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
| 2021 | State of Texas Medical Physicist |
| 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
Intramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Institutional Review Board 5, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2025 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2019 | 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. Brain Image Quality. Invited. Tumor Measurement Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. MD Anderson’s Initial Experiences with Clinical Hyperpolarized Pyruvate Metabolic Imaging. Invited. 13th Annual Metabolism in Cancer Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2024. Imaging Cancer Metabolism with Hyperpolarized MRI. Invited. Trinity University Undergraduate Physics Seminar. San Antonio, Texas, US.
- 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
- Michel KA, Harlan CJ, Walker CM, Merritt ME, Chen Y, Lai SY, Bankson JA. Pharmacokinetic modeling strategies for dynamic hyperpolarized urea imaging. Magn Reson Med, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 41077903.
- Punwani, S, Larson, PE, Laustsen, C, VanderMeulen, J, Ardenkjaer-Larsen, JH, Autry, AW, Bankson, JA, Bernard, JM, Bok, RA, Bertelsen, LB, Che, J, Chen, AP, Chowdhury, R, Comment, A, Cunningham, CH, Dang, D, Gallagher, FA, Gaunt, A, Gong, Y, Gordon, JW, Grimmer, A, Grist, J, Hansen, ES, Lerche, MH, Hesketh, RL, Hoevener, JB, Hsieh, CY, Keshari, KR, Kozerke, S, Lanz, T, Mayer, D, McLean, M, Park, JM, Slater, JB, Tyler, DJ, Vanderheyden, JL, von Morze, C, Zaccagna, F, Zaha, V, Xu, D, Vigneron, DB, Bertelsen, LB, Bøgh, N, Hansen, ES, Laustsen, C, Miller, J, Vaeggemose, M, Steinhauser, J, Hsieh, CY, Walker, CM. Consensus recommendations for hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI multi-center human studies. Magnetic resonance in medicine 94(4):1386-1400, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40523079.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 December 11, 2025