People

Principal Investigator

Despina Kontos, PhD

Professor of Radiology
Vice Chair, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Research
Director, Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics (CIMBID)
Director of Biomarker Imaging, NewYork-Presbyterian

 

 

 

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Current Members

Andrew William Chen, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

My research areas include using radiomics to develop personalized medicine approaches for non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with immunotherapy. I am also researching how radiomics can be applied to 3D as well as 4D molecular images for patients with non-small cell lung cancer as well as breast cancer, and I am interested in methods to combine multiomic data. For a complete list of my publications, please visit Google Scholar. 

Education and Training

• BS, Mathematics and Physics, Dickinson College
• PhD, Biomedical Engineering, George Washington University

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Eric Cohen, MS

Data Analyst/Biostatician

 

Education and Training

• MS, Biostatistics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• BS, Mathematics, Swarthmore College

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Nehal Doiphode, MS

I am a PhD student in Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, under the guidance of Professor Despina Kontos. My research focuses on leveraging computer vision and deep learning methodologies to advance breast cancer risk prediction using digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images. My objective is to harness self-supervised and unsupervised learning, alongside transfer learning techniques in computer vision, to develop a more bias-free and annotation-efficient approach for breast cancer risk prediction. For a full list of my publications, visit Google Scholar. 

Education and Training

• PhD Candidate, Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania 
• MSc, Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania 
• BTech/MTech, Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

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Walter C. Mankowski, PhD 

Senior Staff Associate

My responsibilities include providing computational image analysis expertise to the faculty, staff, and trainees in CBIG and CIMBID. My specific responsibilities include collaborating with faculty and trainees on research projects to develop, implement, analyze, and disseminate software pipelines and analysis results. My research interests include computer vision, pattern recognition, image segmentation, and high-performance computing. For a full list of my publications, visit Google Scholar. 

Education and Training 

• Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel University
• PhD, Computer Science, Drexel University
• BA, Mathematics, University of Pennsylvania

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Alex Nguyen, PhDc

I am a PhD student in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania advised by Dr. Despina Kontos. My research focuses on 3D imaging biomarkers for breast cancer risk assessment. I am working on optimizing volumetric radiomics from digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), validating background parenchymal enhancement from breast MRI, and developing explainable deep learning models utilizing DBT for risk assessment. For a full list of my publications, visit Google Scholar.

Education and Training

• PhD Candidate, Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
• MS, Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco
• BS, Bioengineering, University of California, Merced

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Kalina P. Slavkova, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

My work focuses on extracting radiomic signatures from breast MRI and assessing the relationship between radiomic features and clinical outcomes of breast cancer to improve risk stratification and inform treatment. I also work on leveraging deep learning techniques for medical image analysis, such as neural style transfer between MRI contrasts. For a full list of my publications, please visit Google Scholar.

Education and Training

• Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania 
• PhD, Physics, The University of Texas at Austin 
• BA, Physics and Biology, University of Pennsylvania

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Hari Santhanam, PhDc

I am a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering, advised by Drs. Despina Kontos and Elisa Konofagou. My research focuses on using deep learning and computer vision models to aid in detecting cancer risk. More generally, I am interested in leveraging AI methodologies to improve patient care and assist in early detection. For a full list of my publications, please visit Google Scholar. 

Education and Training

• PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University 
• MSE, Robotics, University of Pennsylvania
• BSE, Electrical Engineering, Princeton University

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Arunima Sharma, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

My research focuses on enhancing and analyzing multi-modal medical images using machine learning and deep learning techniques. I work on extracting radiomic features from MRI images and using these features along with other clinical and imaging data to predict and improve breast cancer response to treatment. For a full list of my publications, visit Google Scholar.

 

Education & Training

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University 
• PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Integrated dual degree (B.Tech and M.Tech), Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, India

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