Abhijit Chaudhari named director of UC Davis Imaging Research Center

Abhijit Chaudhari, professor in the Department of Radiology, has been appointed permanent director of the UC Davis Imaging Research Center (IRC). Chaudhari is also the director of the UC Davis Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging and a core scientist at the California National Primate Research Center. He has served as interim director of the IRC since 2023.

“Under Dr. Chaudhari’s leadership the IRC is optimizing synergies in translational imaging research across both UC Davis campuses,” said Kim E. Barrett, School of Medicine vice dean for research. “We’re excited to see how the IRC will continue to foster multidisciplinary collaboration, invaluable training opportunities for future scientists and ultimately drive innovations in clinical care and treatments.”

Chaudhari’s research focuses on developing in vivo medical imaging techniques. He uses positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in musculoskeletal and neurological system disorders, including psoriatic arthritis. His work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Psoriasis Foundation.

The IRC’s leadership team also includes:

• Christine Wu Nordahl, IRC associate co-director, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and MIND Institute Beneto Foundation Endowed Chair.
• Audrey Fan, IRC associate co-director, assistant professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering and co-director of the Imaging Core at the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
• Youngkyoo Jung, IRC technical director, professor in the Department of Radiology and chief MRI physicist at UC Davis Health.

About the Imaging Research Center

The IRC was established to support MRI research and to promote modern MRI-based methods in basic science and clinical investigations. Its goal is to improve human health and quality of life by advancing knowledge through imaging studies of the brain and body. The IRC has two locations: the IRC facility in Sacramento and the MRI facility for Integrative Neurosciences in Davis.