Lars Kasper, Toronto Neuroimaging Facility (ToNI), Department of Psychology, University of Toronto

Lars Kasper, PhD (ETH Zurich), is the Lead MR Physicist at the Toronto Neuroimaging Facility(ToNI), an Institutional Core Facility of the University of Toronto, where he directs advanced neuroimaging methods and quality assurance initiatives. His work focuses on improving the sensitivity and reliability of functional MRI through innovative acquisition strategies (including non-Cartesian/spiral imaging), advanced image reconstruction, and model-based correction of physiological and system-related noise. With over 20 years of experience at the intersection of MRI methods development and cognitive neuroscience, he has particular expertise in ultra-high field imaging and quantitative data quality assessment. Lars is also an active contributor to open science, developing and maintaining widely used neuroimaging toolboxes such as TAPAS PhysIO and UniQC to support reproducible and transparent research workflows.

More information about Lars can be found on his personal academic website (mrikasper.github.io), and a list of publications is available on Google Scholar (scholar.google.com/citations?user=PL1XGecAAAAJ&hl=en)

Courtney Henry, PhD, Nova Scotia Health Authority and Dalhousie University

Microwave Medical Imaging: Foundations & Clinical Applications

Emily Porter, PhD, McGill University

Dr. Porter is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at McGill University, and a Scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She was an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin, from 2015-2019, where she initiated the Electromagnetic Technologies (EMT) Lab. Prior to UT Austin, she was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow and then an EU Marie-Curie Research Fellow with the Translational Medical Device Laboratory at National University of Ireland Galway, from 2015-2019. Dr. Porter was granted her Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering) in 2015 from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Her Ph.D. work was in the area of Computational and Applied Electromagnetics, and focused on microwave breast health monitoring. Her research interests lie in applied electromagnetics, and particularly aimed at developing electromagnetic (EM)-based solutions with applications in diagnostic, therapeutic, supportive or assistive medical technologies. In 2021, she was awarded the IEEE Lot Shafai Mid-Career Distinguished Achievement Award for her contributions to microwave medical technologies, standardizing the methodology for measuring the dielectric properties of biological tissues, and advocating for women in engineering.

Rachel Eddy, PhD, University of British Columbia

Dr. Rachel Eddy is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Pediatrics at UBC. She is an imaging scientist with expertise in quantitative CT and MRI of the lungs, having completed her BEng in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University and PhD in Medical Biophysics at Western University. Dr. Eddy’s research program develops and applies structural and functional 1H and 129Xe MRI methods in combination with quantitative CT to deeply characterize lung structure-function in health and disease across the lifespan.