Prof. Kostas Marias Appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of Section “Medical Imaging” in Journal of Imaging

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Kostas Marias has been appointed as Section Editor-in-Chief of Section “Medical Imaging” in Journal of Imaging (J. Imaging, ISSN: 2313-433X).

Prof. Kostas Marias (PhD) is Professor of medical image processing and Dean of the School of Engineering at the Hellenic Mediterranean University in Greece. He is also the Head and Founder of the Computational Biomedicine Laboratory (CBML) at the Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas (FORTH). He received his PhD in medical image analysis and medical physics from UCL Medical School, London, through a joint program with the University of Oxford, and later completed postdoctoral research (2000–2003) at Oxford in breast cancer image analysis. He also holds an MSc in biomedical engineering from Imperial College London.

He is co-author of more than 300 papers in international journals, books and conference proceedings focusing on medical image processing and analysis, biomedical informatics, image-based modelling and radiomics/deep learning medical imaging applications. He has coordinated two EU projects on cancer modelling (ContraCancrum and TUMOR projects) and has actively participated in several EU-funded projects as technical manager. His academic and research activities focus on AI-driven medical imaging, radiomics and deep learning models for precision medicine, with an emphasis on trustworthy AI. A Senior IEEE Member, he has contributed to major European research initiatives on cancer informatics and AI for health imaging and has extensive experience in teaching and mentoring in medical physics, image processing and biomedical AI.

The following is an interview with Prof. Kostas Marias:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
What appealed to me most about the Journal of Imaging is its strong focus on imaging science as a unifying discipline, with a broad yet coherent scope that brings together methodological advances, applied research, and interdisciplinary perspectives across the imaging sciences. By hosting contributions from diverse imaging domains, the journal creates a unique environment in which methodological developments in one area can positively influence and inspire progress in others, including medical and biomedical imaging. This cross-domain perspective is particularly important, as many advances in image acquisition, reconstruction, analysis, and interpretation are inherently transferable across imaging applications. The journal therefore offers researchers and readers a valuable opportunity to better understand and exploit interdisciplinary and cross-domain advances in imaging.
Equally important is MDPI’s emphasis on rapid and transparent peer review, facilitating the open dissemination of research. This positions the journal to effectively capture fast-moving developments in imaging technologies while maintaining scientific rigor. These elements strongly motivated me to take on the role of Section Editor-in-Chief and to contribute to shaping high-quality and impactful research within the journal.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
Taking on the role of Section Editor-in-Chief offers an opportunity to actively shape the direction and quality of contributions in the field by guiding the scope of submissions, promoting methodological soundness and transparency, and ensuring a rigorous, fair, and timely peer review process.
My vision is for the Journal of Imaging to continue strengthening its position as a reference journal for innovative, reproducible, and impactful imaging research. For my section, I aim to promote contributions that combine methodological novelty with clear relevance to real-world unmet needs in medical and biomedical contexts. I would like to further encourage interdisciplinary work that bridges imaging with machine learning, data science, physics, and clinical workflows, while also emphasizing transparency, validation, and reproducibility. By attracting high-quality original research, well-designed review articles, and focused Special Issues, the journal can further enhance its scientific impact and visibility within the international imaging community.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
The future of imaging research is highly interdisciplinary and increasingly data-driven. We are witnessing rapid advances in image acquisition, reconstruction, and analysis, driven by developments in artificial intelligence, multimodal imaging, and high-performance computing. In medical imaging in particular, there is a critical need to promote trustworthy and responsible AI to enable the effective translation of imaging advances into clinical workflows.
At the same time, challenges related to data quality, generalization, interpretability, bias mitigation, and the ethical use of imaging data are becoming more prominent. Addressing these challenges will require closer collaboration between engineers, computer scientists, and clinical researchers. I expect the field to move toward more robust, validated, and patient-centric imaging technologies that can be reliably translated into routine practice.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
Open access has played a transformative role in scientific publishing by significantly improving the visibility, accessibility, and impact of research. For fast-evolving fields such as imaging, immediate and unrestricted access to new results is particularly important, as it accelerates scientific progress, fosters collaboration across disciplines, and helps democratize research.
At the same time, the success of open access depends on maintaining high editorial and peer review standards. When implemented responsibly, open access publishing supports transparency, reproducibility, and inclusiveness, and aligns well with the broader goals of open science. This is exactly the path I intend to follow and actively support in my new role.

We warmly welcome Prof. Kostas Marias as the Section Editor-in-Chief of “Medical Imaging”, and we look forward to Journal of Imaging achieving many more milestones under his leadership.

For further information about the Section: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jimaging/sections/Medical_Imaging.