Speaker Bios
Speaker Bios
Imaging Elevated 2026 Speakers
Jacqueline Walsh-Snow, MPsych, PhD
Dr. Walsh-Snow is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, University of Utah. Her research explores the cognitive and neural basis of naturalistic vision and uses multipronged methods, including behavioral psychophysics, fMRI, neuropsychology, eye-tracking, EEG, and motion kinematics.
Nicolas Alonzo Frost, MD, PhD
Dr. Frost is a board certified neurologist who sees patients with disorders of memory and cognition. His clinical and research interests focus on understanding mechanisms that contribute to disorders of cognition. His research focuses on how information relevant to complex behaviors including social interactions are encoded within the prefrontal cortex and disrupted in disease. His laboratory utilizes imaging and transcriptomic approaches to understand how heterogeneous populations of neurons function in concert to encode different types of behavioral information.
Dr. Frost received his medical degree and graduate research training from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. There his research focused on developing super-resolution microscopy to image biological processes in living neurons. He then moved to San Francisco for further clinical training including an internship in internal medicine and residency in adult neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. Following residency he completed a research fellowship at UCSF focused on characterizing circuit-level endophenotypes underlying abnormal behavior in preclinical models of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Jenna Merenstein, PhD
I obtained a B.S. in Psychology from Colorado State University and Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of California, Riverside. I completed 3.5 years of postdoctoral training at Duke University Medical Center, where I was funded by an F32 National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Currently, I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. My laboratory investigates the neurobiological substrates of healthy cognitive aging and how these neural properties differ from those affected by Alzheimer's disease. We are also beginning to explore potential modifying factors of brain aging (e.g., environmental risk factors, genetics, cardiovascular health). My work takes a multifaceted approach, combining advanced MRI analyses of brain structure and function (e.g., graph theory) with experimental analyses of various cognitive domains (e.g., learning, memory, and visual attention).
Ben Shofty, MD, PhD
Ben Shofty, MD/PhD is an Israeli-board certified functional neurosurgeon and a former Israeli national rugby player. He graduated from the Tel-Aviv University Faculty of Medicine, and received a PhD in systems neuroscience from the Israeli Institute of Technology. He completed his neurosurgical training at the Tel-Aviv Medical Center, followed by two years of combined research/clinical fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine. His practice will focus on neuromodulation for psychiatric disorders, surgical treatments for cancer pain, movement disorders and epilepsy. In his lab, he is investigating high-order cognition and network dependent functions such as creativity and mind wondering, as well as novel interventions for OCD, depression and PTSD. In addition, he is interested in advanced imaging and visual biopsies.
Dell Dunn, MD
Dr. Dunn is an Abdominal Imaging specialist and associate professor with the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the University of Utah as well as the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center. He has spent time practicing in academic, military, private practice and federal health care systems. Dr. Dunn is the University of Utah Global Health and Outreach committee chair and has led the creation of the first diagnostic imaging fellowships in Uganda starting in 2025. He has led 6 outreach trips to Uganda involving 5 different radiologists, 2 technologists and 7 residents since 2021. The University has also hosted 6 visitors from Uganda over that time period: 2 resident observers, 2 fellows observers and 2 MRI technologists who were the first formally trained MR technologists in Uganda after completing a 6 month course.
Charles Ray, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles E. Ray, Jr. currently is Professor and Interim Chair of Radiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He previously served as Chair of Radiology and Interim Dean of the School of Medicine at University of Illinois College of Medicine. He trained at Rush University, University of Illinois, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Ray’s areas of research involve clinical research in the field of interventional oncology, particularly locoregional treatment of liver malignancies. He has a particular interest in cost analysis of oncologic interventions. He has published nearly 400 articles, abstracts, and book chapters, as well as nine books, and has delivered >400 lectures worldwide on a variety of topics related to the field of interventional radiology. He has served as President of the Society of Interventional Radiology and is the incoming co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
His clinical expertise includes oncologic interventions, particularly for primary and secondary liver tumors, and endovascular creation of dialysis fistulae. He is particularly passionate about combining interventional radiology treatments with systemic therapies and surgical options to optimize tailored treatments for patients. During his free time he enjoys hiking, fishing, skiing, and spending time with his wife (and dog) in the mountains.
David Strain, MD
Dr. Strain joined the University of Utah’s Interventional Radiology section in January 2022, assuming the role of Program Director for both the integrated and independent
residencies. He also serves as the course director for the University's interventional radiology rotations for residents and was previously course director for the medical student rotations.
A Utah native, Dr. Strain returned home after an extensive educational journey. He earned his BS in Biology from the University of Utah before moving to Philadelphia to attend Jefferson Medical College. He completed his internship at UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh, followed by a diagnostic radiology residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center. He then finalized his subspecialty training with a fellowship in Vascular and Interventional Radiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Strain’s career spans both private practice and academia, including faculty positions at the University of Kentucky and the University of Arkansas. At Arkansas, he served as the Assistant Program Director for the IR residency and was course director for the third-year medical student radiology rotations.
Active on the national stage, Dr. Strain serves as an oral board examiner and maintains a presence within the Society of Interventional Radiology. His contributions include work with the Early Career and Resident/Fellow sections, as well as the "Vision to Heal" campaign. Currently, he is a member of the Practice Improvement and Change Committee.
Udunna Anazodo, PhD
Udunna Anazodo, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, is also a member of the Neuroimaging and Neuroinformatics research group at The Neuro. She joined The Neuro from the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario where she was Assistant Professor of Medical Biophysics.
Udunna’s research at The Neuro focuses on intelligent PET imaging for mapping brain health: from molecules to mind. Her lab combines positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to provide a multimodal imaging approach for detecting subtle and early changes in brain function, physiology and neurochemistry. Her current focus is on the optimization of next-generation ultra-high-resolution PET imaging systems to permit molecular brain imaging with unprecedented spatial precision and sensitivity. Over the next five years, they will develop leading-edge intelligent PET image reconstruction and image analysis tools that leverage advances in machine learning to enable brain imaging in clinical populations at ultra-high spatial resolution and unmatched sensitivity.
Jens Guehring
Head of Digital Products and Services, Magnetic Resonance, Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany
Jens Guehring leads pre-development and product definition for MR software at Siemens Healthineers, including the MR digital strategy and the Digital Innovation Hub, which collaborates on AI, workflow and digitalization with leading institutions worldwide. He earned his degree from the University of Stuttgart, where his research focused on 3D computer vision and surface reconstruction, and was a visiting scientist at the National Research Council of Canada. He joined Siemens Corporate Research in Princeton in 2001, leading neuro, cardiovascular and interventional MRI projects, before moving to Erlangen, where he managed the development of the next-generation scanner software. His current work centers on autonomous scanning, AI-based workflow orchestration and fleet-level operation of MR systems.
Adrienne Campbell-Washburn, PhD
Dr. Campbell-Washburn is a Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, Ontario, having recently relocated from the National Institutes of Health, USA, where she was a Senior Investigator. She received her BSc in physics from the University of Western Ontario and her PhD in medical physics from University College London in London UK. Dr. Campbell-Washburn’s research focuses on the development of novel MRI technology for cardiac imaging, pulmonary imaging, and MRI-guided cardiovascular catheterization procedures, as well as the translation of this technology for patient exams. Specifically, Dr. Campbell-Washburn’s lab develops rapid imaging methods and advanced low-latency image reconstruction methods that integrate high performance computing into the clinical environment. Recently, her lab pioneered a high-performance 0.55T MRI system, which has been commercialized as a more accessible imaging technology, and demonstrated its value for cardiopulmonary imaging applications. Dr. Campbell-Washburn has published over 95 peer-reviewed papers, and she has taken on active roles in the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and the Society for Cardiovascular MRI (SCMR).
Rita Nassanga, MD
Dr. Rita Nassanga is a radiologist and lecturer in the Department of Radiology and Radiotherapy at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda, where she served as Chair/Head of Department from 2020 to 2024 and is now Chair Emeritus. Her clinical, academic, and research interests include neuroimaging, dementia imaging, radiology education, and strengthening diagnostic imaging capacity in resource-limited settings. She is currently completing a PhD examining the use of brain MRI in dementia diagnosis in Uganda. Dr. Nassanga has played a leading role in developing international academic radiology collaborations, including the growing partnership between Makerere University and the University of Utah, spanning resident and faculty education, external examinations, academic exchange, research, and curriculum development. She is particularly interested in building sustainable, reciprocal global radiology partnerships that strengthen specialist training, research capacity, and clinical imaging practice.
Matt Molchan
A highly effective strategist and proven leader with over two decades of experience in nuclear medicine and healthcare, Matt Molchan is the driving force behind RLS’ business development strategy. As a vital member of the RLS executive team, he plays a pivotal role as the company continues to scale and expand into new areas, ranging from clinical trials and CDMO work to PET and patient dose distribution.
Molchan is responsible for setting national, regional and local business development strategy across the RLS network. In addition, he is charged with building and maintaining strategic partnerships between RLS and other industry-leading radiopharmacy firms.
Prior to joining RLS, Molchan served as President and CEO of Digirad, a leading medical device manufacturer and healthcare service provider. He also served as CFO at Ultrascan, a mobile ultrasound service business. Molchan holds a B.S. in Economics from the United States Air Force Academy and an MBA from the University of Southern California.
