The Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) Department of Radiology is thrilled to welcome not one, not two, but three new vice chairs for research.
Gloria Chiang, M.D., Vice Chair, Clinical and Translational Research, and Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology, is a board-certified radiologist specializing in neuroradiology. Dr. Chiang, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, completed her residency and fellowship at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and is currently the principal investigator on two NIH R01 grants that combine innovative, quantitative MR and PET-imaging techniques with fluid biomarkers to elucidate Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. Dr. Chiang also serves as director of the WCM Brain Health Imaging Institute, co-chair of the NIH Clinical Neuroscience and Neurodegeneration Study Section, senior editor of the American Journal of Neuroradiology, and on the executive committee of the American Society of Functional Neuroradiology.
"As medical imaging continues to be crucial for disease diagnosis and monitoring, I look forward to supporting the next generation of physician-scientists in the field of radiology, who have the unique expertise of applying cutting-edge technology to improve patient care," says Dr. Chiang.
Mert Sabuncu, Ph.D., Vice Chair, AI and Engineering Research, and Professor of Electrical Engineering in Radiology, received his doctorate from Princeton University, was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, served as a faculty member at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital), became assistant professor in the Cornell University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), and was promoted to Cornell Tech professor of ECE and WCM professor of electrical engineering in radiology. Broadly speaking, Dr. Sabuncu’s research lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, biomedical data analysis, and healthcare.
"I look forward to working with our research faculty in the Department of Radiology and our collaborators across WCM, Cornell Tech, Cornell-Ithaca, and NewYork-Presbyterian to grow the AI and Engineering research ecosystem and deploy these cutting-edge technologies to enhance our clinical services," says Dr. Sabuncu.
Akhilesh Sista, M.D., Vice Chair, Clinical and Interventional Research, and Professor of Radiology, a board-certified radiologist specializing in interventional radiology, received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Sista is the principal investigator for the NIH-funded Pulmonary Embolism - Thrombus Removal with Catheter-Directed Therapy (PE-TRACT) trial, an open-labeled, assessor-blinded, randomized trial comparing catheter-directed therapy and anticoagulation with anticoagulation alone in 500 patients with submassive pulmonary embolism, proximal pulmonary artery thrombus, and right ventricular dilation.
“I look forward to working with my fellow co-chairs and the research and clinical faculty to build upon Weill Cornell Radiology’s top-10 program,” says Dr. Sista. "One of my main goals is to assist investigators in designing and implementing diagnostic and interventional clinical trials that will ultimately impact clinical practice."
Drs. Chiang, Sabuncu, and Sista replace Ajay Gupta, M.D., M.S., Alexander R. Margulis, M.D., Distinguished Professor in Radiology, who was recently named chair of the Department of Radiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and radiologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. For years, Dr. Gupta served WCM, helping us become one of the nation’s top radiology departments. While the WCM Department of Radiology will undoubtedly miss Dr. Ajay Gupta, and we are indebted to his service, we’re also extremely excited about the future. Please give a warm welcome to our three new vice chairs, Drs. Gloria Chiang, Mert Sabuncu, and Akhilesh Sista!