The Graduate College honors Sajan Lingala with the Rex Montgomery Dissertation Prize, which is awarded annually in the biomedical and health sciences disciplines. Lingala, who earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering in 2013, was nominated by members of his dissertation committee and will be honored during a ceremony at the James F. Jakobsen Graduate Conference in March 2016.

Lingala’s dissertation, “Novel Adaptive Reconstruction Schemes for Accelerated Myocardial Perfusion MRI,” addresses fundamental slow imaging speed limitations of MRI, and provides tools for rapid MRI technology.

While an MRI is a non-invasive procedure, traditionally it has also been slow and complicated, which greatly limits its clinical translational value for a cardiac workup. The rapid MRI tools in Lingala’s dissertation positively impact diagnosis and treatment selection for coronary artery disease, which is associated with many types of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

According to the latest heart and stroke statistics from the American Heart Association, CVD is the leading global cause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year.

Lingala’s dissertation develops advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to improve the sensitivity and specificity of myocardial perfusion MRI. Myocardial perfusion MRI is a promising tool to identify cardiac muscle tissues that are “at risk” by measuring the underlying blood flow.

Lingala is working as a postdoctoral research associate in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California.