PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Maryellen Lissak Giger

Also known as Maryellen L. Giger, Maryellen Giger

Maryellen Lissak Giger is a medical physicist and a Distinguished Service Professor of Radiology at the University of Chicago, where she has worked on computer-aided diagnosis of medical images since the mid-1980s. After a PhD in medical physics at Chicago in 1985, she joined the radiology faculty in 1986 and worked first on computer detection of lesions in mammograms and lung nodules in chest radiographs. Her team's breast MRI workstation grew into QuantX, which in 2017 became the first FDA-cleared, machine-learning-driven system to aid in cancer diagnosis. She served as president of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine in 2009, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2010 and led SPIE as president in 2018. In 2020, NIH funded her to build MIDRC, a COVID-19 medical imaging data resource for AI, and SPIE gave her its Gold Medal in 2026.

Born
1956
Works
742
Citations
26,949
h-index
88
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1978–1985

    Physics degrees and a PhD

    She graduates summa cum laude from Illinois Benedictine College in 1978 with a degree in mathematics, physics and health sciences, then earns a master's in physics at the University of Exeter in England in 1979. She completes a PhD in medical physics at the University of Chicago in 1985.

  2. 1986–2000

    Radiology faculty at Chicago

    After more than three years as a research associate in the University of Chicago's Department of Radiology, she becomes an assistant professor in 1986 and an associate professor in 1991. From the mid-1980s she works on computer-aided detection, starting with lesions in mammograms and lung nodules in chest radiographs. She becomes director of the graduate programs in medical physics in 1998 and a professor of radiology in 2000.

  3. 2009–2010

    AAPM president and NAE member

    She serves as president of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine in 2009. In 2010, the National Academy of Engineering elects her for contributions to digital signal analysis for improved cancer detection and treatment and for innovations in interdisciplinary training. Her roles in 2010 include vice chair of radiology and director of the university's Imaging Research Institute.

  4. 2009–2019

    QuantX and Quantitative Insights

    In the 2009–10 academic year, a team including a PhD student from her lab enters the breast MRI computer-aided diagnosis workstation in the University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge, and she cofounds Quantitative Insights to commercialize it. Its QuantX system becomes the first FDA-cleared, machine-learning-driven system to aid in cancer diagnosis in 2017. In 2019, TIME names QuantX one of its inventions of the year, and Qlarity Imaging acquires it.

  5. 2013–2018

    A Pritzker chair and SPIE presidency

    In 2013, she becomes the A. N. Pritzker Professor of Radiology, and the International Congress on Medical Physics names her one of the 50 medical physicists with the most impact on the field in the last 50 years. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine awards her its highest award, the William D. Coolidge Gold Medal, in 2015. She is the inaugural editor-in-chief of the SPIE Journal of Medical Imaging and serves as president of SPIE in 2018.

  6. 2020–2023

    Leading the MIDRC imaging commons

    In August 2020, NIBIB funds the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC) through a contract to Giger, with the University of Chicago hosting an open-access platform of COVID-19 medical images built to aid AI development. RSNA gives her its Outstanding Researcher award in 2022. In September 2023, ARPA-H selects MIDRC as a performer for its Biomedical Data Fabric Toolbox, and MIDRC wins a 2023 DataWorks Prize.

  7. January 2026

    The SPIE Gold Medal

    In January 2026, SPIE awards her its Gold Medal, the society's highest honor, for work in computer-aided diagnosis and image analysis/AI, its impact on clinical translation, and her support of the next generation of medical-imaging scientists.

  8. As of October 2026

    Distinguished Service Professor at Chicago

    She is the A.N. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of Radiology, Committee on Medical Physics, and the College at the University of Chicago, and vice-chair of radiology for basic science research. She is contact PI on MIDRC, now funded by NIH NIBIB and ARPA-H. Her 2026 papers include a comparison of a chest X-ray AI model with comorbidities for predicting intensive care admission for COVID-19 and a multisociety syllabus for teaching AI in radiology.

Career

  1. Since 1986University of ChicagoResearch associate, Assistant professor
  2. 2018Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation EngineersPresident
  3. 2009–2019Quantitative InsightsCo-founder
  4. 2009American Association of Physicists in MedicinePresident

Education

  1. 1985University of ChicagoPhD in medical physics
  2. 1979University of ExeterMaster's in physics
  3. 1978Illinois Benedictine CollegeDegree in mathematics, physics and health sciences

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Artificial intelligence in cancer imaging: Clinical challenges and applications2019 · CA A Cancer Journal for Clinicians · 1,846 citations
  2. Deep learning in medical imaging and radiation therapy2018 · Medical Physics · 742 citationsWith Ronald M. Summers
  3. Machine Learning in Medical Imaging2018 · Journal of the American College of Radiology · 627 citations
  4. Checklist for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging (CLAIM): 2024 Update2024 · Radiology Artificial Intelligence · 594 citationsWith Anant Madabhushi and Roxana Rose Daneshjou
  5. Digital mammographic tumor classification using transfer learning from deep convolutional neural networks2016 · Journal of medical imaging · 538 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Maryellen Lissak Giger. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Chicago. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Chicago. 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.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Chicago. 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.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. Maryellen Giger – Hagler Institute for Advanced Study hias.tamu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Medical Physicist Maryellen Giger elected to National Academy of Engineering - UChicago Medicine uchicagomedicine.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. From Research to Commercialization: AI Diagnostic Tool Aims to Improve Breast Cancer Diagnosis spie.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Maryellen L. Giger - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Maryellen L. Giger, PhD | Department of Radiology | The University of Chicago radiology.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. RSNA To Collaborate on Open-Source COVID-19 Medical Image Database rsna.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. RSNA 2022 Outstanding Researcher | Department of Radiology | The University of Chicago radiology.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center | National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering nibib.nih.gov. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. SPIE announces its 2026 Society awards | optics.org optics.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Maryellen Giger receives 2026 SPIE Gold Medal | PhD Program in Medical Physics | The University of Chicago medphys.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.