Srini Tridandapani, M.D., Ph.D., has been named interim chair of the UAB Department of Radiology, effective March 1, 2024. Tridandapani is a professor and the vice chair for Imaging Informatics in the Department of Radiology and the founding director of the Division of Imaging Informatics. He will step into the interim chair role as longtime Radiology Chair Cheri Canon, M.D., transitions to her new roles as president of the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, P.C., and chief physician executive of the UAB Health System. Canon will transition to her new roles effective May 1, 2024.
“I am humbled to be chosen as the interim chair of this great department,” said Tridandapani. “Dr. Canon has cultivated a terrific leadership team and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the continued growth in clinical volume, cutting-edge research and innovation, educational offerings, and global health initiatives for which UAB Radiology is nationally and internationally recognized.”
Tridandapani earned a B.E. degree in electronics and communication engineering from Anna University, Chennai, India, and MSEE and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington, Seattle, both in electrical engineering. After postdoctoral training in computer science at the University of California, Davis, he was an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University, Ames.
Determined to make a direct clinical impact, Tridandapani then earned an M.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he also completed his residency training in Radiology. Moving to Emory University, Atlanta, Tridandapani completed clinical fellowships in cardiothoracic imaging and abdominal imaging. He subsequently earned an MSCR (clinical and translational research) and an MBA from Emory.
Funded by an NIH K23, Tridandapani developed novel gating strategies for optimizing cardiac-computed tomography, which he continues to develop today. As a translational innovator, he co-founded a start-up, Camerad Technologies, which is commercializing a technology to increase quality and patient safety in medical imaging with funding from small business grants from the NSF and NIH.
As a scholar, Tridandapani has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and full-length conference proceedings, secured seven U.S. patents, and has delivered over 75 invited lectures at local, regional, national, and international conferences and institutions of higher learning.
Tridandapani is an associate editor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine and an associate editor of the Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine. He is the chair of the Radiological Society of North America Grant Program Committee, and is a past president of the Radiology Research Alliance of the Association of University Radiologists.
“I am confidant that Dr. Tridandapani’s history of scientific innovation, clinical skill, academic leadership, and dedicated mentorship will help ensure the continued excellence of our Department of Radiology,” said Anupam Agarwal, M.D., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine.
A national search for a permanent Radiology chair will begin in summer 2024.