Antonio R. Porras, PhD is Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Neural Image Computing (NIC) Lab and serves as Scientific Director of the Section of Computational Neurosurgery. His research focuses on developing artificial intelligence and medical image computing methods that transform biomedical images and multimodal health data into actionable insights for healthcare. Leading interdisciplinary teams of engineers, data scientists, and clinicians, his work advances precision diagnosis, treatment planning, and predictive modeling across neurosurgery, radiology, pediatrics, genetics, and other medical specialties.

Dr. Porras earned degrees in Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering in Spain before completing a PhD in Computational Imaging at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Following his doctoral training, he pursued extensive postdoctoral and research training at Children's National Hospital and within the NIH research environment, broadening his expertise in developmental disorders, human genetics, and pediatric neurosurgery. This interdisciplinary training helped shape his approach to combining methodological innovation with clinically meaningful applications.

Before joining the University of Chicago, Dr. Porras was a faculty member at the University of Colorado, where he established an internationally recognized research program in medical image computing and artificial intelligence with applications spanning craniofacial disorders, pediatrics, genetics, and surgery. His research has contributed to advances in AI-driven disease diagnosis, image-based phenotyping, surgical planning, and predictive modeling and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health. At Colorado, he was awarded tenure and developed educational and mentoring programs for students, trainees, and early-career investigators while teaching learners across disciplines spanning engineering, data science, and medicine.

Dr. Porras is an active leader in the international medical image computing community. He co-founded the MICCAI Mentorship Program in 2018, has led federal awards supporting participation in MICCAI by U.S.-based students and early-career investigators, serves on the MICCAI Board of Directors, and chairs the MICCAI Career Advancement Working Group. Through these and other initiatives, he has helped expand access to mentorship, professional development, entrepreneurship, and career-building opportunities across the MICCAI community.