Announcing the 2025 HICCC-SEAS Joint Seed Grant Awardees

Two multidisciplinary research teams at Columbia University have received the 2025 Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) - School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) Joint Seed Grant Award. This competitive grant supports novel collaborations between engineers and researchers from other disciplines aimed at solving pressing challenges in cancer. 

The selected projects will leverage advanced technologies—including artificial intelligence and optical imaging—to improve cancer detection, treatment planning, and clinical decision-making. Each team was awarded $100,000 for one year to pursue high-impact research with the potential for translational outcomes. Read more about the projects below. 

“Improving Outcomes in Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma using Artificial Intelligence" 

Principal Investigators: Elizabeth Verna, MD, MS, Frank Cardile Associate Professor of Medicine (Digestive & Liver Diseases), and Despina Kontos, PhD, Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Radiology and Director of Columbia’s Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics (CIMBID).  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Liver transplantation offers a potential cure, especially when patients achieve a complete pathologic response (pCR), meaning there is no evidence of cancer in tissue samples, to pre-transplant treatments. However, predicting pCR remains a clinical challenge. This project aims to develop artificial intelligence radiomics tools that can extract predictive insights from standard imaging tests like CT or MRI scans, to determine which patients are likely to achieve pCR. Improving this prediction could help clinicians tailor treatment strategies prior to transplantation – enhancing survival outcomes and minimizing recurrence risk. 

“This collaboration brings together clinical and computational experts for the first time to tackle a critical problem in liver cancer,” said Drs. Verna and Kontos. “By integrating AI and radiomics into transplant care, we aim to unlock new insights from medical imaging that could personalize treatment and improve patient outcomes.” 

"Hyperspectral Imaging Characterization of Endometrial Cancer.” 

Principal Investigator: Christine Hendon, PhD, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Co-Investigators: Xiaowei Chen, MD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology and June Hou, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in high-income countries, with rising incidence globally. Currently, diagnosis requires multiple tests due to limitations in ultrasound specificity.  This project proposes that hyperspectral imaging could enable earlier, more accurate detection of endometrial cancer. By combining optical imaging with machine learning, the team will create a database of how spectral properties in uterine tissue change in the presence of disease. This new body of knowledge will serve as the foundation for developing advanced, imaging-based screening tools that could dramatically improve diagnostic precision and surveillance.  

“This work unites engineering, pathology, and gynecologic oncology in a unique collaboration,” said Dr. Hendon. “By building a spectral map of the uterus and how it changes with disease, we aim to open the door to noninvasive tools that can detect cancer earlier and more accurately.”