Norbert Pelc Awarded the 2026 SPIE Harrison H. Barrett Award in Medical Imaging
Norbert Pelc, Sc.D., Professor Emeritus of Radiology and Boston Scientific Applied Biomedical Engineering Professor, was awarded the 2026 Harrison H. Barrett Award in Medical Imaging by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.
This award recognizes Dr. Pelc’s enormous contributions to the fields of X-ray, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) throughout his career. His achievements directly impacted clinical care and pushed the boundaries of medical imaging research, while inspiring the next generation of scientists and clinicians.
Norbert Pelc, Sc.D.
“[Dr. Pelc’s] career embodies the mission of the Harrison H. Barrett Award: to recognize individuals who unite rigorous image science with tangible benefits to optics and photonics. He has advanced fundamental theory, engineered commercial systems, reduced patient exposure, educated generations of scientists, and strengthened the scholarly forums – especially with SPIE – where our community exchanges ideas. Few contributors match that breadth while maintaining the depth required to change practice rather than merely describe it.”
-Bennett Landman, editor-in-chief of SPIE’s Journal of Medical Imaging
Dr. Pelc received his B.S. in Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Physics from the University of Wisconsin and master’s and doctorate degrees in Medical Radiological Physics from Harvard University. During his time at GE Medical Systems (1978-1990), he improved CT detector calibration methods to enhance CT imaging quality and system reliability, developed the first “bone detail” reconstruction method enabling clearer visualization of fine structures, developed reconstruction algorithms to reduce motion artifacts in abdominal and pelvic CT imaging, and contributed to early single- and dual-energy radiography applications. He played a leading role in the high-level design of the GE CT 8800 and then 9800. This ‘Fanbeam’ CT design dropped scan times from typically 4 minutes to under 10s which enabled CT systems to become widely used in clinical practice. He contributed to the development of GE's MRI systems with work on basic technology and clinical applications, including leading the development of 2D and 3D dynamic ‘cine’ phase contrast MR angiography, helping expand noninvasive vascular imaging capabilities and their clinical applications. He also published formative work that better enabled the separation of fat and water in MR images.
Dr. Pelc first joined Stanford Radiology in 1990 as an Associate Professor of Radiology and, with Gary Glover, developed the Radiological Sciences Laboratory. He was promoted to Professor of Radiology in 1997 and served as Associate Chair of Research in the Department of Radiology (2002-2012). He helped found Stanford's Department of Bioengineering and served as its Chair (2012-2017). During his time at Stanford University, he also held positions including Professor (by courtesy) of Electrical Engineering.
His research has been at the interface of physics, engineering, mathematics and clinical needs of diagnostic imaging. As part of his early work in tomographic imaging, Dr. Pelc developed an algorithm for true three-dimensional image reconstruction directly from generalized projection data sets, allowing imaging systems to better capture and reconstruct volumetric information and improving sensitivity. The principles behind this reconstruction method were later applied to positron emission tomography (PET) and became the foundation for Fully 3D PET - a breakthrough that allowed PET scanners to achieve far higher sensitivity. His research contributions are wide-ranging and encompass methods to improve the information content and quality of CT images while reducing radiation dose through novel system architectures, advanced detectors, and new signal processing methods. He also developed techniques that enable faster, more reliable, and quantitative MR imaging. Most recently, his work has centered on the role of photon-counting X-ray detectors for improved CT imaging.
Norbert Pelc (front row, second from right) is the recipient of the 2026 SPIE Harrison H. Barrett Award in Medical Imaging.
During his career, Dr. Pelc has published over 220 academic journal articles and been awarded 100 US patents. In 2013, he was awarded the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the Edith Quimby Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. In 2016, he was awarded Doctor of Medicine (Honoris Causa) from the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
He served as editor-in-chief of SPIE’s Journal of Medical Imaging in 2018 as well as on the journal’s editorial board (2013-2024). Dr. Pelc is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. He is a fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, of SPIE, of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and fellow of the Council on Cardiovascular Radiology, American Heart Association.
“Dr. Pelc is a luminary in the field of CT and MRI, a prolific inventor, and a mentor to hundreds of scientists and clinician scientists. The SPIE’s Harrison Barrett Award in Medical Imaging is an outstanding recognition of Norbert’s substantial impact on our field. I’m so happy for him.”
-Daniel Ennis, PhD, Professor of Radiology and Division Chief of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory in Stanford Radiology
“I am honored to comment on Prof. Pelc. I first met Norbert in 1978 when he joined GE’s Applied Sciences Laboratory as a colleague engaged in CT research and development, and it was clear from the beginning that his exceptional expertise, intellectual curiosity, unbounded research skills and wide-ranging knowledge base set him worlds above random geniuses! I was fortunate to continue the enormous pleasure of watching Norbert as a Stanford academician, while he inspired dozens of his own and many other students form well-prepared, comprehensive imaging science careers. The SPIE’s Harrison Barrett Award is a wholly-fitting recognition of has vast contributions to crucial clinical technology translation, fundamental biomedical imaging research and the education of generations of young imaging scientists.”
-Gary Glover, PhD, Professor of Radiology
Since fully retiring from Stanford in 2021, Dr. Pelc has continued his work on photon counting CT, written about the early history of computed tomographic imaging, and contributed to academic and professional organizations, all while happily devoting more time to family and friends. He is incredibly humbled to receive this award from SPIE, especially given the prior recipients and since it honors Harrison Barrett, who Dr. Pelc admired, and who unfortunately passed away recently.