MIT Medical Imaging Initiative Symposium Next-generation medical imaging of brain and body systems
American Academy of Arts & Sciences 136 Irving St, Cambridge, MA 02138 Wednesday, January 28, 2026
8:30-9:00am: Registration and breakfast
9:00-9:10am: Welcome and opening remarks
9:10-10:30am: Session I | State of the Art: Brain Imaging
Moderated by John D.E. Gabrieli, Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center; Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Cognitive Neuroscience, McGovern Institute for Brain Research; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
Precision Neuroimaging of the Brain
Jingnan Du, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Psychology, Harvard University; Incoming Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame
Getting started: Imaging functional responses in the brains of human infants
Rebecca Saxe, John W Jarve (1978) Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, MIT
High resolution (f)MRI at the MGB High Field Center
Renzo Huber, Neuroscience Director, MBG High Field Center
Multi-scale multi-omic imaging of mammalian organs
Kwanghun Chung, Eugene McDermott Professor in the Brain Sciences and Human Behavior, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT
10:30-10:50am: NTP & MMII Trainee Flash Talks
Moderated by Thomas Heldt, Associate Director of IMES, Richard J. Cohen (1976) Professor in Medical Engineering and Science, IMES, EECS
Super-resolution Synapse Imaging in the Aging Brain
Quantification of cerebral cortical displacement driven by neurovascular coupling
Amelia Strom, MEMP PhD Student (Medical Engineering and Medical Physics), HST
10:50-11:10am: Coffee break
11:10am-12:30pm: Session II | State of the Art: Body Imaging
Moderated by Susie Huang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology, MGH & HMS; Associate Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
High-sensitivity PET as a systems-level imaging platform
Ciprian Catana, Professor of Radiology, HMS and MGH; Director, Integrated PET/MR and Molecular Imaging, Martinos Center
Emerging role of quantitative imaging in the evaluation of coronary artery disease
Xuanhe Zhao, Uncas and Helen Whitaker Professor, MIT
Structural and functional imaging of the eye using light
Néstor Uribe-Patarroyo, Assistant Professor, HMS & Wellman Center for Photomedicine, MGH; HST Affiliated Faculty, IMES, MIT
12:30-2:00pm: Lunch
2:00-3:20pm: Session III | Imaging Brain-Body Systems
Moderated by Christin Sander, Assistant Professor, Radiology, HMS and Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH
Mechanisms of functional connectivity within and beyond the brain
Alan Jasanoff, Eugene McDermott Professor in the Brain Sciences & Human Behavior, MIT Biological Engineering, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute
Probing gut-brain communication with flexible optoelectronics
Polina Anikeeva, Director, K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
A glimpse of autonomic and interoceptive circuits in humans
Marta Bianciardi, Associate Professor of Radiology, HMS and MGH; Director, Brainstem Imaging Laboratory, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH
Recovering 3D structures from 2D intraoperative images
Polina Golland, Sunlin (1966) and Priscilla Chou Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
3:20-3:40pm: Coffee break
3:40-4:20pm: Closing Session | Keynote
Introduction by Elfar Adalsteinsson, Eaton-Peabody Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) and IMES, MIT
The Future of Seeing: How Imaging is Shaping Our World, and How We Can Reinvent Imaging
Dan Sodickson, Chief Medical Scientist, Function Health
