Since its founding, the Duke Imaging Physics Residency Program has graduated a growing community of diagnostic medical physicists now serving in academic medical centers, community and military hospitals, and consulting practices nationwide. Below are our alumni, including their residency years, American Board of Radiology (ABR) certification status, current positions, and any quality improvement projects (QIPs) they might have completed during training.
Alumni details are compiled from periodic alumni surveys, program records, and QIP write-ups. These listings reflect the most recent information on file; please contact the program with any corrections.
Graduates to date: 11
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Chronologically
Xiang Li, PhDResidency: 2010–2013 ABR Status: Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2014) Xiang was the first resident and graduate of the Duke Imaging Physics Residency Program. Her doctoral and early research work centered on Monte Carlo modeling of imaging systems, patient-specific organ dosimetry, and CT radiation dose and image quality. She has been a medical physicist at the Cleveland Clinic since 2015. |
| Joshua Wilson, PhDResidency: 2011–2013 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2016) Josh is a radiation physicist with the Clinical Imaging Physics Group (CIPG), with a clinical focus in nuclear medicine, clinical informatics, quality control, and education. He earned his PhD at Duke in 2011 for research in time-of-flight PET image quality and now serves as Program Director of the CAMPEP-accredited Duke Imaging Physics Residency Program. |
| Yakun Zhang, MSResidency: 2015–2017 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2017) Yakun is an ABR board-certified diagnostic medical physicist proficient across all imaging modalities, including CT, MR, radiography, mammography, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound. She earned her MS in medical physics at Duke and has served as a senior medical physicist at Carilion Clinic since 2018. She returned to Duke and completed her PhD in 2026. |
| David Erickson, MSResidency: 2017–2019 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2021) David completed his imaging physics residency at Duke in 2019. He served as a medical physicist and radiology director in the United States Air Force before moving into consulting medical physics, where he works as a diagnostic medical physicist supporting clinical imaging operations. |
| Megan Russ, PhDResidency: 2017–2019 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2021) Megan is a radiation physicist with the Clinical Imaging Physics Group, working primarily with fluoroscopy and cardiac imaging. She earned her PhD in medical imaging physics at the University at Buffalo, where her research characterized high-resolution x-ray systems for neuro-endovascular image-guided interventions. |
| James Spencer, MSResidency: 2017–2019 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2021) James completed his imaging physics residency at Duke in 2019 and is a senior medical physicist at Texas Health Resources, supporting diagnostic imaging across a large community hospital system. |
| Crystal Green, PhDResidency: 2019–2021 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2022) Quality Improvement Projects:
Crystal earned her PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan before completing her Duke imaging physics residency in 2021. She is a diagnostic medical physicist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University, and has helped develop Defense Health Agency fluoroscopy safety training. |
| Jeffery Xiao, MSResidency: 2020–2022 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2023) Quality Improvement Projects:
Jeffery earned his MS in medical physics at Duke with a thesis on x-ray diffraction imaging for breast tissue characterization, then completed his Duke imaging physics residency in 2022. He is a diagnostic medical physicist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, focusing on MRI (including 7T) and mammography. |
| Vani Yadav, MSResidency: 2021–2023 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2025) Quality Improvement Projects:
Vani completed her Duke imaging physics residency in 2023 and is a medical radiation physicist at Stanford University, supporting diagnostic imaging and radiation safety. |
| Raj Kumar Panta, PhDResidency: 2023–2025 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2025) Quality Improvement Projects:
Raj earned his PhD at the University of Otago, with research on spectral photon-counting CT, including the first human imaging trials with MARS photon-counting CT. He completed his Duke imaging physics residency in 2025 and is a Clinical Physicist Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School. |
| Ngara Bird, MSResidency: 2023–2025 ABR Status: DABR — Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Diagnostic Medical Physics, 2025) Quality Improvement Projects:
Ngara earned her MS in medical physics at San Diego State University, where her research focused on improving MRI data-processing techniques, before completing her Duke imaging physics residency in 2025. |