Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering Wins Distinguished Investigator Award
Each year THE ACADEMY FOR RADIOLOGY & BIOMEDICAL IMAGING RESEARCH names a group of Distinguished Investigators. The goal is to acknowledge and celebrate high levels of achievement in the field of academic imaging research. Fred Epstein, chair of the department of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia, was just named to the 2020 Class of Distinguished Investigators.
Nomination criteria include significant research contributions, sustained productivity, peer-reviewed scientific research publications, and demonstrated accomplishment as an independent investigator with a substantial ongoing research program.
FRED EPSTEIN is a professor of BME and chair of the department. He develops magnetic resonance imaging techniques for assessing the structure, function, and perfusion of the cardiovascular system, particularly in the setting of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and musculoskeletal disease.
Citation from the the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research:
2020 DISTINGUISHED INVESTIGATORS
"Dr. Epstein’s work focuses on developing and applying MRI techniques for assessing the structure, function, perfusion, and molecular/cellular properties in cardiovascular disease.
"He has led the development and application of cine displacement-encoded imaging using stimulated echoes (cine DENSE) for cardiac strain imaging, developing: time-resolved multiphasic (cine) acquisition strategies for DENSE imaging of the heart; image analysis algorithms for rapidly and accurately computing displacement and strain data from cine DENSE images; 2D and 3D spiral cine DENSE pulse sequences for improved signal-to-noise ratio and coverage of the heart; and estimations of left‐ventricular mechanical activation delays in heart failure CRT patients.
"He has also used MRI for assessing myocardial perfusion, developing a hybrid gradient-echo/echo-planar first-pass MRI perfusion pulse sequence as well as image reconstruction methods, using parallel imaging, motion compensation, and low rank to accelerate first-pass MRI, and demonstrated the value of quantifying perfusion in patients with ischemic heart disease to detect impaired perfusion reserve in patients with coronary microvascular disease."
