Frederick H. Epstein

Fred Epstein is the Mac Wade Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at the University of Virginia, serving as Associate Vice President for Research. His work focuses on cardiac MRI methods, particularly the DENSE (Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes) technology for myocardial strain imaging. He has pioneered accelerated MRI techniques and preclinical mouse models for heart disease. Epstein chairs major scientific committees, including roles in the Society for Cardiovascular MRI and NIH study sections. His lab develops clinical MRI methods used globally.

Education:

• B.S. in Physics (University of Rochester, 1988)
• M.S. in Engineering Physics (University of Virginia, 1990)
• Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (University of Virginia, 1993)
• Post-Doc in Radiology (University of Virginia, 1994)

Research: Epstein’s interests span biomedical imaging, cardiovascular disease, and MRI engineering. His DENSE MRI method enables precise strain analysis and has advanced CRT (Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) programming and obesity-related heart failure studies. Recent work integrates AI for improved strain analysis and fatty acid composition MRI.

Grants/Projects:

• NIH R01 grants for Cine DENSE strain imaging and mouse heart disease modeling
• Collaboration with Siemens Healthineers on free-breathing DENSE MRI

Awards:

• Fellow of ISMRM, AIMBE, and AHA
• Distinguished Investigator Award (Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research)

Labs/Teams: Leads the Epstein Lab at UVA, focusing on translational MRI innovations for cardiac diagnostics and therapy optimization.