Biography
Professor in BioMedical Image, Pattern Recognition, Machine / Deep Learning as Information and Data Analytics at Sorbonne University, and PI at the Paris Brain Institute (Stakeholders: CNRS UMR7225 - French National Center for Scientific Research, Inserm U1127-French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, APHP & Sorbonne University) - INRIA team “Aramis Lab” , my research is mainly focusing on microscopic biomedical image analysis, pattern recognition (including machine & deep learning) and computational integrative pathology.
Dr.habil. (2006) and Ph.D. (1997) at Univ. of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France, M.Sc. (DEA, 1993) at the University of Besançon, France and Engineer's degree (M.Eng. / Dipl.-Ing., 1992) at the “Politehnica” University from Timisoara, Romania, I was Project Manager at General Electric Energy Products - Europe, before joining, in 1999, a chair of Associate Professor at University of Besançon, France with Research Fellowship at the FEMTO-ST Institute (CNRS UMR6174).
From 2009 to 2015, I was Full Professor at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore[1]. From 2005 to 2014, I actively participated to the development (up to the UMI CNRS level in 2007) and the management of the International Joint Research Unit “Image & Pervasive Access Lab” (IPAL) - CNRS UMI2955, being the Director (2008-2014) of this international research venture created with the support of the CNRS, the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the Univ. Grenoble Alpes, in Singapore. Active in scientific collaborations between France and Singapore, I participated to the creation (co-President: 2010-2014) of the R&D committee of the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (FCCS).
In 2012, with my team and under my leadership, we organized the first international medical challenge/benchmark in digital pathology. This challenge, entitled “Mitosis Detection in Breast Cancer Histological Images” (MITOS 2012), was held in the framework of the 21st International Conference on Pattern Recognition - ICPR 2012 (Tsukuba, Japan). After this first success, we organized a second event, in the area of Atypia assessment in Breast Cancer Histological Images (ATYPIA 2014), in the framework of ICPR 2014 (Stockholm, Sweden). These initiatives pathed the way towards a translational digital pathology, on the move now, towards a daily use in routine diagnostic (the first USA FDA approval came out in 2017, in this sense).
From 2018 to 2020, I was the President of the European Society of Digital and Integrative Pathology[2], participating to the creation (2016) and the growth of this academic society. This is a continuation of my consistent involvement in this area, since the early stages of its development (vice-president from 2016 to 2018). In this context, I have been involved in the organization of the European Conference of Digital Pathology in Paris (ECDP 2014) and consistently supporting and participating to ECDP conferences, since.
Between 2014 and 2016, I was a member of the first Executive Board of the University Institute of Health Engineering of the Sorbonne University, being also co-Director and co-initiator of a new B.Sc. Minor, dedicated to Innovation in Public Health. During the same period, I was leading the Cancer Theranostics research team at the Bioimaging Lab, a joint research unit created between Sorbonne University, CNRS and Inserm - CNRS UMR7371, Inserm U1146.
From 2016 to 2018, I was Full Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, being able to attract MICCAI 2020[3] (4-8 Oct. 2020) to Lima, Peru – for the first time in Latin America. I was the general co-chair of this conference. Since 2018, I am also a member of MICCAI (Medical Image Computing & Computer Assisted Intervention) Board of Directors[4].
[1] National University of Singapore (NUS) - top Public university in Asia, ranked #11 in QS Global World Rankings 2021: https://www.topuniversities.com/universities/national-university-singapore-nus
[2] ESDIP- European Society of Digital Integrative Pathology: http://digitalpathologysociety.org
[3] MICCAI 2020 : https://www.miccai2020.org/en/ORGANIZING-COMMITTEE.html
[4] MICCAI Board of Directors : http://www.miccai.org/about-miccai/board-of-directors/