The Royal Society of Canada has invited UBC Professor Purang Abolmaesumi to join the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists, in recognition of his pioneering research in medical imaging. His work in this field has brought new technology into the healthcare industry. Thousands of cancer patients have directly benefited from his image analysis techniques. Scientists all over the world use Prof. Abolmaesumi’s ultrasound imaging techniques to make new discoveries through his contributions to open-source software. Prof. Abolmaesumi will become a member of the College in the inaugural year of Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for emerging intellectual leadership.
One of Prof. Abolmaesumi’s goals is to enable affordable, real-time, and safe monitoring during surgical operations —something currently only possible using X-rays, or very expensive magnetic resonance imaging equipment. Prof. Abolmaesumi has carried out seminal work in ultrasound-guided interventions – a more widely available and inherently safe technology. His ultrasound calibration techniques, used by many institutions worldwide, have opened a new horizon for ultrasound image guidance in surgical procedures.
Prof. Abolmaesumi’s work on cancer diagnosis and treatment will have a significant global impact. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in North America and Europe. To definitively diagnose prostate cancer, patients need to undergo a needle biopsy, typically guided by ultrasound imaging. Because of poor visibility of cancer in ultrasound images, the biopsy is currently performed “blind.” The recent innovations by Abolmaesumi, help identify cancerous tissue using ultrasound data in a way that has not been possible until now. The technique has been adopted by industry to improve imaging techniques.
Professor Abolmaesumi is also an award-winning teacher and mentor for the next generation of scientists in this demanding field. In biomedical engineering, students need to unite their understanding of a number of engineering subspecialties with medicine and patient care. Prof. Abolmaesumi develops this diverse set of skills in his students during dynamic team meetings. It was during collaborative team meetings that Abolmaesumi and his students realized that a technique they were using to help physicians visualize ultrasound information from the spine could also be applied to automatic identification of anatomical structures in cardiac imaging and improve the treatment of prostate cancer. Perhaps more impressive than these insights are the number of innovations Abolmaesumi’s students have managed to move through clinical studies to be used by physicians or scaled-up by companies.
Prof. Abolmaesumi will be meeting with the 2016 cohort of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists and Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada this November. Six other UBC faculty members are joining the College’s inaugural cohort: Dr. Jehannine Austin (Psychiatry), Dr. Molly Babel (Linguistics), Dr. Roman Krems (Chemistry), Dr. Shaylih Ryan Muehlmann (Anthropology), Philippe D. Tortell (Earth, Oceans & Atmospheric Sciences) and Dr. Katherine White (Sauder School of Business). Together, the members of the College will address issues of particular concern to new scholars, artists, and scientists, for the advancement of understanding and the benefit of society, taking advantage of the interdisciplinary approaches fostered by the establishment of the College.
“This year’s members join the College at an exciting time as a number of College supported projects are launching and looking for participants to strengthen the teams with various expertise and perspectives,” said College President Alidad Amirfazli.
The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists is Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. It is the newest organization within the Royal Society of Canada. The Royal Society was established under an Act of Parliament in 1883 as Canada’s National Academy, the senior collegium of distinguished scholars, artists, and scientists in the country.
Purang Abolmaesumi is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UBC, where he is a Canada Research Chair, Tier II, in Biomedical Engineering and an Associate Member of the Department of Urologic Sciences.