Asim Afaq, MBBS, FRCR, Co-Director

Dr. Afaq is a Consultant Radiologist with an interest in oncology imaging and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of prostate cancer. He completed undergraduate medical training and postgraduate general radiology training in London. He went on to fellowship training in Oncology Imaging at the Royal Marsden Hospital and a research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York where he developed expertise in the imaging of prostate cancer.

Dr. Afaq was a Radiologist at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine at University College London Hospital from 2012-2021 with practice focusing on PET imaging (PET/CT and PET/MRI) and oncology imaging. He has been responsible for clinical and research aspects of the Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) PET service and imaging in early phase clinical trials at UCLH.

Dr. Afaq is currently a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, USA.

Faculty Profile Page

Email: asim-afaq@uiowa.edu

Jessica Sieren, PhD, Co-Director

Jessica Sieren is a biomedical engineer, with a strong background in medical imaging and image processing. She completed a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Engineering (with honors) at Flinders University of South Australia, before gaining her PhD in Biomedical Imaging from The University of Iowa. She is an active and involved member of the biomedical imaging research community at The University of Iowa, serving as Associate Director of the Advanced Pulmonary Physiomic Imaging Laboratory (APPIL), Director of the Developing Tumor Imaging Shared Research Resource within the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and member of the Iowa Institute of Biomedical Imaging (IIBI).

Faculty Profile Page

Email: jessica-sieren@uiowa.edu

Parren S. McNeely, MD, Assistant Director

As a nuclear medicine physician with a background in chemistry and chemical engineering, Dr. McNeely has a passion for in-depth analyses and attention to detail.  He likes taking things apart to see how they work and will often put them back together....mostly.  Dr. McNeely has been here at the University since completing his PET/CT fellowship in 2011, and has been probing and optimizing clinical workflows ever since.  His other duties include Medical Director of the Nuclear Medicine Clinic, as well as Physician Informatics Officer and Health Information Management liaison for the Department of Radiology.  He's an aspiring superuser for in-house radiology and medical record platforms such as Siemens Syngo.via, Carestream Vue Reporting, and Epic. Dr. McNeely also actively participates in various clinical and research-related radionuclide therapy initiatives.

Faculty Profile Page

Email: parren-mcneely@uiowa.edu

Fernand Bila, MBA, Practice & Finance Manager

Fernand Bila is the Research Support Manager for the Department of Radiology since December 2020. Previously, he was the research administrator for the Departments of Psychiatry and Emergency. He completed a Bachelor's and a Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Iowa.

Email: fernand-bila@uiowa.edu

Elina Shrestha, MPH, Clinical Research Associate

Elina Shrestha joined the Department of Radiology in March, 2019. Prior to joining the Department of Radiology, she worked as a Clinical Quality Assurance Associate at TG Therapeutics, Inc.  Elina obtained her Master’s degree in Public Health from the George Washington University in January, 2018.  She also has a Medical degree from Hebei Medical University, China.

Email: elina-shrestha@uiowa.edu