Ferenc Jolesz First Monday Research Seminar Series
The Department of Radiology holds a monthly Ferenc Jolesz Seminar Series presented by Harvard Medical School investigators, as well as speakers from other institutions, on a wide range of topics related to image-guided therapy. These seminars honor the late FERENC JOLESZ, MD who founded the multidisciplinary image-guided therapy program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is widely known as a founding father of the field of image-guided therapy.
UPCOMING SEMINARS
DATE: Monday, April 7th, 2025 | TIME: 12:15pm-1:15pm | LOCATION: This seminar will be held via Zoom.
Jenna Mueller, PhD : Improving Cancer Management in Low and Middle-Income Countries through Human-Centered Biomedical Device Design
Jenna Mueller, PhD
Assistant Professor
Fischell Department of Bioengineering
University of Maryland
Worldwide cancer deaths are project to increase 50% in the next 20 years. Over 70% of cancer-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), and 50% of those deaths are considered premature. This rising cancer burden is stressing an already overwhelmed healthcare system in many LMICs. For example, pathological diagnosis of biopsies is used to diagnose a majority of cancers; however, only 30% of LMICs reported having pathology services available. Additionally, while excisional surgeries are at the foundation of cancer treatment, 90% of patients in LMICs do not have access to surgery. In struggling healthcare systems, addressing the growing cancer burden may require a new vision – one that leverages low-cost, portable, electricity-independent, and accessible biomedical technologies to improve cancer management in LMICs. Dr. Mueller’s lab is focused on developing accessible biomedical technologies via a human-centered design approach to improve the management of cancer in LMICs. In this talk, Dr. Mueller will describe a combination of innovations that are at different stages in the translational pipeline to transform the management of cancer in LMICs. These innovations include: 1) gel ethanol ablation, an accessible treatment that involves injecting ethanol into a lesion to cause necrosis, and 2) a low-cost, reusable laparoscope for intra-abdominal cancer surgeries performed in LMICs.
Dr. Mueller is an Assistant Professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland College Park and in the Department of OB-GYN & Reproductive Science at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She is also a member of the Program in Oncology at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her lab combines optical imaging, image processing, ablative therapies, and human-centered design to develop biomedical devices to solve challenges in global cancer. She received her bachelor’s degree in bioengineering with a minor in global health technologies from Rice University and received both an MS and PhD in biomedical engineering at Duke University for her work developing optical systems and algorithms to improve the accuracy of cancer excision during surgery. Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Dr. Mueller was a Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University where she worked with a multidisciplinary team to develop the Pocket colposcope, a low-cost device to screen women for cervical dysplasia, which is now commercially available. Her work has been supported by a NSF CAREER Award and by the NCI through a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, SBIR phase 1 and phase 2 awards, R21 and U01 subawards, and the NCI-UMD Partnership for Integrative Cancer Research award. She was also recently awarded the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award.
Rayan Ebnali Harari, PhD: Applications of CNNs in MRI and OCT Imaging: Case Studies and Emerging Topics in Medical Image Analysis
Rayan Ebnali Harari, PhD Instructor in Emergency Medicine Mass General Brigham Harvard Medical School Abstract This talk will cover my work on using computer vision and convolutional neural networks (CNN) for analyzing MRI in knee…
Guigen Liu, PhD: Bendable Graded Index Lens Multimodal Microendoscopy: Advancing in-situ Histopathology
Guigen Liu, PhD Instructor in Radiology Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Abstract For over a century, biopsy and histopathological imaging of biopsied tissues stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) have been routinely employed…
Valeria Barletta, MD, PhD: An Overview of Biomarkers in Multiple Sclerosis
Valeria Barletta, MD, PhD Research Fellow in Radiology Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Abstract The clinical and investigational approach to multiple sclerosis has gone through major changes over the past decades. This presentation…
Pietro Nardelli, PhD: From Macrovascular Changes to Microvascular Defects: Advances in Imaging-based Approaches for Pulmonary Hypertension
Pietro Nardelli, PhD Instructor in Radiology Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a complex condition frequently arising as a complication of common diseases such as COPD, heart failure, and…
Peter S. LaViolette, PhD: Radio-pathomic Mapping of Brain and Prostate Cancer
Peter S. LaViolette, PhD Robert C. Olson, MD Endowed Professor of Radiology Director, Radiology Quantitative Imaging Laboratory Professor of Radiology, Biophysics, and Biomedical Engineering Medical College of Wisconsin Abstract Radio-pathomics, the integration of radiological imaging…
Seung-Schik Yoo, PhD: Non-Pharmacological Enhancement of Convective Clearance of Intracortical Solutes Using Transcranial Focused Ultrasound
SEUNG-SCHIK YOO, PHD Director, Neuromodulation and Tissue Engineering Laboratory (NTEL) Brigham and Women's Hospital Associate Professor of Radiology Harvard Medical School Abstract Brain lymphatic clearance of undesirable metabolic waste is important for normal brain function,…
CIPRIAN CATANA, MD, PHD: JOURNEY TO INTEGRATION: FROM ADVANCES IN ORGAN-SPECIFIC PET/MR IMAGING TO STUDYING INTERCONNECTED SYSTEMS.
Ciprian Catana, MD, PHD Director of Integrated PET/MR Imaging Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging Department of Radiology Massachusetts General Hospital Professor of Radiology Harvard Medical School Abstract The integration of positron emission tomography…
Florian J. Fintelmann, MD: Interdisciplinary Research in Thoracic Imaging and Intervention: Opportunities across MGB
Florian J. Fintelmann, MD Associate Professor of Radiology Harvard Medical School Abstract Short Bio Dr. Florian J. Fintelmann is a physician-scientist in the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA, and…
JEREMY WOLFE, PHD: SEEING MORE THAN WE THINK WE SEE. MISSING MORE THAN WE WANT TO MISS.
Jeremy Wolfe, PhD Professor of Ophthalmology and Radiology Harvard Medical School Abstract Your powers of vision and visual cognition are quite amazing. For example, an expert can look at a mammogram for a quarter of…
Fides Schwartz, MD: Photon-counting CT – What is it and what do we do with it?
Fides Schwartz, MD Research Associate in Radiology Harvard Medical School Lead Investigator Center of Advanced CT Translation and Innovation (CACTI) Brigham and Women’s Hospital Abstract Photon-counting Computed Tomography (PCCT) has emerged as a transformative technology…
SHARATH BHAGAVATULA, MD: TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH IN INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY: EARLY EXPERIENCE IN TRANSLATING AN IMPLANTABLE MICRODEVICE TECHNOLOGY FOR PERSONALIZED DRUG RESPONSE ASSESSMENT
Sharath Bhagavatula, MD Assistant Professor of Radiology Abdominal Imaging and Intervention Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Abstract Novel image-guided interventional methods have the potential to significantly improve cancer diagnosis and treatment, but the…
Stephan Maier, MD, PhD: The Quest for Quantitative Parameters in Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Stephan Maier, MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Abstract Numerous quantitative parameters, such as spatial dimensions, volume, nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation, velocity, and diffusion can be measured…