Ileana Hancu, Ph.D.

Program Director

Image-Guided Intervention Branch

Dr. Ileana Hancu is a Program Director in the Image Guided Interventions Branch of the Cancer Imaging Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She has completed her PhD in Physics at the University of Pittsburgh (2001) and spent the next 18 years (2001-2018) as a Senior/Principal Scientist at GE's Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. Her research covered imaging technology development (hardware, software and image analytics) for preclinical and clinical use, focusing on oncology and neurology applications. Her work was supported by internal GE funds, as well as by NIH grants; she was a PI for 2 RO1's and one R21, a charter member of NIH's BMIT-B study section (2014 to 2018), and a member of ISMRM's Annual Meeting Planning Committee (2016 to 2018). Prior to coming to NCI, Dr. Hancu served as a Scientific Review officer in the Surgical Sciences, Biomedical Imaging, and Biomedical (SBIB) Integrated Review Group at the Center for Scientific Review, leading the Image Guided Interventions and Surgery (IGIS) study section (2018-2021). Starting in 2022, she has transitioned into the role of Program Director in NCI's Cancer Imaging Program. Dr. Hancu has a wide-ranging basic, translational, and clinical research experience in Imaging Sciences.