Biography

Dennis Atkinson is the Director of Corporate Research Advancement within the Vice Provost Office at the University of Southern California (USC). This office oversees a large and growing research community at USC that includes world-class Schools of Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Business, schools that have prominence nationall and internationally.

Prior to joining USC, Atkinson served as Manager at General Electric Healthcare, where he was a scientific member of their famed Applied Science Laboratory and directed sponsored research in the Western United States with GE's academic partners such as Stanford, UCLA, UCSD, U-Washington, UCSF, UC Berekeley, Barrows Neurological Institute and USC. Earlier, he was Manager of Research Collaborations for Siemens Medical Systems across the US. In 20+ years a medical imaging physicist, Atkinson has contributed to development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and MR Spectroscopy (MRS). His work has lead to breakthroughs in high speed imaging, MRI Microscopy, molecular and perfusion imaging and cancer treatment monitoring - work that has resulted in over 50 publications and hundreds of scientific presentations.

He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from General Motors Institute (Flint, MI) and an M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.