WMIC 2025 Award Winners
Gold Medal Award Winner
Christopher H. Contag, PhD
James and Kathleen Cornelius Endowed Chair; Director, Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering (@MSUIQ); Inaugural Chair and Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Professor, Department of Microbiology, Genetics & Immunology; Michigan State University
The Gold Medal is the highest honor within the Society and is awarded to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to molecular imaging research. It recognizes innovative discoveries and approaches that integrate molecular imaging into science and healthcare, significantly advancing our understanding of biology and improving patient care.
Christopher Contag was awarded the Gold Medal for his pioneering work with bioluminescence imaging (BLM) which has fundamentally shaped the way researchers visualize and understand biological processes in vivo. Through his scientific vision and leadership, BLM has become a cornerstone technology that continues to accelerate discovery, translation, and innovation in imaging science. The impact of his contributions is evident across basic research, clinical translation, and the training of generations of investigators.
Roger Tsien Award Winner
Adam J. Shuhendler, PhD
Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences University of Ottawa
The Roger Tsien award is given to an early-stage investigator at the level of assistant or associate professor who has made significant contributions to the field of molecular imaging in the area of chemical biology. This includes the creation and/or use of novel chemistries to probe biological systems using noninvasive imaging approaches. The WMIS awards committee selection was based largely on new syntheses of molecular probes, that have been used for a better understanding of the biology of health.
This honor recognizes Dr. Shuhendler’s outstanding scientific achievements as well as his creativity, dedication, and impact
on advancing the field of molecular imaging. His pioneering contributions have represented the spirit of innovation and collaboration that Dr. Tsien himself inspired in our community. This award reflects both the significance of his research and the promise it holds for future discoveries in chemical biology and imaging science.
Young Investigator of the Year Award Winner
Dan Cohen, MD, MHA
PhD Candidate
Dan was awarded Young Investigator of the Year for his abstract “Simultaneous in vivo mapping of AKR1B1 and ALDH1A1 activity in cancer using 19F-MRI with 3-[19F]FDGal.” He is a nuclear medicine specialist and a PhD Candidate in Prof. Amnon Bar-Shir’s group at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Second place was awarded to Yihan Wu from Johns Hopkins University for “In vivo human brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid exchange revealed by non-invasive magnetization transfer indirect spin labeling (MISL) MRI,” and third place was awarded to Zuzanna Anna Magnuska from University Hospital RWTH Aachen for “Ultrasound localization microscopy parameters significantly correlate with relevant clinical values in kidney transplant patients.”
2025 Poster Award Winners
2025 Poster Select Award Winners
Molecular Imaging and Biology (MIB) Awards
2024 Preclinical Paper of the Year
Title:
“2nd window NIR imaging of radiation injury mitigation provided by reduced Notch-DLL4 expression on vasculature.”
Author:
Mir Hadi Razeghi Kondelaji et al.
Medical College of Wisconsin
2024 Clinical Paper of the Year
Title:
“A Phase 2 Multicenter Clinical Trial of Intraoperative Molecular Imaging of Lung Cancer with a pH-Activatable Nanoprobe.”
Author:
Gregory T. Kennedy et al.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
2024 Image of the Year
“Radioimaging Foam Cells Infiltrating Atherosclerotic Plaques in Mice Using 125I-labeled oxLDL as a Radiotracer.”
Author:
Michi Izawa et al.
Kyoto Pharmaceutical University
Interest Group Awards
ICIT Top Abstract Award Winners
Raheleh Roudi
Stanford University
“Influence of Tumor Size on the Effectiveness of Anti-CD47 Immunotherapy in an Osteosarcoma Mouse Model”
Noriko Sato
NIH
“Systemically Transferred Monocytes Suppress Colon Cancer Growth Despite Minimal Tumor Infiltration In Mice”
Pei Wang
Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology
“A Novel CD69-Directed PET Tracer: Probe Design and Application in Immune Activation Imaging”
IDS Young Investigator Award Winners
First Place
Alita Jesal D. Almeida
University of California, Davis
“Brain Regional Delineation in a Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease with VoxelMorph”
Second Place
Alex Finkelstein
Tel Aviv University
“Rapid multi-parameter uncertainty quantification in molecular MRI using a physics-informed variational autoencoder (PhiVAE)”
Third Place
Esther Ngan
Baylor College of Medicine
“Integrating Molecular MRI and Nano-Radiomics for Early Detection of Amyloid Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease”
MINT Young Investigator Award Winners
First Place
Safiya Aafreen
Johns Hopkins Medical Institute
“Imaging of Chemically Clickable Glycoengineered Extracellular Vesicles Using CEST MRI”
Second Place
Jie Wang
Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS)
“Enhanced Tumor Targeting and Penetration: Extracellular Matrix Remodeling by Collagenase Functionalized Nanoparticles for Glioblastoma”
Third Place
Nasrin (Marzieh) Hanafi
George Mason University
“Functionalized DNA-Based Probes for In Vitro and In Vivo Near-Infrared II Fluorescence Imaging”
Third Place
Hsing-Hsien Tsai
National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
“Fucoidan-based nanoparticles improve radiotherapy outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer by targeting radiation-induced P-selectin”
WIMIN Award Winners
WIMIN Rising Star Award
Aisling Chaney, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), Washington University in St. Louis.
WIMIN Rising Star Award
Eman Akam-Baxter, PhD
Investigator, Instructor
HVI CV MGH Sosnovik Research PO, Mass General Research Institute
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
WIMIN Mid-career Award
Nerissa Viola, PhD
Associate Professor at the Department of Oncology, Basic Science
Secondary Appointment at the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Karmanos Cancer Institute