MedVIC Lab

Join MedVIC Lab ​

MedVIC recruits researchers who want to do serious work at the intersection of machine learning, geometry, and medicine. We are a methods lab — we don't just apply existing tools to new datasets. We build new tools. That's what makes this environment challenging and rewarding.

PhD Students ​

MedVIC recruits PhD students through the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah. Apply to the KSoC PhD program first — then indicate interest in working with Prof. Elhabian in your application and reach out by email.

What we look for:

  • Solid mathematical foundations in machine learning, computer vision, or scientific computing
  • Genuine intellectual curiosity about at least one of our research themes: geometry-aware representation, uncertainty-aware learning, or generative AI for biomedical data
  • Programming skills in Python and experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch)
  • Prior experience with medical imaging is not required
  • Intellectual honesty, comfort with mathematical formalism, and willingness to do hard things

Funding: PhD students are typically funded as RAs on active grants. See Research for our current portfolio.

📧 Email shireen@sci.utah.edu with your CV, a brief statement of research interests, and explain specifically why MedVIC's work interests you. Emails that demonstrate familiarity with our research are much more likely to receive a response.

MS Students ​

MS students typically join through project-based funding tied to active grants. If you are already admitted to the Kahlert School of Computing MS program and are interested in working with MedVIC, reach out with your background and the specific research area you're drawn to.

Postdoctoral Researchers ​

Postdoctoral positions are tied to specific funded projects and become available periodically. Candidates with strong publication records in machine learning, computer vision, geometric deep learning, or medical image analysis are encouraged to reach out even when no position is formally advertised. We value researchers who can bridge methodological innovation and clinical translation.

Visiting Researchers and Collaborators ​

We welcome visiting scholars and are genuinely interested in new research collaborations — particularly with groups in biomedical engineering, clinical medicine, pathology, radiology, and computational biology.

For clinical collaborators: if you have a dataset and a clinical question, we are interested in conversations that could become grant-funded projects. Several of our most productive collaborations started as informal conversations. Email Prof. Elhabian directly.

What to Expect ​

Working in MedVIC means:

  • Weekly lab meetings that are dense with ideas. We present work-in-progress honestly, debate methodology seriously, and hold each other to high standards.
  • Real systems that run on real data. We don't measure success by papers alone — we measure it by tools that people outside the lab use.
  • Broad reading. We expect students to follow the literature across ML, CV, and medical imaging, not just their specific project area.
  • Genuine mentorship. Prof. Elhabian is involved in research at a technical level, not just administratively. Students get substantive feedback on their work.
  • Clear paths. Our alumni have gone to top industry research positions, clinical settings, and tenure-track faculty roles. We help you prepare for whichever direction fits you.

Current Openings ​

Positions are currently available on the following funded projects:

  • ARPA-H MAGIC-SCAN — Intraoperative AI imaging (PhD level)
  • NIH-NIBIB ShapeWorks 2.0 — Population-scale shape modeling methods (PhD level)
  • NIH-NIDCR CranioRate — Clinical deployment and AI severity scoring (RSE or PhD level)

📧 Contact: shireen@sci.utah.edu

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