Establishing a research career in advanced X-ray Imaging: insights from Xiaochuan Pan and PMB award winner Ronan Smith

Join us for an in-depth conversation with Xiaochuan Pan as he shares an expert perspective on the rapidly evolving landscape of advanced X-ray imaging—highlighting the breakthroughs shaping the field, what defines high-impact research, and how Physics in Medicine & Biology supports and amplifies this work. He will also explore what sets outstanding early-career research apart and offer practical strategies for increasing the visibility, reach, and long-term impact of your publications.

This session will also spotlight the research of Ronan Smith, winner of the 2025 PMB Early Career Award, who will reflect on his contributions to advanced X-ray imaging—including his award-winning paper—and how his work connects to wider developments in medical physics and imaging.

Moderator

Carol Clark, Publisher, Physics in Medicine & Biology

Speakers

Xiaochuan Pan is Professor of Radiology, Radiation & Cellular Oncology, Committee in Medical Physics, the College, and the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Chicago. His research centers on physics, algorithms, and engineering underpinning tomographic imaging and its biomedical and clinical applications. He has made pioneering, significant contributions to advanced theory and algorithms for conventional and spectral computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photo-emission computed tomography (SPECT). He has contributed to algorithm development for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), digital lung tomosynthesis (DLT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electron-paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI), phase-contrast CT, and photo-acoustic tomography (PAT). He has also developed strong translational imaging technological programs tailored to specific applications of biomedical and/or clinical significance. Xiaochuan is a Fellow of AAPM, AIMBE, IAMBE, IEEE, OSA, NAI, and SPIE.

Ronan Smith is a physicist interested in better ways of X-ray imaging. He completed his PhD at Southampton University (UK) in 2023, developing a technique called dark-field X-ray imaging, before moving to the warmer climate of Adelaide University in Australia as a grant-funded researcher in the School of Medicine. He focuses on developing and implementing imaging techniques for challenging and dynamic environments, such as the respiratory system. His current area of research is novel ways of analysing and understanding a new method for dynamic lung imaging called X-ray Velocimetry, with side projects looking at dark-field X-ray imaging.

About this journal

Physics in Medicine & Biology. The international journal of biomedical physics and engineering, published by IOP Publishing on behalf of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)

Editor-in-chief: Katia Parodi, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany