Faculty Spotlight: Radiology Expert Cynthia McCollough, PhD

The ISCT is proud of its rich history of expert faculty and speakers, aligning with some of the most prominent healthcare organizations in radiology. One such institution is the Mayo Clinic, ranked #1 in more specialties than any other hospital in the country. We consider ourselves lucky that one of their top providers is not only on our faculty, but presenting a number of innovative talks on computed tomography at ISCT 2018 this September.  Cynthia H. McCollough, PhD, FAAPM, FACR is one of the leading minds in CT research, serving as the director of Mayo Clinic’s CT Clinical Innovation Center, where she leads a team of physicians, scientists, and research trainees to find better ways to detect and quantify diseases using computed tomography.

As a professor of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Dr. McCollough’s expertise spans topics related to quantitative assessment of material composition, disease progression/regression, and organ function to radiation dose optimization. Her focus areas at the Mayo Clinic’s CT Clinical Innovation Center include:

• Quantifying radiation dose monitoring in CT imaging patients by developing improved tools for estimating radiation dose during CT scans. She’s also dedicated to providing accurate and balanced information to patients about the benefits and safety of CT scanning.
• Noninvasive evaluation of material composition using dual-energy CT, including characterization of kidney stones, identifying gout and automating the removal of iodine or calcium-containing signals from data sets.
• Optimizing CT examination and radiation dose protocols through use of human and model observers, while ensuring image quality. Her team works to determine the minimum dose levels needed for specific diagnostic imaging tasks.
• Translation of emerging CT technology into routine clinical practice, collaborating with multiple departments to implement advanced clinical exams, ex: CT enterography and dual energy CT.

Last year Dr. McCollough took a huge role in our CT symposium, presenting several innovative research-based talks herself and moderating a number of our sessions. She's a crowd favorite among our faculty, well-respected by our attendees and known for delivering talks that are innovative, tactical, and interesting. We're excited to have her back for our 2018 symposium as a Program Director and speaker!

This year Dr. McCollough will be moderating a number of our sessions, as well as presenting the following talks:

Dual Energy CT: Technology
Iterative Reconstruction: Does It Really Help?