Christopher M. Walker, Ph.D.
Department of Imaging Physics, Division of Diagnostic Imaging
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Imaging Physics, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2016 | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Houston, Texas, US, Medical Physics, Ph.D |
| 2010 | Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, US, Physics, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2016-2020 | Clinical Fellowship, Medical Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2020 | American Board of Radiology Diagnostic Medical Physics |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2020
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Director, Imaging Physics Residency Program, Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, 2023 - Present
Assistant Professor, Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2020 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2019 - Present | Chief Resident MD Anderson Residency in Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2019 | NSF Life Science I-Cops Regional Program, NSF |
| 2017 | MD Anderson Cancer Center Trainee Research Day 3rd Place Presentation, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2016 | Diagnostic Imaging Trainee Research Symposium 1st Place Presentation, The University Of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 - 2016 | Julia Jones Matthews Cancer Research scholar, Graduate School of Biomedical Science |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2024. Imaging Cancer Metabolism with Hyperpolarized MRI. Invited. Trinity University Undergraduate Physics Seminar. San Antonio, Texas, US.
- 2024. Brain Image Quality. Invited. Tumor Measurement Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2022. Spine Artifacts in MRI. Conference. Spine Artifacts in MRI, US.
National Presentations
- 2024. QA Aspects of MRI for Stereotactic Radio Surgery. Invited. Southwest Chapter Meeting of the American Association of Physics In Medicine. Tulsa, OK, US.
International Presentations
- 2023. MR Harmonization and QA workshop: Insights from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Invited. Centre National Imaging Facility Scientific Symposium. Melbourne, AU.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2022 - 2028 |
| Title: | Leveraging Hyperpolarized MRI for Precision Oncology Approaches in Head and Neck Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 5R01CA280980-03 |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Lai, SY, Sandulache, VC, Schellingerhout, D, Fuller, C, Chen, Y, Walker, CM, Bankson, JA. First-in-Human Hyperpolarized MRI for Tumor Metabolism in HNSCC. JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 150(7):628-630, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38780963.
- Jha, PK, Walker, CM, Mitchell, D, Oden, JT, Schellingerhout, D, Bankson, JA, Fuentes, DA. Mutual-information based optimal experimental design for hyperpolarized 13 C-pyruvate MRI. Scientific reports 13(1), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37872226.
- Xu Z, Michel KA, Walker, CM, Harlan CJ, Martinez GV, Gordon JW, Chen HY, Vigneron DB, Bankson JA. Model-constrained reconstruction accelerated with Fourier-based undersampling for hyperpolarized [1-13 C] pyruvate imaging. Magn Reson Med 89(4):1481-1495, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36468638.
- Harlan CJ, Xu Z, Walker, CM, Michel KA, Reed GD, Bankson JA. The effect of transmit B1 inhomogeneity on hyperpolarized [1-13 C]-pyruvate metabolic MR imaging biomarkers. Med Phys 48(9):4900-4908, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34287945.
- Michel KA, Ragavan M, Walker, CM, Merritt ME, Lai SY, Bankson JA. Comparison of selective excitation and multi-echo chemical shift encoding for imaging of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate. J Magn Reson 325:106927, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33607386.
- Xu Z, Niedzielski JS, Sun C, Walker, CM, Michel KA, Einstein SA, Martinez GV, Bankson JA. Correction and optimization of symmetric echo-planar spectroscopic imaging for hyperpolarized [1-13C]-pyruvate. J Magn Reson 321:106859, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33160268.
- Walker, CM, Gordon JW, Xu Z, Michel KA, Li L, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, Bankson JA. Slice profile effects on quantitative analysis of hyperpolarized pyruvate. NMR Biomed 33(10):e4373, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32743881.
- Harlan CJ, Xu Z, Michel KA, Walker, CM, Lokugama SD, Martinez GV, Pagel MD, Bankson JA. Technical Note: A deuterated (13) C-urea reference for clinical multiparametric MRI prostate cancer studies including hyperpolarized pyruvate. Med Phys 7(7):2931-2936, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32286689.
- Michel KA, Zielinski R, Walker, CM, Le Roux L, Priebe W, Bankson JA, Schellingerhout D. Hyperpolarized Pyruvate MR Spectroscopy Depicts Glycolytic Inhibition in a Mouse Model of Glioma. Radiology 293(1):168-173, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31385757.
- Walker, CM, Fuentes D, Larson PEZ, Kundra V, Vigneron DB, Bankson JA. Effects of excitation angle strategy on quantitative analysis of hyperpolarized pyruvate. Magn Reson Med 81(6):3754-3762, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30793791.
- Bader, DA, Hartig, SM, Putluri, V, Foley, C, Hamilton, MP, Smith, EA, Saha, PK, Panigrahi, A, Walker, CM, Zong, L, Martini-Stoica, H, Chen, R, Rajapakshe, K, Coarfa, C, Sreekumar, A, Mitsiades, N, Bankson, JA, Ittmann, MM, O’Malley, BW, Putluri, N, McGuire, SE. Mitochondrial pyruvate import is a metabolic vulnerability in androgen receptor-driven prostate cancer. Nature Metabolism 1, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31198906.
- Sun CY, Walker, CM, Michel KA, Venkatesan AM, Lai SY, Bankson JA. Influence of parameter accuracy on pharmacokinetic analysis of hyperpolarized pyruvate. Magn Reson Med 79(6):3239-3248, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29090487.
- Walker, CM, Chen Y, Lai SY, Bankson JA. Erratum: "A novel perfused Bloch-McConnell simulator for analyzing the accuracy of dynamic hyperpolarized MRS" [Med. Phys. V43, 854-864(2016)]. Med Phys 44(10):5539, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29027239.
- Walker, CM, Chen, Y, Lai, SY, Bankson, JA. A novel perfused Bloch-McConnell simulator for analyzing the accuracy of dynamic hyperpolarized MRS. Medical Physics 43:854-864, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26843246.
- Walker, CM, Merritt, M, Wang, JX, Bankson, JA. Use of a Multi-compartment Dynamic Single Enzyme Phantom for Studies of Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Agents. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27166971.
- Bankson, JA, Walker, CM, Ramirez, MS, Stefan, W, Fuentes, D, Merritt, ME, Lee, J, Sandulache, VC, Chen, Y, Phan, L, Chou, PC, Rao, A, Yeung, SC, Lee, MH, Schellingerhout, D, Conrad, CA, Malloy, C, Sherry, AD, Lai, SY, Hazle, JD. Kinetic Modeling and Constrained Reconstruction of Hyperpolarized [1-13C]-Pyruvate Offers Improved Metabolic Imaging of Tumors. Cancer Research 75:4708-4717, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26420214.
- Ramirez, MS, Lee, J, Walker, CM, Chen, Y, Kingsley, CV, Cerda DL, J, Maldonado, KL, Lai, SY, Bankson, JA. Feasibility of multianimal hyperpolarized (13) C MRS. Magnetic Resonance Medical 73:1726-1732, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 24903532.
- Lee, J, Ramirez, MS, Walker, CM, Chen, Y, Yi, S, Sandulache, VC, Lai, SY, Bankson, JA. High-throughput hyperpolarized (13)C metabolic investigations using a multi-channel acquisition system. Journal of Magnetic Resonance 260:20-27, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26397217.
- Ramirez, MS, Lee, J, Walker, CM, Sandulache, VC, Hennel, F, Lai, SY, Bankson, JA. Radial spectroscopic MRI of hyperpolarized [1-(13) C] pyruvate at 7 tesla. Magnetic Resonance Medical 72:986-995, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24186845.
- Sandulache, VC, Chen, Y, Lee, J, Rubinstein, A, Ramirez, MS, Skinner, HD, Walker, CM, Williams, MD, Tailor, R, Court, LE, Bankson, JA, Lai, SY. Evaluation of hyperpolarized [1-(1)(3)C]-pyruvate by magnetic resonance to detect ionizing radiation effects in real time. PLoS One 9 e87031, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24475215.
- Walker, CM, Lee, J, Ramirez, MS, Schellingerhout, D, Millward, S, Bankson, JA. A catalyzing phantom for reproducible dynamic conversion of hyperpolarized [1-(1)(3)C]-pyruvate. PLoS One 8, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23977006.
- Fuentes, D, Walker, C, Elliott, A, Shetty, A, Hazle, JD, Stafford, RJ. Magnetic resonance temperature imaging validation of a bioheat transfer model for laser-induced thermal therapy. Int J Hyperthermia(27):453-464, 2011. e-Pub 2011.
- Shkumat, NA, Springer, A, Walker, CM, Rohren, EM, Yang, WT, Adrada, BE, Arribas, E, Carkaci, S, Chuang, HH, Santiago, L, Mawlawi, OR. Investigating the limit of detectability of a positron emission mammography device: a phantom study. Medical Physics 38:5176-5185, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21978062.
Abstracts
- McCullum, Ahmad, Johnson, Walker, Yung. The Use of Quantitative Metrics and Machine Learning to Predict Radiologist Interpretations of Image Quality and Artifacts. ISMRM, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Walker, He, Xu Z, Michel, Martinez, Harlan, Mohamed, Fuller, Lai, Bankson. Incorporating DCE Derived Perfusion Terms to Inform Fitting if Hyperpolarized Pyruvate Metabolism in a Human Thyroid Tumor. ISMRM, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Walker, Yung JP, Hwang K, Stafford R, M Venkatesan AA. Development and Optimization of Multiparametric MRI for Bladder Cancer: Opportunities for Standardization and Quality Improvement. RSNA, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Sanders, Liu, Krafft, Mackin, Stafford, Walker, Hou. Improving Image Quality of Framed Gamma Knife Treatment Planning MRI with Flexible Array Coils. AAPM, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Sanders, Stafford, Walker. Quantifying the Influence of a Vendor DL Reconstruction Algorithm On MR Image Quality. AAPM, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Walker, Michel, Harlan, Xu, Martinez, Schellingerhout, Bankson. Flow Effects on Spatial Spectral Excitation of Hyperpolarized Agents. ISMRM, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Michel, Walker, Lai, Merritt, Bankson. Pharmacokinetic Modeling for Hyperpolarized MRI of 13C Urea. AAPM, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Walker, Stafford J, Yung J, Wood J, Hou P, Taylor B, Briere T, Krafft S, Mackin D. MRI Protocol Analysis Tool for Stereotactic Brain Radiotherapy Quality Assurance. SIIM, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Bankson, Fuentes, Jha, Köppl, Oden, Wagner, Walker CM, Wohlmuth. Model selection and optimal experiment design for HP MRI experiments. IMECE, 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Walker, Xu, Michel, Martinez, Harlan, Gordon, Bankson. Imaging Treatment Response with Hyperpolarized Pyruvate in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma. ISMRM, 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Xu, Walker, Harlan, Michel, Martinez, Bankson. Constrained UNFOLD (CoUNFOLD)-a New Constrained Reconstruction for Hyperpolarized 13C Pyruvate Imaging. ISMRM, 2021. e-Pub 2021.
- Harlan, Xu, Michel, Walker, Lokugama, Pagel, Bankson. A Deuterated 13C-Urea Reference to Eliminate 1H Imaging Artifacts in Hyperpolarized 13C MRI Studies. ISMRM, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Bankson, Michel, Xu, Martinez, Walker. The filtering effect of signal excitations on hyperpolarized imaging agents. ISMRM, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Xu, Niedzielski, Michel, Walker, Einstein, Bankson. Symmetry Preserved Rectilinear Transform (SPRT): Optimized Reconstruction of Echo Planar Spectroscopic Image for Hyperpolarized [1-13C]-Pyruvate. ISMRM, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Walker, Bankson. Multi-Slice Correction for Metabolic Rate Quantification of Hyperpolarized Pyruvate. ISMRM, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Walker, Stafford, Hwang. Metal Artifact Reduction for MRI of a Magnetic Fiducial. AAPM, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Xu, Niedzielski, Michel, Walker, Einstein, Bankson. Symmetry Preserved Rectilinear Transform(SPRT): Optimized Reconstruction of Echo Planar Spectroscopic Image for Hyperpolarized [1-13C]-Pyruvate. ISMRM, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Walker, Bankson. Effects of Non-Ideal Spectral-Spatial Excitation Slice Profile On Quantitative Analysis of Metabolism Using Hyperpolarized Pyruvate. AAPM, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Walker, Bankson. Slice profile induced errors in metabolic quantification of hyperpolarized pyruvate. ISMRM, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Walker, Bankson. Instantaneous Excitation Loss Modeling Can Improve Metabolic Quantification of Hyperpolarized Pyruvate, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Sun, Walker, Michel, Bankson. Effects of Fit Degrees of Freedom on Pharmacokinetic Analysis, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Walker, Bankson. Quantitative Evaluation of Excitation Angle Strategy Effects on Detection Accuracy of Hyperpolarized Pyruvate Metabolism. AAPM, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Michel, Walker, Chen, Delacerda, Lai, Bankson. Simulation of Hyperpolarized Perfusion MRI with a Segmented Snapshot Acquisition, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Walker, Michel, Sun, Zielinski, Priebe, Schellingerhout, Bankson. Combined Hyperpolarized Pyruvate and Lactate as a Proxy for Hyperpolarized Urea to Measure Tissue Perfusion. ISMRM, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Walker, Bankson. Evaluation of Excitation Angle Error Effect on Quantification of Hyperpolarized Pyruvate, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Bankson, Walker, Stefan, Fuentes, Merritt, Chen, Malloy, Sherry, Lai, Hazle. Model-Based Reconstruction of Hyperpolarized [1-13C]-Pyruvate. ISMRM, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Walker, Bankson. A novel Bloch-McConnell simulator for perfused hyperpolarized substrates. ISMRM, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Bankson, Walker, Chen, Lai, Hazle. Metabolic imaging with hyperpolarized [1-13C]-pyruvate and DCE-MRI. AACR, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Walker, Ramirez, Jaehyuk, Bankson. A Multi-Compartment Phantom for Controlled and Heterogeneous Conversion of Hyperpolarized [1-13C]-Pyruvate to Lactate. ISMRM, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Ramirez, Lee, Chen, Walker, Lai, SY, Bankson, JA. Multi Gradient and Spin-Echo Radial Acquisition for Hyperpolarized 13C MRSI. ISMRM, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Walker, Lee, Ramirez, So, Schellingerhout, Bankson. A Single Enzyme Dynamic Hyperpolarized Phantom, 2012. e-Pub 2012.
- Springer, Walker, Shkumat, Mawlawi. Investigating detectability performance of a positron emission mammography system as a function of phantom thickness, 2011. e-Pub 2011.
- Fuentes, Elliott, Shetty, Walker, Stafford. Temperature Imaging Validation of a Bioheat Transfer Model for LITT. ISMRM, 2010. e-Pub 2010.
- Fuentes, Elliott, Shetty, Walker, Stafford. Thermal Image Reconstruction of In Vivo Nanoparticle Concentrations for MR-Guided Laser Induced Thermal Therapy Optimization. ASME, 2010. e-Pub 2010.
- Walker, Hough. Magnetic Fields in Quasar Jets and their Environments, 2008. e-Pub 2008.
- Walker CM, Michel, Merritt, Bankson. Comparison of Selective Excitation and IDEAL for Chemical Shift Imaging of Hyperpolarized [1-13C]Pyruvate. ISMRM.
- Walker CM, Harlan, C., Xu, Z., Michel, K., Reed, G., Bankson, J.. The Effect of Transmit B1 Inhomogeneity on Hyperpolarized [1-13C]-Pyruvate Metabolic MR Imaging Biomarkers. ISMRM.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 30, 2025