Professor Penny Gowland

Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University Nottingham

Penny develops quantitative MRI methods as physiological measurement tools for use in biomedicine, particularly in experimental medicine, across multiple organ systems.

Penny’s work spans applications ranging from monitoring physiological motion in the gastrointestinal tract and placenta to measuring CEST changes in multiple sclerosis.

Currently, Penny is particularly focused on developing methods that exploit the complementary contrast mechanisms of ultrahigh-field MRI (7T and ultimately 11.7T) and low-field 0.5T open MRI Penny has applied ultrahigh-field MRI and fMRI to the study of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Penny has led the development of a range of novel MRI techniques to characterise gastrointestinal function, providing new approaches for studying functional GI disorders. In addition, Penny has used MRI to advance understanding of human placental function and have a strong interest in applying quantitative imaging methods to the study of human development, particularly in the fetus.

Linked to Penny’s work at ultrahigh field and in vulnerable populations, Penny has a longstanding interest in the safety of MRI.

Dr Michael Stecker

Managing Director of MKS Consulting

Michael finished his MSc and PhD at the University of Western Ontario, both in MRI, and an MBA at Cleveland State University. He was an MRI industry scientist for 30 years in various roles including Advanced Technology, Engineering, Marketing, Research & Development. He is now the Managing Director of MKS Consulting.

Michael has been involved in various standards committees for 25+ years, including leadership of the NEMA MR technical committee responsible for the MS-n series of standards, convenor of the committee responsible for the IEC 62464-1 image quality standard, a 20+ year member of the international MR safety committee responsible for IEC 60601-2-33, co-convenor of the Joint Working Group (JWG) responsible for the active implants MRI test methods standard ISO 10974, and an active member of a few ASTM MRI standards pertaining to safety. For his service to the MRI industry, he received the NEMA Röntgen Award in 2023. For his educational contributions to ISMRT he received the 2023 Crues‐Kressel Education Award. His primary interest is MRI safety. He is also an active pilot for over 45 years and attributes his interest in safety to the time he was a flight instructor.

He is on the board of directors for the American Board of MR Safety and is a member various groups developing international MR safety standards. 

Dr Geoff Charles-Edwards

Head of MRI Physics, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Geoff Charles-Edwards has over 25 years experience working in MRI, during which time he has been involved in various MR safety initiatives, including developing a national MRI safety e-learning programme, the IPEM certificate of competence for MR Safety Experts and guidance for MRI scanning of patients with cardiac devices.

He is on the board of directors for the American Board of MR Safety and is a member various groups developing international MR safety standards. 

Miss Rebecca Quest

Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of Magnetic Resonance Physics, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

At Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Rebecca serves as the Trust’s Magnetic Resonance Safety Expert (MRSE). With nearly 30 years’ experience in MRI, she leads MR physics and safety services across North West London, providing practical, patient-centred safety advice to clinical teams. She is a certified and accredited MRSE and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS).

Her work covers the full breadth of clinical MRI physics, from safety governance and service development to equipment commissioning, research and innovation. She is actively involved in teaching and training, contributes to national MR safety initiatives through IPEM, and regularly delivers education to radiology staff and clinical scientists.

Professor Martin Graves

PhD CSci MIET MRCR(Hon) FHEA FIPEM FISMRM FBIR MRSE (MRSC™)

Professor of MR Physics, University of Cambridge & Honorary Consultant Clinical Scientist, Cambridge University Hospitals

Martin Graves is Professor of MR Physics in the Department of Radiology at the University of Cambridge. He received his BSc in Medical Physics and MSc in Medical Electronic from the University of London and his PhD from the University of Cambridge.  

He is a senior Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), the UK Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), the UK Higher Education Academy (HEA) and the British Institute of Radiology (BIR). His awards include Honorary Membership of the UK Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and the 2018 IPEM Academic Gold Medal. He has co-authored over 240 peer-reviewed publications as well as several textbooks including “MRI: From Picture to Proton” (CUP 2003, 2007 and 2016). In 2021 he was honoured to receive the ISMRT Crues-Kressel award for outstanding contributions to Radiographer/Technologist teaching.

He is a member of the American Board of MR safety (ABMRS) where he sits on the MRSE exam committee. His academic interests are in MRI methods development, particularly for cardiovascular MRI and general applications of AI in medical imaging.

Professor Chris Rodgers

University of Cambridge

Chris Rodgers is Professor of Biomedical Imaging at the University of Cambridge, where he leads the 7T MRI physics group. Before that, he read chemistry MChem at Oxford. He then studied the effects of magnetic fields on chemical reactions during his DPhil in Physical Chemistry at Oxford – winning the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry thesis prize. He teaches chemistry at Peterhouse in Cambridge where he is a Bye Fellow.

His Cambridge group focus on clinical translation of 7T MRI technology and on developing novel methods to facilitate that. In the last few years, he has contributed to 7T studies in patients with epilepsy, dementias, rare mitochondrial diseases, stroke, and COVID-19. His method development work includes innovations in algorithms for high-fidelity whole-brain 7T MRI using parallel transmit pulse, in methods to image metabolism non-invasively in the human brain and body, and for the analysis of ultra-high field 7T MRI scans.