Biomedical Imaging

The Master of Science in Biomedical Imaging program provides comprehensive training in the principles and methods underlying the major imaging modalities used in clinical radiology and pathology.

Biomedical imaging is rapidly advancing in both research and clinical applications, and faculty members are world leaders in the development and utilization of imaging biomarkers across a broad range of human diseases, with expertise in physics, radiology, engineering, mathematics, radiochemistry, and pathology.  

This program prepares students to pursue:

• Additional academic training in PhD programs. Past students have gone on to doctoral programs including Northwestern University and Washington University St. Louis. Options also exist to earn a PhD at one of several programs at Cornell (Biomedical Engineering, Biophysics), and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Cancer Biology, Cancer Engineering).
• Professional roles in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and imaging equipment  industries and in healthcare systems. Past students have gone on to research associate, medical technologist, and radiochemist positions.  

Students directly apply knowledge gained in their first-year courses during the thesis portion of the program:

• Students in the Laboratory Track complete an imaging research thesis project in one of the imaging research laboratories at Weill Cornell or Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
• Students in the Clinical Track complete a thesis project designed around innovations in the practice of radiology with a faculty member devoted to clinical service and innovation.

Together, Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center manage one of the most comprehensive inventories of imaging hardware and software in the world, through the Citigroup Biomedical Imaging Center and Microscopy and Image Analysis Core facilities (WCM) and the Animal Imaging Core (MSKCC).  

Our faculty have been at the forefront of many advances in biomedical imaging research and clinical applications, including:  

• Doug Ballon (WCM) developed a new PET method to track the distribution of AAV gene transfer vectors, critical for assessing gene therapy  
• Ricardo Otazo (MSKCC) used deep learning to develop faster motion-resistant 3D and motion-resolved 4D acquisition of MRI images
• Jonathan Dyke and Sadek Nehmeh, working with the Women’s Brain Initiative (WCM), used PET to discover that estrogen receptor density in certain brain regions increases over the course of the menopause transition in correlation with menopausal symptoms.  
• Mark Burgess (MSKCC) and Jeff Ketterling (WCM) characterized a nanoscale phase-change contrast agent for use in ultrasound localization microscopy to map microbubbles traveling through even the smallest, low-flow microvessels.