This profile is part of a series to highlight the researchers who will be honored at a ceremony on Oct. 29 for UNMC’s 2026 Scientist Laureate, Research Leadership, Distinguished Scientist and New Investigator recipients.
Jieqiong Wang, PhD, will receive a New Investigator Award. New Investigator Awards go to outstanding UNMC scientists who in the past year have secured their first independent funding from a national source. New investigators also must demonstrate scholarly activity such as publishing their research and/or presenting their findings at national conventions.
- Name: Jieqiong Wang, PhD
- Title: Assistant professor, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, UNMC College of Medicine
- Joined UNMC: May 2023
- Hometown: Xiangyang, China
Please describe your research focus in three words or less:
- AI
- Medical imaging
- Clinical informatics
Why is research important in the world today?
Medical imaging contains a wealth of information that can help us understand disease, but much of that information remains difficult to fully use in clinical practice. Advances in artificial intelligence now create an opportunity to analyze complex medical data at a scale and level of detail that was previously not possible The integration of AI with medical imaging has the potential to uncover clinically meaningful information, improve disease detection and assessment, and ultimately help clinicians make better-informed decisions.
My research will make a difference because:
I develop AI methods that uncover information hidden in medical images and connect it with clinical outcomes. Rather than using imaging only to identify what disease is present, my work seeks to quantify subtle biological changes, track how disease evolves over time and predict what may happen to individual patients. This approach could enable earlier and more precise detection of disease, provide clinicians with objective measures that complement their expertise and ultimately make medical imaging more useful for personalized patient care.
The best advice I’ve ever received is:
Stay at the table. As long as you remain there, you still have a voice, a chance, and the power to change the outcome.
Three things you may not know about me are:
- I love making plans and creating step-by-step systems (SOPs), not just for work but also for everyday life.
- I enjoy cooking dishes from different cultures and trying to recreate what I discover.
- I love watching women’s volleyball and played the sport throughout high school and college.