Recognizing the incredible need to organize, analyze and assimilate the growing volume of image data that is generated by modern biomedical applications, in December, 1996, the executive committee at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School approved the establishment of the Center for Biomedical Imaging & Informatics to serve as a resource for imaging applications in basic research and clinical service. The Center has already developed several successful, funded research projects in automated image interpretation, computer assisted diagnosis, data mining, telemedicine and knowledge discovery. A major concentration for the Center has been the development of a family of web-based data-mining technologies and computational methods for automatically detecting and characterizing malignancies from microscopic pathology specimens and for elucidating the role that protein and molecular expression plays in determining the morphologic profiles exhibited by a range of routine and rare lymphoproliferative disorders. This research has led to the development of

1. an image-guided screening prototype system for discriminating among malignant lymphomas and leukemia;
2. a robotic prototype for unsupervised imaging, interpretation, and archiving of tissue microarrays;
3. an automated means for 3-D detection, characterization, and tracking of hepatic neoplasms from spiral CT; and
4. a reliable approach for characterizing neuroanatomy from MR images using mathematical morphometry.

With the recent establishment of a university-wide Informatics Institute, the role of the Center for Biomedical Imaging & Informatics has been broadened considerably.

The mission of the Center is

1. to accelerate advances in biomedical imaging research by linking the expertise of computational scientists with their clinical counterparts
2. to utilize advanced imaging, computer, and communications technologies in order to explore interdisciplinary research topics in computational biology and biomedicine;
3. to develop next generation technologies for improved health care; and
4. to address challenging problems in diagnostic medicine and medical education.

Individuals with interests in Biomedical Imaging are encouraged to contact Dr. David Foran.