SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING AND IMAGING INSTITUTE
at the University of Utah

An internationally recognized leader in visualization, scientific computing, and image analysis

Dr. Penny Atkins

Dr. Penny Atkins - Director, Research and Science

Adjunct Assistant Professor - School of Computing
WEB 3853
phone 801-895-4957
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supervisor Dr. Manish Parashar
Personal Home Page

Background

After completing my BS in Industrial Engineering (Montana State University, 2009), I worked at the Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation at the Idaho National Lab for four years before pursuing my PhD in Bioengineering (University of Utah, 2018). After defending, I accepted a post-doctoral fellowship in Switzerland (ETH Zurich). In late 2020, I returned to the University of Utah as a research associate within the SCI Institute and Department of Orthopaedics. With the launch of the One Utah Data Science Hub in 2022, I took on a research development role as the associate director and am now working to support the One Utah Responsible AI Initiative (One-U RAI) at SCI.

Current Responsibilities

Developing, organizing, and overseeing the overarching research and science strategy at the SCI Institute, including for the new campus-wide strategic research initiative on responsible AI. The One-U RAI aims to advance AI and its applications in ways that achieve societal good while also protecting privacy, civil rights, and liberties, and promoting principles of accountability, transparency, and equity. s

Research Interests

As a PhD student, I investigated the relationship between shape and function with respect to morphological abnormalities of the hip joint. Herein, I incorporated experimental collection of CT and MRI imaging data and combined dual-fluoroscopy and skin marker motion capture for measurement of kinematic and kinetic data in combination with computational techniques of statistical shape modeling, finite element analysis, and model-based tracking of dual fluoroscopy images. As a post-doc, I evaluated fracture healing through the quantification of bone resorption and formation through image registration and analysis methods, while also evaluating the relationship between microstructure and remodeling. As part of this, I coordinated clinical studies at Medical University of Innsbruck and University of Bern in the acquisition of time-lapsed high-resolution CT imaging data and blood samples. After returning to Utah, I worked with the development teams for ShapeWorks and FEBio to expand functionality for new use cases and improving ease of use. I also implemented statistical analysis methods to evaluate spatially and temporally varying surface-based feature data relative to morphological variation captured through statistical shape modeling.