Despina Kontos, PhD, professor of radiology and a computer scientist with expertise in multimodality imaging data, will lead the new Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics (CIMBID) at Columbia University in New York.
Kontos' work has contributed to a transition in the interpretation of breast cancer images by showing that imaging data can be mined to extract sophisticated phenotypic signatures with independent diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive value, according to a Columbia University Irving Medical Center statement.
CIMBID will be dedicated to developing and integrating quantitative imaging and nonimaging biomarkers for disease prediction, particularly in cancer. Kontos previously served as professor of research radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she contributed to advancing AI tools for risk prediction in breast and lung cancer.
For Columbia, Kontos will also serve as vice chair of artificial intelligence and data science research in the Department of Radiology and have joint appointments in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Department of Biomedical Engineering in Columbia’s engineering school. She is also a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and director of biomarker imaging at New York Presbyterian, which is supporting the development and application of new AI tools.
