PhD in Imaging Science

The PhD program in imaging science at Washington University in St. Louis is one of only two such programs in the U.S. and offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that focuses on the technology of imaging with applications ranging from cancer diagnosis and neuroimaging to advanced microscopy to augmented reality.

This interdisciplinary program brings together expert faculty from the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine to provide students the freedom and flexibility to learn from leading imaging experts and engage in impactful research. This emerging academic discipline broadly addresses the design and optimization of imaging systems and the extraction of information from images.

PhD application deadline: Dec. 15 Start your application today

Imaging science research news

Researchers in Chao Zhou’s lab used cardiac optogenetics to study arrhythmia and its impact on the brain noninvasively. Using highly sensitive imaging in a mouse model, they found that arrhythmia in a mouse heart alters oxygen concentration in the brain during and after arrhythmia. (Credit: Zhou lab using Manus AI)

Light, genetics provide insight into arrhythmia’s effects on brain

Chao Zhou’s lab induces on-demand arrhythmia in mouse model using light.

06.03.2026

Research by Elena Gracheva in Chao Zhou's lab used optical coherence microscopy to image the heart tube, or cardiovascular system, of a fruit fly model of a rare human disease. (From top left) These images show a heart tube with the gene removed; one of a normal fruit fly; one with the human TREX1 gene; and one with a mutated human TREX1 gene. (Credit: Elena Gracheva)

Fruit fly model provides inside look into progression of rare human disease

Elena Gracheva in Chao Zhou’s lab uses optical coherence microscopy to monitor disease progression in fruit fly cardiovascular system.

03.31.2026

Song Hu and his collaborators have developed super-resolution functional photoacoustic microscopy (SR-fPAM), which allows researchers to image blood flow and oxygenation at single-cell resolution in the mouse brain. It bridges a critical gap in functional microvascular imaging and could provide new insight into microvascular health and disease, such as stroke, vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. (Credit: Song Hu, created with Manus)

Functional photoacoustic microscopy reaches super-resolution by tracking red blood cells

New tool developed in Song Hu’s lab may advance understanding of cerebral small vessel disease.

03.03.2026

Imaging Science by the numbers

73

PhD students

125

Years leading in the technology and advancement of imaging science

61

Full-time faculty

Get an inside look at our imaging science labs and facilities:

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A multidisciplinary team at WashU has found an innovative way to use photoacoustic imaging to diagnose ovarian tumors.

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Get a glimpse of the Medical Campus of Washington University in St. Louis

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Take a look at inside the lab of Matthew Lew

Student profiles

Aahana Bajracharya

Aahana Bajracharya

Sneha Das Gupta

Sneha Das Gupta

Katie Duncan

Katie Duncan

Rosie Dutt

Rosie Dutt

Wiete Fehner

Wiete Fehner

Yuanxin Qiu

Yuanxin Qiu

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