Joelle K. Barral

Who is Joelle K. Barral?

Joelle completed her Ph.D. dissertation in Electrical Engineering as well as her M.A. thesis in Slavic Languages and Literatures, both at Stanford University, in 2010. Her Ph.D. work aimed at making high-resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) clinically viable: she designed and built new RF arrays, developed pulse sequences to image at high field strengths, and proposed innovative motion-correction algorithms. Her research efforts were applied to skin imaging for patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease or diabetes and larynx imaging, where high-resolution MRI allows the delineation of thyroidal cartilage that is critical for accurate cancer staging and optimal therapy planning. She consulted for several start-ups, including MicroMRI, to visualize bone micro-architecture in osteoporotic patients, and PharmaJet, to deliver vaccines and drugs without needles.

After the fellowship, Dr. Barral joined HeartVista, Inc., a start-up company located in the Bay Area pursuing innovative techniques for cardiovascular MR imaging.