Our Group Director, John Shepherd, Ph.D., has been elected into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. He is one of 175 new fellows to be nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for contributions to quantitative imaging using X-ray and optical methods for characterizing risk of breast cancer, osteoporosis, and obesity-related disease.
Dr. Shepherd is an expert in developing medical imaging methods for predicting the future risk of cancer with advanced statistical methods and AI techniques. He is nationally and internationally known for his work in dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans for bone density and body composition, mammography for breast density and tissue as factors for breast cancer, and 3D-optical whole-body scanning for body shape as a risk factor for metabolic diseases.
His current most notable studies are the Shape Up! Studies, a collaboration between researchers at the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the University of California at San Francisco, and the University of Washington’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The study is aimed at creating the largest and most powerful description of optical body shape and its relation to body composition.
He has chaired 10 international workshops on quantitative imaging, including the International Breast Density and Cancer Risk Assessment Workshop, and has over 200 peer-reviewed publications that have been referenced over 10,000 times.
A formal induction ceremony will be held during AIMBE’s 2021 Annual Event on March 26. Dr. Shepherd will be inducted along with 174 colleagues who make up the AIMBE Fellow Class of 2021. For more information about the AIMBE Annual Event, please visit www.aimbe.org.
AIMBE is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., representing the most accomplished individuals in the fields of medical and biological engineering. Its mission is to recognize excellence in and advocate for the fields of medical and biological engineering for the benefit of society. Representing the top 2% of medical and biological engineers in the country, the College of Fellows comprises professionals in the fields of academia, industry, and government. AIMBE Fellows have helped revolutionize medicine and related fields to enhance and extend the lives of people all over the world. They have successfully advocated for public policies that have enabled researchers and business-makers to further the interests of engineers, teachers, scientists, clinical practitioners, and ultimately, patients.