Sam Payabvash, MD

Dr. Sam Payabvash is a physician-scientist and board-certified radiologist with expertise in neuroimaging. He is an associate professor of radiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and an attending radiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He serves as director of clinical translation and innovation for Columbia's Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics (CIMBID), a multidisciplinary center dedicated to developing and integrating quantitative imaging and non-imaging biomarkers for disease prediction.

Dr. Payabvash’s research is focused on the application of machine learning to neuroimaging. His extensive body of research is primarily focused on the development of tools to guide treatment for cerebrovascular diseases. Among his many contributions to the field are multiple machine learning models designed to risk-stratify and provide treatment guidance for patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

He is also recognized for his research on neurodevelopment and brain injury. He has applied advanced imaging techniques and machine learning to evaluate microstructural changes in the brain of neonates and children who are at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and sensory processing disorders.

Dr. Payabvash is the author of more than 190 publications and serves as principal investigator on grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Radiological Society of North America, American Society of Neuroradiology and NVIDIA Applied Research Accelerator Program. He is the recipient of several honors and awards, including selection for the Academy Council of Early Career Investigators in Imaging (CECI²), which recognizes the early career achievements of researchers.

A graduate of the medical school at Tehran University, Dr. Payabvash subsequently joined Massachusetts General Hospital for a postdoctoral research fellowship, followed by a radiology residency at University of Minnesota. He completed a neuroradiology fellowship at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He joins Columbia from the Yale School of Medicine.

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