2024 ISMRT Annual Meeting
Plenary Speakers
Matthew Rosen, Ph.D.
Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
Charlestown, MA, USA
Plenary Lecture
Matthew Rosen is a physicist, tool-builder, and inventor whose research bridges the spectrum from fundamental physics to applied bio-imaging work in the field of MRI. He has built a career around his ability to identify big-picture needs and respond with creative solutions that span academic disciplines and push the boundaries of innovation.
His research group at the MGH/Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging/Harvard focuses on new methods and tools to enable unconventional approaches to MRI scanner construction. This includes the development of new acquisition strategies for robust ultra-low magnetic field implementations of MRI focused on brain imaging. His laboratory also explores opportunities provided by hyperpolarization including in vivo Overhauser DNP, SABRE, and spin-exchange optical pumping. They create new quantitative strategies for the acquisition and the reconstruction of highly-undersampled imaging data including neural network deep learning based approaches such as AUTOMAP that leverage low-cost scalable-compute.
He is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and the Kiyomi and Ed Baird MGH Research Scholar. He founded five companies: Hyperfine, BlinkAI Technologies, Vizma Life Sciences, Intact Data Services, and Q4ML. He is an inventor on more than 30 issued patents.
Charlene Liew, MBBS, FRCR
Changi General Hospital
Singapore
Keynote Speaker
Dr Charlene Liew, FRCR, is a senior consultant radiologist and director of cardiothoracic imaging at the department of diagnostic radiology, Changi General Hospital (CGH). She is involved in medical informatics as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for CGH, as well as the Director for innovation at Singhealth’s Radiological Sciences academic clinical program. She co-chairs the AI committee in Changi General Hospital. During her tenure, CGH has attained the position of the Smartest Hospital in Singapore in Newsweek’s World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2024, with a standout in Artificial Intelligence.
She has been instrumental in building the AI infrastructure for Singapore’s public healthcare, founding and chairing the committee for a national project called AimSG, which is a platform to develop and deploy AI in medical imaging for public healthcare in Singapore.
She was a Singapore Ministry of Health HMDP Scholar in 2015-2016, undergoing training in cardiothoracic radiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Brigham and Women’s hospital, Boston and was a Harvard Medical School research fellow in cardiac MRI imaging, developing deep learning techniques of image acquisition. She has received multiple awards in education, innovation and research at the regional and international level.
She has served in several radiology leadership and expert committee positions, including at the College of Radiologists Singapore, as Chapter Chair of Diagnostic Radiology, Chairman of RADII: the AI and Informatics subsection of the Singapore Radiological Society, the Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging executive committee and the RSNA Educational Abstracts Informatics Subcommittee.
Her interests are in Artificial intelligence applied to Healthcare, Explainable AI, and the Future of Work.
Shawna Farquharson, Ph.D.
Australian National Imaging Facility
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
President’s Lecture
Dr Shawna Farquharson is the Senior Scientist and National Coordinator for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at the Australian National Imaging Facility (NIF). In her current role, she is responsible for providing national-scale project management to ensure coordination and harmonisation across Australia’s advanced imaging network, to improve accessibility for researchers, health professionals, and industry. Prior to this, she served as the Chief MRI Research Radiographer, Facility Manager and NIF Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Melbourne, Australia for 15 years.
Dr Farquharson is a highly qualified professional, holding a PhD in Neuroscience from Monash University, Australia, a Master of Health Science in Medical Radiation Sciences from the University of Sydney, Australia, and a BSc (Hons) in Diagnostic Radiography from the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Dr Farquharson’s research focus is the application of ‘cutting-edge’ imaging techniques to clinical populations to help understand the structure and function of the brain, and the translation of scientific advances to improve patient care.
In recognition of her exceptional contributions to the field of MRI, Dr Farquharson has received numerous accolades and awards. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the International Society for Magnetic Resonance Radiographers and Technologists (ISMRT), the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Award for Best PhD – John Milne Prize for Neuroscience, and the Monash Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences – SPAHC Award for Best PhD Thesis. She has also received several awards for her research from the ISMRT.
Dr Farquharson is an active member of the international and national MRI community. Her Executive Board positions include serving as the President of the ISMRT, as well as serving on the Board of Trustees of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and the ISMRM Affiliated Sections Committee.
Dr Farquharson has held numerous leadership and governance roles for the ISMRM and ISMRT. In addition, she has led the delivery of important education initiatives to support the global MRI community. Dr Farquharson is the founder and co-lead of the newly established ISMRT Future Leaders Initiative – an exciting program supported by ISMRM & the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that aims to educate and empower Radiographers & Technologists across Africa.