Οncology Integrated Diagnostics

Clinical focus session: Imaging and AI opportunities in Oncology Integrated Diagnostics

The session will provide a perspective on choosing clinically and biologically relevant problems in oncology whose solutions may be approached through imaging and AI, with the goal of improved diagnostics and prognostication through integration of data from multiple biomarkers. Talks by clinician-researchers will illustrate the value of work by imaging researchers and computational scientists and the challenges faced, through general concepts and specific examples, and include information for practical implementation.  Following the talks, time will be allocated for discussion.

  • Clinically-relevant computational investigation for Οncology Integrated Diagnostics, MacLean Nasrallah, University of Pennsylvania
  • Senescence in cancer and targeted senolysis, Vassilis Gorgoulis, National Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Integrated Diagnostics – informatics considerations, Jacob Visser, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam
  • Discussion


MacLean Nasrallah, MD, PhD

After earning a degree in Mathematics from Harvard, Dr. MacLean Nasrallah taught mathematics, physics, and community health education in Tanzania with the United States Peace Corps. She received her MD and PhD in neuroscience from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently completed training in Anatomic Pathology and in Neuropathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nasrallah joined the UPenn Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine faculty in 2017, and is currently the departmental Associate Vice Chair for Research.

Dr. Nasrallah’s interests include understanding the molecular pathology of brain tumors as well as understanding the relationship of tumor pathology to imaging and clinical features through machine learning work and collaboration with the larger neuro-oncology group, with the goal of refining diagnoses and improving treatment of brain tumors.  She is a member of the UPenn Center for Biomedical Image Computing and Analytics (CBICA), the UPenn Center for AI and Data Science for Integrated Diagnostics (AI2D), the Glioblastoma Translational Center of Excellence in the Abramson Cancer Center, and the Penn Neuro-Oncology Disease Team Leadership Council. She sits on the NCI Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, the Glioma Longitudinal AnalySiS (GLASS) consortium, the Neuropathology Expert Group for NRG Oncology, and the Radiomics Signatures for PrecisiON Diagnostics (ReSPOND) consortium for glioblastoma, and is a member of the cIMPACT-NOW working groups for DNA methylation profiling and defining new tumor types.


Vassilis G. Gorgoulis, MD, PhD

Dr. Gorgoulis is Professor and Director of the Department of Histology–Embryology (DHE), Faculty of Medicine, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He is also Chair and Professor of Clinical Molecular Pathology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, UK; Adjunct Professor in the Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens; Honorary Professor at the Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, UK; Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, UK; and an elected member in European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), European Academy of Cancer Sciences (EACS) and Academia Europaea.His main research interests include: Mechanisms leading to genomic instability; The role of the DNA damage response (DDR) network as an anti-tumor barrier and mechanisms leading to escape from these barriers (apoptosis and senescence); Development of new compounds and methods to detect with precision senescent cells; The role of the replication licensing machinery in cancer progression; Development of machine learning algorithms to predict biological/drug responses.


Jacob J. Visser, MD, PhD

Jacob Visser is a musculoskeletal radiologist and assistant professor in value-based imaging at the Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. At the same institution, he is appointed as Chief Medical Information Officer. In addition, he is the chair of the scientific committee of the European Society of Medical Imaging Informatics, the chair of the value-based radiology subcommittee of the European Society of Radiology and member of the steering committee of the Common Data Elements committee, a joint initiative from the American College of Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America. Besides this, he serves in the editorial board of the European Journal of Radiology. His research is focused on validation of radiology AI tools and integrated diagnostics.