A University of Virginia professor at the forefront of MRI technology is the recipient of a career-spanning award from the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Craig Meyer, a professor of biomedical engineering in UVA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and radiology and medical imaging in UVA’s School of Medicine, earned the society’s Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honor for lifetime achievement and impact in the field of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.
The award was presented at the organization’s annual meeting in May, where Meyer was an invited speaker. The honor recognizes his pioneering work in advancing MRI technology — from foundational innovations in image acquisition to ongoing efforts to use MRI in some of medicine’s most challenging tasks.
Meyer’s work with MRI began at Stanford University during the technology’s earliest days, when researchers were still defining how best to capture and reconstruct images from the human body. During that formative period, he was part of a generation who reimagined how MRI data could be used, improving image quality, and increasing the speed and efficiency of scanning.
“Craig is a leader in MRI research to this day and the number of people whose lives are saved or dramatically improved because of his work is incalculable,” said Shayn Peirce-Cottler, chair of UVA’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.
At UVA, he is exploring how advanced acquisition strategies can be applied to problems that have long challenged conventional MRI techniques.
One such challenge is imaging the lungs — an area historically difficult for MRI due to low signal and constant motion from breathing. Meyer’s current research focuses on refining fast acquisition methods, including spiral-based approaches that he helped develop, to capture high-quality images under these conditions.
By improving the ability to image pulmonary structure and function non-invasively, this work has the potential to expand MRI’s role in diagnosing and monitoring respiratory disease.
He’s also making a difference as a co-founder of Springbok Analytics with fellow biomedical engineering professor Silvia Blemker. The UVA Engineering-spinout company uses proprietary artificial intelligence-based analysis of MRI images to improve muscle health for athletic performance, therapy and treatment of disorders such as facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a common form of muscular dystrophy.
Meyer’s ongoing work reflects a broader theme from his career: translating theoretical advances in physics and engineering into practical tools that improve how clinicians see and understand the body.
“Craig’s technical contributions in spiral k-space scanning laid the foundation for future efforts of many researchers and for the translation of spiral methods to clinical imaging on commercial scanners,” said John Mugler, professor of radiology and medical imaging and Meyer’s colleague in UVA’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine cited Meyer for developing and refining new ways to obtain the imaging data, including his work on spiral imaging techniques.
Most are generally familiar with MRI technology: a patient goes into a tube, which scans them using magnets and produces digital images of the body used in medicine. The machines use a strong magnetic field and radio-frequency pulses to excite hydrogen atoms in the body, causing them to emit tiny signals that can be measured and converted into images.
Meyers and others pioneered a spiral sampling method that improved on conventional approaches, which build the image line by line.
“The technique enabled faster scans and opened the door to real-time imaging of dynamic processes, such as a moving image of a beating heart,” Meyer said
Over time, these innovations have become essential tools in both research and clinical MRI, influencing how images are acquired across a wide range of applications.
Meyer is widely recognized for his contributions — which include more than three dozen patents. In addition to the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, he is a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors.
He also first-authored two papers in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine’s 2014 anniversary edition, which featured 30 papers that it said “helped shape our field” selected from all those published during the journal’s first 30 years.
Mugler, writing in support of Meyer’s Gold Medal nomination, summed up his impact: “Craig’s contributions have definitely stood the test of time.”