Meet the members of the LaViolette Lab

Peter LaViolette, PhD

Dr. LaViolette himself. Peter is an alum of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Biophysics Department, where he completed his PhD in 2011. Now an Endowed Professor of Radiology, Biophysics, and Biomedical Engineering at MCW. His research focuses on developing radio-pathomic machine learning models using MRI and histology to characterize brain and prostate cancer. He directs the Quantitative Imaging Lab (QIL), supporting cancer clinical trials. Dr. LaViolette has published over 70 papers and been awarded multiple grants from the NIH, industry, and foundations. He received the MCW Olson Professorship in Radiology in 2021. Dr. LaViolette mentors numerous trainees and serves on NIH study sections.

Outside of lab, he likes spending time with his two crazy kids and lots of hobbies including home renovations, wood working, collecting orchids, and traveling.

Allison Lowman

Allie is a Research Associate in the lab and has been with us since 2018. Around the lab she is known for knowing where all data exists, solving most problems, and doing independent projects in the brain. She also is a huge help for the QIL. Outside of the lab she can be found exploring State and National Parks or cheering on all things Wisconsin Badgers.

Fitzgerald Kyereme

Fitz is a Research Technologist in the lab. He joined us in 2020 after completing his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from UW – Milwaukee. Fitz is primarily responsible for digitizing stained histology for the lab, as well as creating 3D printed slicing jigs for our prostate cancer patients.

Michael Barrett

Michael completed MCW’s software engineering apprenticeship in 2022 and has been with us since. He is responsible for the research infrastructure in the lab, and deploying and managing the local Kubernetes cluster and the services deployed on it, specifically OMERO and XNAT, digital pathology and radiology services, respectively. Michael loves trying to figure out how new things work and their applications.

Samuel Bobholz, PhD

Sam is an Assistant Professor in MCW’s Department of Radiology. He is a former LaViolette Lab graduate student and post-doctoral fellow. His research focuses on training machine learning tools to non-invasively measure autopsy tissue characteristics using MRI to improve disease tracking in brain cancer. In his free time he enjoys making pasta, playing with synthesizers, and watching old movies.

Savannah Duenweg, PhD

Savannah is a recent graduate of the LaViolette Lab and has stayed on as a Research Scientist with us. Her primary work focuses developing radio-pathomic machine learning models using MRI and whole mount prostate tissue to assess cancer risk. When she’s not in lab, you can find her serving brunch at Café Benelux, playing with her dog, or reading a good book.

Aleksandra Winiarz

Aleks is a fourth year graduate student in the lab from the Neuroscience Doctoral Program. Her research focuses on applying radio-pathomic mapping to investigate longitudinal changes and tumor invasion in glioblastoma. Aleks is an avid runner and is currently training for her third marathon. She also enjoys yoga, dancing, and traveling.

Biprojit Nath

Bipro is a second year graduate student, joining us after receiving his MSc in Nuclear Medicine from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 2020. He is passionate about applying his background in medical physics and nuclear medicine to our brain and prostate datasets. The Huberman Lab podcast fuels his brain, and he loves to travel and whip up delicious meals in the kitchen.

Benjamin Chao

Ben is the newest member of the LaViolette Lab, starting his first year of graduate school from the Medical Scientist Training Program. He is currently experimenting with new ideas of tumor probability maps in GBM patients and plans to determine longitudinal predictions of tumor growth. Outside of work, Ben loves to play soccer, snowboard, play the violin, and hang out at Milwaukee’s Bradford Beach.