The mission of the Department of Imaging Physics is to apply physics principles to medicine for the elimination of cancer. This provides exceptional clinical medical imaging physics services using radiological imaging equipment, performs outstanding independent research in medical imaging sciences, participates in collaborative research using imaging technologies, and is actively educating the next generation of healthcare professionals in the medical imaging sciences. Our vision is to be the best department of our kind in the world and to serve M. D. Anderson with distinction.

The department includes 15 clinical faculty, six research faculty, five professional staff, over 60 classified employees and 30 trainees.  All clinical medical physicists are Board certified (American Board of Radiology, American Board of Medical Physics and/or the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine) and maintain clinical credentials in independent specialties of medical imaging physics. Our Equipment Quality Assurance Group coordinates imaging physics resources to assure that radiological imaging instrumentation throughout the institution is operating in a safe and effective manner. Our Radiological Engineering Group provides support for equipment installation, service and maintenance throughout M. D. Anderson. The Image Processing and Visualization Laboratory (IPVL) supports a broad range of clinical and research activities that require image post-processing, analysis, and/or rendering for visualization.

Imaging Physics faculty perform independent research in digital x-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), x-ray computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine physics (imaging and therapy) and optical imaging.  External research funding for fiscal year 2007 was nearly $2.5M. The department manages the Small Animal Imaging Facility (SAIF), an institutional research resource partially funded by the Cancer Center Support Grant (CA P30-16672) and was recently awarded a Small Animal Imaging Program grant from NCI (CA U24-126577).

Our graduate program in Medical Physics (in partnership with the Department of Radiation Physics) and clinical residency in diagnostic imaging physics are internationally recognized as exceptional for the training of medical imaging physicists.  We also host several continuing educational courses for professional medical physicists and researchers using imaging for experimental work in small animals that are constantly in high demand.