Maryellen L. Giger, Ph.D. is the A.N. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of Radiology, Committee on Medical Physics, and the College at the University of Chicago. She is also the Vice-Chair of Radiology (Basic Science Research) and the immediate past Director of the CAMPEP-accredited Graduate Programs in Medical Physics/ Chair of the Committee on Medical Physics at the University.
For over 30 years, she has conducted research on computer-aided diagnosis, including computer vision, machine learning, and deep learning, in the areas of breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, lupus, and bone diseases.
Over her career, she has served on various NIH, DOD, and other funding agencies’ study sections, and is now a member of the NIBIB Advisory Council of NIH.
She is a former president of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and a former president of the SPIE (the International Society of Optics and Photonics) and was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the SPIE Journal of Medical Imaging.
She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and was awarded the William D. Coolidge Gold Medal from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the highest award given by the AAPM. She is a Fellow of AAPM, AIMBE, SPIE, SBMR, IEEE, and IAMBE, a recipient of the EMBS Academic Career Achievement Award, and a Hagler Institute Fellow at Texas A&M University. In 2013, Giger was named by the International Congress on Medical Physics (ICMP) as one of the 50 medical physicists with the most impact on the field in the last 50 years. In 2018, she received the iBIO iCON Innovator award.
She has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications (over 300 publications), has more than 30 patents and has mentored over 100 graduate students, residents, medical students, and undergraduate students.
Her research in computational image-based analyses of breast cancer for risk assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy has yielded various translated components, and she is now using these image-based phenotypes, i.e., these “virtual biopsies” in imaging genomics association studies for discovery.
She has now extended her AI in medical imaging research to include the analysis of COVID-19 on CT and chest radiographs, and is PI on the NIH NIBIB-funded Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC).
She was a cofounder of Quantitative Insights, Inc., which started through the 2009-2010 New Venture Challenge at the University of Chicago. QI produced QuantX, which in 2017, became the first FDA-cleared, machine-learning-driven system to aid in cancer diagnosis (CADx). In 2019, QuantX was named one of TIME magazine's inventions of the year, and was bought by Qlarity Imaging.
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
PhD - medical physics
1985
University of Exeter
Exeter, England
MSc - physics
1979
Illinois Benedictine College
Lisle, IL
BS - physics, math, health science
1978
Artificial Intelligence and Cellular Segmentation in Tissue Microscopy Images.
Durkee MS, Abraham R, Clark MR, Giger ML. Artificial Intelligence and Cellular Segmentation in Tissue Microscopy Images. Am J Pathol. 2021 Jun 12.
PMID: 34129842
Enhanced detection of oral dysplasia by structured illumination fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy.
Hinsdale TA, Malik BH, Cheng S, Benavides OR, Giger ML, Wright JM, Patel PB, Jo JA, Maitland KC. Enhanced detection of oral dysplasia by structured illumination fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 02; 11(1):4984.
PMID: 33654229
Automated mesenchymal stem cell segmentation and machine learning-based phenotype classification using morphometric and textural analysis.
Mota SM, Rogers RE, Haskell AW, McNeill EP, Kaunas R, Gregory CA, Giger ML, Maitland KC. Automated mesenchymal stem cell segmentation and machine learning-based phenotype classification using morphometric and textural analysis. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2021 Jan; 8(1):014503.
PMID: 33542945
Quantifying the effects of biopsy fixation and staining panel design on automatic instance segmentation of immune cells in human lupus nephritis.
Durkee MS, Abraham R, Ai J, Veselits M, Clark MR, Giger ML. Quantifying the effects of biopsy fixation and staining panel design on automatic instance segmentation of immune cells in human lupus nephritis. J Biomed Opt. 2021 Jan; 26(2).
PMID: 33420765
Cascaded deep transfer learning on thoracic CT in COVID-19 patients treated with steroids.
Fuhrman JD, Chen J, Dong Z, Lure FYM, Luo Z, Giger ML. Cascaded deep transfer learning on thoracic CT in COVID-19 patients treated with steroids. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2021 Jan; 8(Suppl 1):014501.
PMID: 33415179
Radiomics methodology for breast cancer diagnosis using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.
Hu Q, Whitney HM, Giger ML. Radiomics methodology for breast cancer diagnosis using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2020 Jul; 7(4):044502.
PMID: 32864390
A deep learning methodology for improved breast cancer diagnosis using multiparametric MRI.
Hu Q, Whitney HM, Giger ML. A deep learning methodology for improved breast cancer diagnosis using multiparametric MRI. Sci Rep. 2020 06 29; 10(1):10536.
PMID: 32601367
Harmonization of radiomic features of breast lesions across international DCE-MRI datasets.
Whitney HM, Li H, Ji Y, Liu P, Giger ML. Harmonization of radiomic features of breast lesions across international DCE-MRI datasets. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2020 Jan; 7(1):012707.
PMID: 32206682
Deep convolutional neural networks in the classification of dual-energy thoracic radiographic views for efficient workflow: analysis on over 6500 clinical radiographs.
Crosby J, Rhines T, Li F, MacMahon H, Giger M. Deep convolutional neural networks in the classification of dual-energy thoracic radiographic views for efficient workflow: analysis on over 6500 clinical radiographs. J Med Imaging (Bellingham). 2020 Jan; 7(1):016501.
PMID: 32042858
Artificial Intelligence: reshaping the practice of radiological sciences in the 21st century.
El Naqa I, Haider MA, Giger ML, Ten Haken RK. Artificial Intelligence: reshaping the practice of radiological sciences in the 21st century. Br J Radiol. 2020 Feb 01; 93(1106):20190855.
PMID: 31965813
Fellow
Chinese Optical Society (COS)
2021
Directors' Award
SPIE
2021
Honored Educator Award
RSNA
2020
Fellow
IAMBE (International Academy of Medical & Biological Engineering)
2019
Top 100 Inventions of 2019, for QuantX
TIME magazine
2019
Fellow
Society of Breast MRI (SBMR)
2018
Crain's Chicago Notable Women in Education
Crain's Chicago
2018
iCON Innovator Award
IBIO Institute
2018
Hagler Institute Fellow
Texas A & M University
2017 - 2020
Fellow
IEEE
2016
Academic Career Achievement Award
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS)
2016
Visionary Award
Benedictine University
2015
William D. Coolidge Gold Medal
American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)
2015
Distinguished Investigator
Academy of Radiology Research
2015
Fellow
SPIE
2014
Distinguished Science Alumni Award
Benedictine University
2014
Named by the International Congress on Medical Physics (ICMP) as one of the 50 medical physicists wi
2013
Elected National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
2010
Excellence Award
University of Chicago Paul Hodges Alumni Society
2009
Distinguished Alumni Award
Benedictine University
2006
Senior Member
IEEE
2005
Third Vice President (Honorary)
RSNA
2005
Fellow
AAPM
2001
Fellow
AIMBE
2000
Stauffer Award, Academic Radiology
1995
Sylvia Sorkin Greenfield Award
AAPM
1995
First Place Award, Young Investigators' Symposium
AAPM
1985
B.S. summa cum laude
Illinois Benedictine College
1978
Procopian Award
Illinois Benedictine College
1978
Rotary International Fellowship
1978 - 1979
Rev. Shonka, O.S.B. Scholarship Award in Physics
Illinois Benedictine College
1977
President's Scholarship Award
Illinois Benedictine College
1975 - 1977