Dr. Contag is the inaugural chair of the Biomedical Engineering department and founding Director of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering (IQ) at Michigan State University
Dr. Contag joined the MSU faculty in 2017 as the James and Kathleen Cornelius Chair in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, with an adjunct appointment in the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice. Dr. Contag is also Professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University.
Dr. Contag received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul in 1982. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1988. He did his postdoctoral training at Stanford University from 1990-1994, and then joined Stanford faculty in 1995 as professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Radiology, Bioengineering and Microbiology & Immunology.
Dr. Contag is a pioneer in the field of molecular imaging and is developing imaging approaches aimed at revealing cellular and molecular processes in living subjects, and advancing therapeutic strategies through imaging. He is a founding member and past president of the Society for Molecular Imaging (SMI, now World Molecular Imaging Society, WMIS), and recipient of the Achievement Award from SMI for his contributions to imaging, and the Britton Chance Award from SPIE for his fundamental contributions to optics. Dr. Contag is a Fellow and past president of WMIS. Dr. Contag is a founder of Xenogen Corp. (now part of PerkinElmer), BioEclipse, PixelGear, and EXOForce.
