Dr. Michael McNitt-Gray's research focuses on the use of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) imaging physics and advanced computer processing techniques for the early detection and characterization of disease. The CT imaging physics studies include methods to assess and improve the image quality of CT images as well as methods to accurately assess the radiation dose from CT imaging. The image processing studies include methods to automatically identify normal and pathological regions within an image as well as methods to identify characteristics from the image data that will help identify whether suspicious objects identified within the image are cancerous or not. If methods can be developed to distinguish cancers from benign structures based on image characteristics, then more invasive and expensive diagnostic tests can be avoided or reduced.