninvasive molecular imaging tools to elucidate in vivo metabolism

Research Interests: In vivo MRS for studies of energy and phospholipids metabolism in brain and skeletal muscle

Research Interests: Role of cycloxygenase-2 in radiation and chemo-resistance, role of small molecule inhibitors as radio-sensitizers

Research Interests:

Research Interests: Radiogenomics with a special focus on identifying imaging measures extracted from quantitative MRI parameters as a noninvasive tool to better predict biological characteristics in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.