Dimitris Samaras

Dimitris Samaras is a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook University, affiliated with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He leads the Computer Vision Lab and holds adjunct roles in Biomedical Informatics and Radiology. His research focuses on computer vision, machine learning, medical imaging, and computational behavioral sciences, with interdisciplinary collaborations in psychology and neuroscience.

Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science (University of Pennsylvania, 2001), M.S. in Computer Science (Northeastern University, 1994), Diploma in Computer Engineering (University of Patras, Greece, 1992).

Research Interests: Modeling 3D shape and illumination interactions, facial expression analysis, medical image analysis, and applying machine learning to brain imaging. Current funded projects include NIH/NIDA grants, NSF initiatives, and collaborations with institutions like Brookhaven National Lab and Adobe.

Publications: Over 150 peer-reviewed papers in top venues like ICCV, CVPR, and MICCAI, with impactful work on shadow removal, face relighting, and digital pathology. Recent trends emphasize medical AI, generative models, and multimodal interactions.

Awards: SUNY Chancellor’s Award (2018), Dean’s Millionaire’s Club (2016), and multiple NIH/NSF grants. Recognized for contributions to scholarship and creative activities in academia.

Grants & Teams: Leads over $10M in active grants, including projects on AI for penguin population tracking, histopathology image analysis, and robotic assistance. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams in medicine, engineering, and cognitive science.

Labs & Initiatives: Directs the Computer Vision Lab, contributes to the ColdSteel/NSF CVDI-NY SPIR consortium, and co-leads the Sensor and Transportation Security Center with Farmingdale State College.