Executive Summary
Bernard (Bernie) Dardzinski, PhD, is a Senior Partner at The Bracken Group and an imaging scientist and biomedical engineer whose career spans academia, industry, and government. His work centers on translational imaging: bridging fundamental scientific discoveries with clinical applications and drug development, using quantitative MRI, PET, and CT across oncology, musculoskeletal, neurology, respiratory, immunology, and endocrinology.
Bernie spent a decade as Division Chief of Radiology Research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he brought 3T and 7T MR systems online and made major contributions to pediatric musculoskeletal imaging methods. At Merck Research Laboratories he was the biomarker imaging lead for the bone, respiratory, immunology, and endocrinology franchises, accountable for all imaging in their clinical trials, including novel imaging endpoints and CRO oversight for Phase III studies.
He went on to start a pediatric liver disease imaging program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and to direct the translational imaging laboratory for traumatic brain injury research at the Uniformed Services University. Since 2020 he has held program and scientific review roles at the National Institutes of Health, and he now directs the research portfolio of the National Cancer Institute’s Image-Guided Intervention Branch. He has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications.
NIH Program & Review Leadership
Areas of Expertise
Quantitative MRI
Cartilage T2 mapping, diffusion imaging, MR elastography, MR spectroscopy, and pulse sequence programming.
Imaging Biomarkers & Endpoints
Imaging strategy and novel imaging endpoints in clinical trials, including CRO oversight for Phase III studies.
Translational Imaging
Carrying MRI, PET, and CT methods from preclinical models into clinical research and drug development.
Musculoskeletal Imaging
Pediatric musculoskeletal imaging methods, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and cartilage imaging in osteoarthritis.
Neuroimaging & Brain Injury
Optimizing imaging to characterize traumatic brain injury, its sequelae, and treatment effects.
Research Funding & Peer Review
NIH program direction, study section review, and funding strategy for imaging research.
