PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jayaram K. Udupa

Also known as Jayaram Udupa

Jayaram Udupa is a medical imaging scientist at the University of Pennsylvania whose work runs from early 3D visualization software to AI systems that recognize anatomy across the body. After a degree from Mysore University in 1972 and a doctorate in computer science from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in 1976, Udupa joined the Medical Image Processing Group in Buffalo in 1978 and moved with the group to Penn in 1981. Udupa implemented an early version of the DISPLAY82 3D visualization software on General Electric CT scanners in 1979 and 1980, and a 1996 paper with Supun Samarasekera covered fuzzy connectedness and object definition for image segmentation. A 2014 paper in Medical Image Analysis, written with Drew Torigian and others, described body-wide automatic anatomy recognition, and by 2019 an anatomy-guided AI methodology developed over 12 years trained deep neural networks on small sub-regions of images. Professor of Radiologic Science in Radiology and Chief of the Medical Imaging Section at Penn, Udupa works on medical imaging, machine learning and deep learning.

Now at
Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania
Badges

Timeline

  1. 1972–1976

    Degrees from Mysore and Bangalore

    A bachelor's degree in electronics and communication from Mysore University in 1972 is followed by a doctorate in computer science from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in 1976, with a best thesis award.

  2. 1978–1991

    Joining the Medical Image Processing Group

    Gabor Herman forms the Medical Image Processing Group in 1976 in the Department of Computer Science at the State University of New York, Buffalo, and Udupa joins in 1978. The group moves to the University of Pennsylvania in 1981, and Udupa is appointed section chief in 1991.

  3. 1979–1981

    DISPLAY82 and early 3D imaging

    Udupa implements an early version of the DISPLAY82 software on an Independent Physician Display Console of General Electric CT scanners in 1979 and 1980, the earliest attempt to bring 3D visualization to scanner manufacturers. At the Mayo Clinic Biodynamics Research Unit in 1980 and 1981, a version of DISPLAY82 triggers widespread use of 3D in research and leads to ANALYZE, a package Mayo Clinic develops and commercializes.

  4. 1996

    3DVIEWNIX and fuzzy connectedness

    The 3DVIEWNIX software, which Udupa designs and directs, is independent of data, machine and application and serves the visualization and analysis of data. A 1996 paper in Graphical Models and Image Processing by Udupa and Supun Samarasekera, titled "Fuzzy Connectedness and Object Definition", covers theory, algorithms and applications in image segmentation.

  5. 2014

    Body-wide fuzzy anatomy models

    In 2014, Medical Image Analysis publishes "Body-Wide Hierarchical Fuzzy Modeling, Recognition, and Delineation of Anatomy in Medical Images" by Udupa, Dewey Odhner, Drew Torigian and coauthors. The paper presents an automatic anatomy recognition (AAR) methodology for localizing and delineating organs, tested on thorax, abdomen and neck images covering over 35 organs and 130 data sets.

  6. By 2019

    Anatomy-guided AI methodology

    By 2019, the anatomy-guided AI (AG-AI) methodology, developed over 12 years, uses prior anatomic knowledge to train deep neural networks on small sub-regions of an image for localizing and delineating major objects. The system is tested on four body regions in 10 large medical applications in cancer, surgery planning and sleep medicine, using CT, MRI and PET/CT images.

  7. By 2019

    IEEE Life Fellow and AIMBE Fellow

    A Life Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) by 2019, Udupa also holds a professorship of radiological sciences at Penn.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chief of Medical Imaging at Penn

    In Penn's Department of Radiology, Udupa is Professor of Radiologic Science in Radiology and Chief of the Medical Imaging Section. Research expertise includes medical imaging, machine learning, deep learning and hybrid intelligence.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of PennsylvaniaProfessor of Radiologic Science in Radiology
  2. NowDepartment of Radiology, University of PennsylvaniaChief
  3. 1978–1981University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Education

  1. 1976Indian Institute of ScienceDoctorate
  2. 1972University of MysoreBachelor's degree

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Pennsylvania. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes University of Pennsylvania. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Pennsylvania. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Pennsylvania. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Jayaram K. Udupa | Faculty | About Us | Perelman School of Medicine med.upenn.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. 学术报告《AG-AI: Anatomy-guided AI for body-wide medical image analysis》 ise.ysu.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. MIPG Information mipg.upenn.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Jayaram K. Udupa - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Body-Wide Hierarchical Fuzzy Modeling, Recognition, and Delineation of Anatomy in Medical Images community.wvu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.