Joseph D. Kalen

Dr. Kalen graduated in 1978 from the State University of New York, Brockport., NY with a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics; he earned his Ph.D. in physics, with an emphasis on nuclear physics at The Ohio State University in 1987.

After receiving his doctorate, Dr. Kalen’s postdoctoral fellowships included: nuclear techniques in material science (1988-1990), nuclear astrophysics (1990-1991), and medical physics (1992-1994). In 1994 he then became a faculty member (Assistant Professor) at the Virginia Commonwealth University (Radiology Department). During his tenure at VCU, he developed and taught several undergraduate and graduate courses on the physics of nuclear medicine, received an American Cancer Society grant for the development of a Positron Emission Mammography system in collaboration with The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Newport News, VA), developed and co-directed the clinical and pre-clinical VCU-Molecular Imaging Center (clinical: 3T MRI and PET/CT, small animal PET, radiochemistry lab, and 16 MV cyclotron), co-investigator on an NCI Nanotechnology Platform grant, and provided physics support to the Nuclear Medicine Division, Radiology Department (directed imaging scanner QC/QA, developed image analysis tools, and internal dosimetry calculations).

Dr. Kalen joined Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research at Frederick, Maryland, in 2007 as a Senior Principal Scientist and the director of the Small Animal Imaging Program (SAIP) within the Laboratory of Animal Sciences Program (LASP). He oversees the development of immediate and long-range SAIP program plans, directs the day-to-day program research, and chaired the international DICOM working group for small animal imaging to standardize the image format for improving co-clinical studies. Working with collaborators at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute, we have developed and improved quantitative pre-clinical imaging for the detection and monitoring of cancer therapeutics. To date, he has published over 20 journal articles and a book chapter.