Liang is a member of Beckman’s Bioimaging Science and Technology (BST) group and is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois. Integrative Imaging became the fourth research theme at Beckman in 2009, encompassing both the BST group and also the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory. Tamer Başar, Interim Director of the Beckman Institute, said Liang will serve ably as a co-chair of this fourth research theme, and will be an effective contributor to the Institute in this new capacity.
“Zhi-Pei will bring to the position a wealth of experience he has amassed over the years as a key Beckman faculty,” Başar said. “He knows the Institute very well and recognizes the importance of interdisciplinary research in the advancement of science and technology particularly in the domain of imaging.”
Liang has a long and distinguished record as an academic and researcher in the field of imaging modalities. He served as a postdoctoral fellow under Paul Lauterbur, co-inventor of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a Nobel Laureate, and served as co-chair for the Lauterbur Memorial Symposium held in 2008.
Liang’s list of honors and titles includes being named the Henry Magnuski Outstanding Young Scholar Professor in the College of Engineering and selection as a fellow of both the IEEE and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. He has served two terms as Vice-President of IEEE-EMBS conferences and won the organization’s Early Career Achievement Award in 1999 for his “outstanding contributions to the field of biomedical engineering.”
Liang’s research involves areas of magnetic resonance imaging, imaging informatics, super-resolution image reconstruction, and methods for biomedical image analysis toward applications such as functional brain mapping, and cancer and cardiac imaging.
Liang’s work within the IntIm research theme includes leading a project titled “Integrative Neuroimaging of the Aging Brain.” The project is focused on developing new data acquisition and image reconstruction algorithms toward integration with imaging modalities such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for better mapping of the functional organization of the brain.
The Integrative Imaging research theme’s mission is to bring together people, modalities, and ideas for “the interdisciplinary discovery of fundamental principles in imaging science, new enabling technologies for the next generation of imaging instruments, and novel techniques for basic and translational research.”
