Dual Energy CT/Low Dose Contrast

Z. Jane Wang, MD, received her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University, and her medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School. She completed her residency training in Diagnostic Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, during which time she also served as a Chief Resident from 2006-2007. Dr. Wang subsequently completed a fellowship in Abdominal Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Wang’s research interests primarily focus on identification of novel imaging techniques and their development into practical and clinically useful diagnostic tools, with a particular emphasis on renal tumors and diffuse renal disease. One of Dr. Wang’s current research endeavor is to use hyperpolarized 13C MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to assess renal tumor aggressiveness. She has also been studying functional imaging using MR and CT of diffuse renal disease. She is the recipient of several grants, including Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program Concept Award, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Scholar Grant, and RSNA Fellow Grant.

Dr. Wang has been invited to lecture on various topics in Abdominal Imaging at multiple radiology societies, including the Abdominal Radiology Course (Joint Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists and Society of Uroradiology), American Roentgen Ray Society Meeting, as well as internationally at the Asian-Oceanian Congress of Radiology, and the Brazilian Congress of Radiology.

Michael Ohliger, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Ohliger obtained his PhD in Medical Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology in 2005, and he received his MD in Medicine from Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2007. He completed his residency in Diagnostic Radiology from UCSF in 2012, followed by a fellowship in Abdominal Imaging from UCSF in 2013. He accepted the position of Assistant Professor in Residence at UCSF and SFGH, in July 2013.

Dr. Ohliger’s main research interest is the development and clinical translation of new MRI techniques for the abdomen and pelvis, with a focus on molecular imaging with hyperpolarized carbon-13 compounds. He is also interested in providing his expertise in developing new technology for patients with applications to liver, kidney, and prostate cancer. Dr. Ohliger has projects using diffusion tractography to help visualize the prostate capsule and plan to explore the application of new techniques such as (arterial spin labeling) using MRI’s to measure perfusion without intravenous contrast.

Dr. Ohliger has 13 published articles and he has written 18 peer-reviewed articles and 12 abstracts.

Current research goals involve in-depth testing and assessment for the development of novel contrast materials for CT with a particular focus on dual-energy CT. Research projects include formulating and preparing solutions of contrast material for testing in phantom and animal imaging studies, designing and constructing phantom models, assisting with CT imaging experiments and analyzing results.