Tai To Lead Radiology Research Facilities

Yuan-Chuan Tai, PhD, associate professor of radiology for Mallinckrodt Insitute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been selected to serve as senior vice chair and division director of radiology research facilities starting Jan. 1.

Tai previously served as director of a cyclotron facility in Taiwan and joined the faculty in 2001 as an assistant professor. With more than two decades at MIR, he lends his expertise to support the department’s facilities — from the Cyclotron Facility to PET/CT in humans and small animals. Tai has significant insight into the facilities as a user through his work with the Center for Clinical Imaging Research (CCIR), Cyclotron Facility & Nuclear Pharmacy, and Preclinical Imaging Facility. He also previously led what is now the Precision Radiotheranostics Translation Center (PRTC).

An NIH-funded researcher, Tai leads the Molecular Imaging Physics & Instrumentation Lab, where he develops high-resolution detectors, multi-modal imaging systems and computational algorithms to improve clinical diagnostic accuracy, enable image-guided radiotheranostics and translate advanced imaging technologies for biological and agricultural research.

In 2021, he was honored with the Distinguished Investigator Award by the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research, recognizing his high level of achievement in the imaging research field.

Tai completed his undergraduate studies at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and his graduate studies at University of Texas at Arlington. He went on to University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his doctorate and completed his postdoctoral training.