Medical Imaging Best Paper Awards

See the best and brightest minds acknowledged for their contributions

Award information

SPIE Medical Imaging annually hosts best poster presentation awards. Some conferences offer best student paper awards with cash prizes supported by the generosity of our sponsors. Entrants are judged by a committee of SPIE volunteers and winners are announced at the event.

We applaud your participation.

Review the criteria and nomination information below. We encourage your participation.

Recipients of awards at SPIE Medical Imaging

A listing of award winners and their research


SPIE annually hosts the Best Student Poster presentation contests, with certificates awarded. Some conferences host Best Student Paper Awards with cash prizes supported by the generosity of our sponsors. Entrants are judged by a committee of SPIE volunteers, and winners are announced onsite. View the 2023 winners and their research.

Robert F. Wagner All-Conference Best Student Paper Award Winners


The Robert F. Wagner All Conference Best Student Paper Award (established 2014) is an acknowledgement of his many important contributions to the Medical Imaging meeting and his many important advances in the field of medical imaging. 

  • The 2023 Robert F. Wagner All Conference Best Student Paper Award winner is Shang Gao, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12466-8: Laparoscopic photoacoustic imaging system integrated with the da Vinci Surgical System

  • The 2023 Robert F. Wagner All Conference Best Student Paper Award runner-up is Chengzhu Zhang, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12463-146: A new method to experimentally measure patient-specific and local Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) from a single CT data acquisition

Award sponsors:

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Physics of Medical Imaging Student Paper Award Winners


The Physics of Medical Imaging conference features a paper award specifically to recognize outstanding papers in development and application of medical imaging and diagnosis. Lead author on a paper currently accepted into the Physics of Medical Imaging conference (Conference 12463),  are eligible for consideration for this award.

  • The Physics of Medical Imaging Best Paper Award winner is Zitong Yu, Washington Univ. in St. Louis (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12463-53: Development and observer-study-based evaluation of a physics- and deep learning-based transmission-less attenuation compensation for myocardial perfusion SPECT
  • The Physics of Medical Imaging Best Paper Award runner-up is Chengzhu Zhang, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12463-146: Reconstruction of local noise power spectrum from a single CT data acquisition
  • The Physics of Medical Imaging Best Paper Award runner-up is Khadijat Kokumo, Northwestern Univ. (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12463-20: Theoretical basis and experimental validation of harmonic coherence-based ultrasound imaging for breast mass diagnosis


Award sponsors: 

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Image Processing Student Paper Award Winner


This student paper award is a prize awarded to the first authors of high-quality papers within the Image Processing conference (Conference 12464).
  • The 2023 Image Processing best student paper award winner is Soorena Salari, Concordia Univ. (Cananda)
    SPIE Paper 12464-35: Uncertainty-aware transformer model for anatomical landmark detection in paraspinal muscle MRIs
  • The 2023 Image Processing best student paper award runner-up is Zhangxing Bian, Johns Hopkins Univ. (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12464-20: FastCod: fast brain connectivity in diffusion imaging


Award sponsor:

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Computer-Aided Diagnosis Best Paper and Live Demonstrations Award Winners


The Computer-Aided Diagnosis conference is features a paper award specifically dedicated to recognize outstanding papers in development and application of computer-aided detection and diagnosis (CAD) systems in medical imaging. Lead authors on a paper currently accepted into the Computer-Aided Diagnosis conference (Conference 12465) are eligible for consideration for this award.

  • The Computer-Aided Diagnosis Best Paper Award First Place winner is Carolus H. J. Kusters, Technische Univ. Eindhoven (The Netherlands)
    SPIE Paper 12465-58: Real-time Barrett’s neoplasia characterization in NBI videos using an int8-based quantized neural network

  • The Computer-Aided Diagnosis Best Paper Award runner-up is Mena Shenouda, The Univ. of Chicago (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12465-13: Assessing robustness of a deep-learning model for COVID-19 classification on chest radiographs

  • Computer-Aided Diagnosis Live Demonstrations Award First Place is Magnus Dustler, Hanna Tomic, Anna Bjerkén, Anders Tingberg, Pontus Timberg, Sophia Zackrisson, Arthur C. Costa, João P.V. Teixeira, Bruno Barufaldi, and Predrag R. Bakic, Federal University of Paraiba, (Brazil), University of Pennsylvania (United States)

  • Computer-Aided Diagnosis Live Demonstrations Award runner-up is Chris Papenfuß, Jan-Martin Kuhnigk, Lennart Tautz, Matthias Ivantsits, Lars Walczak, Markus Hüllebrand, Serdar Arkansel, Jörg Kempfert, Simon Sündermann, Volkmar Falk, and Anja Hennemuth, Data experts gmbh, Berlin; Fraunhofer MEVIS, Bremen; Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, Berlin (Germany)




Award sponsor: 

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Young Scientist Award: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Winner


The Young Scientist Award is awarded to the first authors of high-quality papers within the Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling conference (Conference 12466).

  • The Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Young Scientist Award winner is Yubo Fan, Vanderbilt Univ. (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12466-50: Temporal bone CT synthesis for MR-only cochlear implant preoperative planning



Award sponsor: 

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Student Paper Award: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Winner


This Student Paper Award is specifically dedicated to recognizing outstanding papers in the area of surgical robotics and related topics. Undergraduate or graduate students who are also lead authors on a paper focused on robot-assisted interventions or related applications, were eligible for consideration.  The Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling conference (Conference 12466

  • Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Student Paper Award winner is Tara Kemper, Western Univ. (United States)
    SPIE Paper 12466-5: Open source video-based hand-eye calibration



    Award sponsor: 

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    Cum Laude and Honorable Mention Poster Award Winners


    Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Poster Award

    Cum Laude Poster Award Winner

    • Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Poster Award - Cum Laude First Place is Wennan Zhao/William Higgins, The Pennsylvania State Univ. (United States)
      SPIE Paper 12466-56: Image-guided radial-probe EBUS bronchoscopy system: live study validation

    Honorable Mention Poster Award Winner

    • Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling Poster Award - Hon. Mention Second Place is Tanmay Mukherjee, Texas A&M Univ. (United States)
      SPIE Paper 12466-59: Volumetric versus distortional deformation in rat lung

    Award Sponsor:

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