Giang-Chau Ngo, Bioengineering Ph.D. student, earns fellowship

7/8/2013 August Cassens, Beckman Institute

Giang-Chau Ngo, Bioengineering Ph.D. student, earns fellowship

Written by August Cassens, Beckman Institute

Giang-Chau Ngo
Giang-Chau Ngo
Giang-Chau Ngo
Giang-Chau Ngo has been awarded the Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowship for Fall 2013. She will be conducting research with Brad Sutton, associate professor in bioengineering, and focusing her efforts on the advancement of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Her current work aims to understand the impact of field inhomogeneity on MRI image acquisition and develop a correction method. She plans to work on the design of a pulse sequence fMRI acquisition that will not be influenced by susceptibility differences in the brain. “This will provide a uniform way to address artifacts across subjects and fMRI studies and create a more robust and sensitive brain imaging technique to move toward the grand challenge of understanding how the brain works,” Ngo said.

Ngo is pursuing a Ph.D. in bioengineering at Illinois. She received a master’s in engineering science from Ecole Centrale de Lille in France and a master’s in medical diagnostics from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.

“My desire to work as an engineer in the medical field magnified as I progressed through my studies. Beckman proposes numerous exciting research projects in the field of medical imaging. My first semester allowed me to explore these projects and ultimately I decide to work on MRI. I am honored to be involved in Dr. Sutton’s lab.”

Two Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowships have been available each year since 2011. They are awarded to female engineering graduate students who are conducting research in medical imaging at the Beckman Institute.

The fellowship was established by Andrew Webb, Nadine Barrie Smith’s husband, in honor of her life and achievements. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Illinois in 1985 and went on to become an internationally renowned researcher in the field of therapeutic ultrasound and noninvasive drug delivery. She also was a tireless supporter of promoting the role of women in engineering and science.


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This story was published July 8, 2013.