Paul Pearlman, PhD

Paul Pearlman, Ph.D., serves as the Acting Chief of the Imaging Technology Development Branch (ITDB) within the Cancer Imaging Program (CIP), under the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this capacity, he leads initiatives to foster the development, translation, and clinical adoption of advanced medical imaging instrumentation and technologies for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Dr. Pearlman joined DCTD in 2026. He first joined the NCI in 2013 as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow where he subsequently served as a Program Director and the Lead for Global Health Technology at the NCI Center for Global Health (CGH). He has previously conducted research at Georgia Tech’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Electronic Systems Laboratory, the Image Processing and Analysis Group in the Yale Medical School Department of Diagnostic Radiology, the Image Sciences Institute in the University Medical Center Utrecht Department of Radiology, and in NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. Dr. Pearlman's past research foci include biomedical image analysis, with an emphasis on pathology-driven computer aided diagnosis and treatment planning.

His contributions to federal service and biomedical engineering have been recognized with numerous honors, including several NCI and NIH Director’s Awards, as well as a Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Pearlman is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Education 

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT

M.Phil., Electrical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT

M.S., Electrical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT

B.S.E.E., Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA