Training Program in MRI Receives Renewal, Appoints 2024-2025 Trainees

The Department of Radiology is pleased to announce that the Training Program in MRI (TPMRI), a pre-doctoral T32 training grant funded by NIBIB, has been renewed for a second five-year period. This program aims to train the next generation of scientists for a medical imaging career in academia, hospital, or industry.  

Trainees are offered unique exposure to both research and clinical faculty, as well as industry partners in TPMRI. The objective is for students to obtain in-depth understanding of MRI physics and engineering principles and clinical applications based on participation in innovative MR research with a specific emphasis on PhD-MD interactions to facilitate informed clinical translational research. The TPMRI program is committed to developing proficient scientists who have the full range of professional skills required for success along any of the numerous career paths that PhD scientists follow. 

Neha Reddy, a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering (BME), reported the T32 program provided hands-on imaging training sessions as well as clinical rotations, which helped her to learn more about the field beyond what was required for her research project. “These resources have helped me be successful in my thesis research goals, as I had two first-author publications accepted during my time in the TPMRI,” she said.

The established interdisciplinary medical imaging research and access to state-of-the-art imaging equipment at Northwestern provide a prime opportunity to continue to train predoctoral BME students. TPMRI trainees have excellent productivity, including 52 original papers and 17 first-author papers. Seven of the eleven trainees, over the first four years of the grant, have been or will be awarded subsequent NIH F-type fellowship or K-type training grants. Graduates have successfully transitioned to physician/scientist or academic clinical research positions.  

Now in its second funding period, TPMRI is open to six PhD candidates in BME as well as other fields where imaging is applicable to research projects, including one slot for international students. Candidates do not need to have passed qualifying exams to participate in this program. Zachary Anderson, PhD, a previous trainee who graduated from WCAS – Psychology, said, “This T32 connected me with a community of researchers embedded in a medical school environment.” 

Trainees selected for the 2024-2025 program year are:   

Haben Berhane, BME – Mentor: Dr. Michael Markl 

Jorie Buzdikowski, BME – Mentor: Dr. Wendy Murray 

Fuchang Jiang, BME – Mentor: Dr. Laleh Golestani Rad 

Hannah Johnson, BME – Mentor: Dr. Molly Bright 

Thara Nallamothu, BME – Mentor: Dr. Michael Markl 

Tayeb Zaidi, BME – Mentor: Dr. Laleh Golestani Rad 

For more information on the program, please visit the website.