Roderic Ivan Pettigrew, PhD, MD, is the Robert A. Welch Professor of Medicine and CEO of Engineering Health (EnHealth) at Texas A&M University, where he also served as the inaugural dean of the School of Engineering Medicine. At the request of the Chancellor of the statewide Texas A&M University System, he served as Vice Chancellor for Health & Strategic Initiatives for the TAMU System. Dr. Pettigrew previously led the US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) as its founding Director, from 2002 to 2017, where he significantly advanced medical technologies and secured high returns on research investments. He was recruited to the NIH based on his prior career as a pioneer in cardiovascular 4D MRI having helped develop some of the earliest technologies. Dr. Pettigrew led the creation of the Engineering Medicine (ENMED) program as the Executive Dean for ENMED and the CEO of EnHealth at Texas A&M. Subsequently with the creation of the new School of Engineering Medicine, he was appointed its Inaugural Dean. His focus with EnHealth and ENMED is to integrate engineering into medical education to create innovative physician-engineers, or Physicianeers, who simultaneously earn MD and Master of Engineering Innovation in Medicine degrees in four years. Notably, ENMED students are also required to invent a solution to a healthcare challenge. Dr. Pettigrew, an expert in health technologies and imaging, holds a PhD in Applied Radiation Physics from MIT and completed his medical training in Nuclear Medicine at UCSD. His work includes non-invasive cardiovascular imaging and research on coronary atheroma and strategies to expand diagnostic boundaries and prevention. He is an editor of the recent book Biomechanics of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque: From Model to Patient, the first comprehensive text on this topic. Elected memberships include the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India. Awards include the Pierre Galletti Award (highest honor) of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Inaugural Gold Medal of the Academy of Radiology Research, the Spirit of the Heart Award of the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Gold Medal of the Radiological Society of North America, the Arthur M. Bueche Award of the National Academy of Engineering, the Vannevar Bush Award (highest honor) of the US National Science Board, the 2023 Boston Globe’s STATUSList as one of the nation’s Ultimate Leaders in Life Sciences, and the 2024 American Heart Association Research Achievement Award.

Reed A. Omary, MD, MS, is Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, USA. He has 27 years of experience as a practicing interventional radiologist, NIH-funded scientist, and educator. Dr. Omary served as Vanderbilt’s Chair of Radiology from 2012 – 2023. During that time, he was Chair of the Board for the Vanderbilt Medical Group, founded Vanderbilt’s Medical Innovators Development Program, and co-led VUMC’s strategic planning. He has served as President of the Association of Academic Radiology and President-elect of the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments. He has now fully pivoted his career into planetary health, as CEO and founder of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Greenwell Project.

Dr. Sherine Gabriel is the Executive Vice President of ASU Health and University Professor of the Future of Health Outcomes and Medicine in the College of Health Solutions with a joint appointment in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation.

Rashid Bashir is Professor of Bioengineering, the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, and is currently the 15th Dean of Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Previously he was Chief of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Chief of Neuroradiology, Chair of the Contrast Agent Safety Committee, and Director of MRI Innovation and Strategy within the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School. In these roles Srini championed innovation and clinical translation: developing advanced techniques and clinical programs for imaging of brain tumors and of multiple sclerosis; introducing advanced imaging resources such as the first clinical 7T in New England and the second neonatal MRI scanner in the world; and leading the selection of new contrast agents. Srini led MRI operations across all BrighamHealth sites, overseeing over 100,000 MRIs per year.

His expertise and specialized interests led him to become a founding member and the Chief Technology Officer of Live Healthy Imaging. Throughout his career, Dr. Muthupillai has published extensively and has numerous patents to his credit.

Dr. Cooke’s research focuses on restoration or stimulation of endothelial functions such as vasodilation and angiogenesis, using small molecules or stem cell therapies. Recent insights from the laboratory have clarified the role of innate immune signaling in nuclear reprogramming to pluripotency and therapeutic transdifferentiation for vascular disease.

Foyt Family Professor of Bioengineering; Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science & NanoEngineering; CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research

Andre Churchwell, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

​Research on how the forces of blood flow impact the cardiovascular system. His studies are leading to new understanding about the pathophysiological mechanisms of atherosclerosis and hypertension, and to the development of therapeutical approaches for cardiovascular disease.

Norbert Pelc is Professor of Radiology, Emeritus. His primary research interests are in the physics, engineering, and mathematics of diagnostic imaging and the development of applications of this imaging technology. His current work focuses on computed tomography, specifically in methods to improve the information content and image quality and to reduce the radiation dose from these examinations

Dr. Harvey Borovetz is distinguished professor and former chair (2002-2013) in the Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, a professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, a professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, a University Honors College Faculty Fellow and, the Robert L. Hardesty Professor in the Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Within the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Borovetz held the position of Deputy Director of Artificial Organs and Medical Devices for more than 20-years.

Edward Hood Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory; the Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School; and a practicing anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The majority of Prof. Antaki’s professional career has been devoted to development of blood-wetted medical devices. His research focuses on the methodology by which these devices are designed and used clinically. His group was one of the pioneers in physiological feedback control of implanted ventricular assist devices, and also developed one of the first decision support programs for identifying heart failure patients who could potentially recover with the acute mechanical circulatory assistance.

Dr. David Vorp is the Senior Associate Dean for Research & Facilities at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering and the John A. Swanson Professor of Bioengineering, with secondary appointments in the departments of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science in the Swanson School; the departments of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Surgery in the School of Medicine; the Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute; and is an affiliated faculty member with the Magee-Women’s Research Institute and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He also serves as a Director of the Center for Vascular Remodeling and Regeneration, the Co-Director of the Center for Medical Innovation, as well as the Director of the Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory.