People

MIITT Primary Affiliation

Vikas Gulani, M.D., Ph.D.

 Fred Jenner Hodges Professor and Chair of Radiology

Co-Director of MIITT

Department of Radiology

Email: vikas@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: MRI technology development and translation, improving MRI value and access, quantitative MRI and relaxometry, fast imaging, and clinical body MRI with particular focus on both liver and prostate imaging. 

Nicole Seiberlich, Ph.D.

Research Professor of Cardiovascular Imaging

Associate Professor of Radiology

Co-Director of MIITT

Department of Radiology

Email: nse@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: I am working on developing rapid and quantitative MRI technologies for improved cardiac and abdominal imaging.

Jesse Hamilton, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Radiology

Email: hamiljes@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: My research involves the development and validation of novel quantitative MRI methods for imaging the heart, with a focus on T1 and T2 mapping and cardiac functional imaging using Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting.

Hero Hussain, M.D.

Professor

Department of Radiology

Email: hhussain@med.umich.edu


Yun Jiang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Radiology

Email: yunjiang@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: The research in my lab is to develop new Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods that improve specificity and sensitivity of disease diagnosis. My research group aims to address clinical problems using engineering-driven approaches. We take advantage of modern MRI hardware and computational capabilities to tailor MRI acquisitions and reconstructions for rich quantitative information.

Gastao Lima da Cruz, Ph.D.

Assistant Research Scientist

Department of Radiology

Email: glimadac@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Accelerated and quantitative MR, cardiac MR, abdominal MR and motion correction.

Shruti Mishra, M.D.

House Officer, Neuroradiology Fellow

Department of Radiology

Email: mishruti@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: I am a clinical neuroradiology fellow with interests in translating novel MR methods for neuroimaging applications in studying brain function and neurodegenerative and demyelinating disorders. Current interests include the feasibility of low-field 0.55T MRI for imaging the brain and spine. Prior research projects have included translating MR elastography for functional neuroimaging applications and characterizing MRI and PET imaging biomarkers in Alzheimer disease.

Shane A. Wells, M.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Radiology

Department of Urology

Email: shanewel@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Optimizing tumor conspicuity, targeting and ablation treatment confirmation in real-time; interventional MRI technology development and translation. Development and translation of quantitative imaging methods to characterize disease specific phenotypes of lower urinary tract symptoms. Prostate cancer. Clinical trials. 

Brendan McCracken, M.S.

MIITT Research Operations Director

Department of Radiology

Email: bmccrac@med.umich.edu

Reve Chahine, M.D.

Abdominal Radiology fellow 

Department of Radiology

Email: creve@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Liver and prostate imaging, low field MRI 

Evan Cummings, B.S.

Graduate Student Research Assistant, Seiberlich Lab

Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology

Email: cumminge@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: I work on acquisition and reconstruction techniques to generate T2* measurements with Rosette MR Fingerprinting, and I've also previously worked on projects to improve the efficiency of cardiac parallel imaging methods.

Jesus Fajardo, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Jiang Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: jesuserf@med.umich.edu

Research Interests:  I have a broad interest in medical imaging methods. My MRI-related interests are focused on quantitative MRI research and exploring state of the art techniques and concepts which potentially might allow us to get more specific information out of our diagnostic images.


Tom Griesler, B.S.

Graduate Student Research Assistant, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: tomgr@med.umich.edu

Research Interests:  Sequence design and optimization for MR Fingerprinting with applications in brain and abdominal imaging 


Michael Jaroszewicz, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Jiang Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: jaroszem@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: My current research interests focus on the development of novel RF pulse sequences, nuclear hyperpolarization methods,machine-assisted data acquisition strategies and the synergistic application of these techniques for tackling challenging problems in MR imaging and NMR spectroscopy. 

Sydney Kaplan, B.S.

Graduate Student Research Assistant, Seiberlich Lab 

Department of Radiology

Email:kaplansn@med.umich.edu

Research Interests:  My current work involves developing quantitative T1-rho mapping techniques with applications in contrast-free myocardial fibrosis detection.


Tejinder Kaur, M.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Jiang Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: kaurte@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: My current research interest lies in Prostate imaging and applications of MRI Fingerprinting.


Lauren Kelsey, B.S.

Medical Student, Clinical Research Associate, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: laurkels@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Low-field MRI for spinal and abdominal imaging, interventional MRI .

Zexuan Liu, M.S.


Graduate Student Research Assistant, Hamilton Lab


Department of Biomedical Engineering


Email: zexliu@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: My current research involves developing cardiac and lung MR fingerprinting for low-field MRI. 

Zhongnan Liu, B.S.

Research Assistant, Hamilton Lab

Master's student, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Department of Radiology

Email: znanliu@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Numerical optimization for cardiac MR Fingerprinting sequence 

Kristen Mahan

Administrative Assistant

Email: krimahan@med.umich.edu

Jacob Richardson, R.T.(R)(MR)(ARRT)

Research MRI Technologist

Department of Radiology

Email: ricjacob@med.umich.edu


Radhika Rajeev, M.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow,  Hussain Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: raradhik@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Exploring the feasibility of low-field 0.55T MRI in diagnosing various abdominal pathologies 


Rudy Rizzo, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow,  Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: rurizzo@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Currently working on translational MRI sequence design for commercial whole-body low-field systems (0.55T) targeting lungs and abdomen for clinical settings and applications. Former closer friend of MR Spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging for in-vivo applications and old-but-gold ‘aficionado’ of deep learning application in MR field. 


Ana C. Saavedra Bazan, M.S. 

Graduate Student Research Assistant, Seiberlich Lab 

Department of Radiology

Email: anacsb@umich.edu

Research Interests: My research interest involves low-field MRI for abdomen, pulse sequence development and the integration of AI for medical diagnoses. 


Jiayao Yang, M.S.

Graduate Student Research Assistant, Jiang Lab

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Email: jiayao@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Tailored MRI RF Pulse Design Methods, Numerical Optimization

Hongze Yu, M.S.

Graduate Student Research Assistant, Jiang Lab

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Email: hongze@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: My current research interests focus on Self-supervised K-space Reconstruction and Sampling Trajectory Optimization. 

MIITT Collaborators

Prachi Agarwal, M.B.B.S.

Professor

Section Chief Cardiothoracic Radiology

Department of Radiology

Email: prachia@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Cardiovascular Radiology, Thoracic Radiology

Jeff Fessler, Ph.D.

William L. Root Collegiate Professor of EECS

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Email: fessler@umich.edu

Research Interests: Image reconstruction and related signal processing problems


J. Brian Fowlkes, Ph.D.

Professor 

Department of Radiology

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Email: fowlkes@umich.edu

Research Interests: Biomedical Imaging, Biomedical Ultrasonics and Image-Guided Therapy.

Luis Hernandez-Garcia, Ph.D.

Research Professor

Functional MRI laboratory

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Email: hernan@umich.edu

Research Interests:  I work primarily on developing methods to image and modulate brain function non-invasively. These include functional MRI, ASL perfusion MRI, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and focused ultrasound neuromodulation. I am always interested in new ideas and collaborations, particularly in the area of MRI Physics and engineering.

Marcus Jarboe, M.D.

Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery and Radiology

Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Program Director of Image-guided Surgery Fellowship

Department of Surgery

Email: marjarbo@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: At Mott Children's Hospital we have developed intra-operative real-time MRI to guide repair of anorectal malformations in children. We use MRI to guide a needle through the sphincter muscle complex in order to pull the neo-rectum through the direct center of the very small attenuated muscle complex and to include muscles otherwise transected and injured during the traditional open procedure. My collaboration with MIITT is with developing faster and improved imaged quality to better guide our needle with this technique.

Venkatesh Murthy, M.D.

Associate Professor

Melvin Rubenfire Professor of Preventive Cardiology; Director of Cardiac PET Research

Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Division

Email: vlmurthy@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: We use advanced cardiac imaging methods, including MRI, CT, and PET, to improve diagnosis and risk stratification for cardiometabolic diseases.

Jon-Fredrik Nielsen, Ph.D.

Associate Research Scientist

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Email: jfnielse@umich.edu

Research Interests: I have a background in MR pulse sequence design and programming for a variety of applications including blood flow imaging and fMRI. My current research focuses broadly on improved methods for 3D fMRI (collaboration with EECS at U-M); achieving more reproducible research results across sites using open MR pulse programming (collaboration with Medical University of Vienna); “zoomed” MRI for improved spatio-temporal resolution which can be applied to a variety of translational applications (collaboration with U-M Radiology); and quantitative MRI with a focus on MWF mapping (collaboration with EECS at U-M). Common technical themes in my work are 3D tailored RF pulse design, inner-volume imaging, artifact reduction in steady-state (e.g., RF-spoiled or balanced SSFP) imaging, and vendor-agnostic MR pulse programming.

Doug Noll, Ph.D.

Ann and Robert H. Lurie Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Professor, Radiology

Co-Director, fMRI Center

Email: dnoll@umich.edu

Research Interests: Prof. Noll’s group develops magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology for mapping the functional organization the human brain (known as functional MRI or fMRI) as well as general MRI technology. More specifically, the group’s main focus is on the development of image acquisition, image reconstruction, signal processing, and hardware approaches to provide high-speed and robust measurement of function over the entire brain. As part of Functional MRI Laboratory, this group collaborates with a broad range of neuroscientist to develop an understanding of the organization and functioning of the normal and diseased brain and to apply the technological advances to quantitative imaging of brain function in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders. 

Ashok Srinivasan, M.D.

Professor

Associate Chair of Operations, Quality and Safety

Department of Radiology

Email: ashoks@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: I am interested in development of imaging biomarkers using MRI and CT in neurological diseases, and have studied the role of diffusion and perfusion imaging in head and neck cancer, diffusion imaging in multiple sclerosis, and dual energy CT in spine and head/neck imaging.

Friends of MIITT

James Ahad, B.S.

Visiting Graduate Student Research Assistant, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Biomedical Engineer, Case Western Reserve University

Department of Radiology, University of Michigan 

Email: ahadj@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting, Abdominal Imaging, Radiology Workflow


Jack Andrews, B.S.

Volunteer Research Assistant, Jiang Lab

Master's Student, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Email: jackand@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: J-coupling analysis via signal evolution simulations and T2 quantification of fat-water mixtures. Magnetic field strength dependence on T1, T2, and SNR quantification.

Nicholas Burris, M.D.

Assistant Professor

Director of Aortic & Structural Heart Imaging, Co-Director Thoracic Procedure Service

Department of Radiology

Email: nburris@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: MRI blood flow imaging (4D Flow) in patients with aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm and bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). Advanced CT image processing to improve detection and quantification of aortic enlargement in aneurysm and dissection patients using Vascular Deformation Mapping.

Thomas Chenevert, Ph.D.

Professor

Basic Radiological Sciences Professor

Department of Radiology

Email: tlchenev@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: I am senior MRI physicist in the UM Department of Radiology supporting its clinical MRI operations as well as direct the Radiology 3T Research MRI resource to provide advanced anatomic and functional imaging services for many basic research and clinical trials conducted at Michigan Medicine. I have a long history of federally-funded research in diffusion and other MR-based biomarkers for assessment of early response to anticancer therapy. This work has led to our current focus in academic-industrial partnership projects to develop UM IP technology to alleviate system-dependent bias in MRI diffusion measurements due to gradient nonlinearity which is being incorporated on clinical MRI platforms.


Nancy Dudek, RT (R) (MR) (ARRT)

MR QA Lead

Department of Radiology

Email: nandudek@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Neuro, Cardiac,  and Body MR imaging


Alexander Fyrdahl, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: fyrdahl@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Cardiovascular imaging, in particular real-time and whole-heart imaging, non-Cartesian trajectory design, and advanced image reconstruction.

Anna Lavrova, M.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: lavrovan@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Implementation of state-of-the-art MR techniques, such as functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, arterial spin labeling in neuroradiology and general radiology, particularly in oncologic imaging.

Yuchi Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: yuchiliu@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: My research focuses on the development and translation of quantitative CMR methods for cardiac tissue characterization. Specifically, I have been working on water-fat separation and myocardial T1 and T2 relaxation time quantification using cardiac MR Fingerprinting.

Dariya Malyarenko, Ph.D.

Associate Research Scientist

Department of Radiology

Email: dariya@umich.edu

Research Interests: Quantitative DWI tools for multi-center clinical trials


Yuxi Pang, Ph.D.

Research Area Specialist Sr

Department of Radiology

Email: yuxipang@umich.edu

Research Interests: Quantitative MR imaging in MSK(R2 and R1rho in cartilage), neuro (anisotropic R2 and R2* in WM), body (DWI/DCE/MRS in prostate) and pediatric (lung T1 and UTE) applications.


Scott Peltier, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

fMRI Laboratory Technical Director

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Email: spelt@umich.edu

Research Interests: FMRI, including functional connectivity, real-time fMRI, and multivariate pattern analysis

Anupama Ramachandran, M.B.B.S, M.D. Radiodiagnosis

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: ramachaa@med.umich.edu

Research Interests: Abdominal imaging, Cardiothoracic imaging, Body MRI

Kathleen Ropella-Panagis, Ph.D.

Career and Professional Development Program Manager, Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

University of Michigan Medical School

Email: kropella@med.umich.edu


Harish Sharma, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Seiberlich Lab

Department of Radiology

Email: harishsh@med.umich.edu

Research Interests:  Abdomen and Neurological imaging using low-field MRI.


Xueding Wang, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Department of Radiology

University of Michigan Medical School

Email: xdwang@umich.edu

Research Interests: Dr. Wang’s research group, Optical Imaging Laboratory at the U-M School of Medicine, is focused on imaging system development, and adaptation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to laboratory research and clinical settings, especially those involving light and ultrasound. Major part of our research is focused on clinical applications of photoacoustic imaging, including those involving breast cancer, inflammatory arthritis, prostate cancer, liver conditions, bowel disease, eye conditions, and brain disorders. We are also interested in design and fabrication of multi-functional nanoparticle agents (e.g. metallic, hydrogel) for both diagnosis and therapy, as well as interactions between nanoparticles and cells.


Katherine Wright, Ph.D.

Radiology Research Operations Manager

Department of Radiology

Email: kawr@med.umich.edu