Kian Shaker

NEW: Are you a passionate student looking for a master thesis in the intersection of global health, X-ray technology, and frugal enginering? Reach out!

Briefly about me:

During 2018-2022 I was a PhD student at the Department of Applied Physics with Prof. Hans Hertz as my advisor. My thesis explored unconventional X-ray contrast mechanisms with an outlook towards clinical imaging applications. Specifically, I explored X-ray fluorescence and X-ray phase contrast for a variety of applications: early-stage tumor imaging, mammography & respiratory imaging. My PhD work was primarily in the preclinical domain, by developing instrumentation for proof-of-principle in vivo imaging of mice as well as in silico computational modelling of the imaging processes (using Monte Carlo & wave-propagation methods).

During 2022-2024 I moved to Stanford University to do a postdoc at the Radiological Sciences Laboratory funded through a KAW fellowship. During this time I explored the intersection between frugal engineering, global health, and clinical radiology. Here I invented and led the development of OpenDosimeter (www.opendosimeter.org) — the first open solution for personal radiation dosimetry — in a global collaboration spanning 3 continents (US, Africa, Europe).

In late 2024, I returned to KTH through a repatriation grant from the KAW Foundation. Here I plan to continue my research line on open X-ray technologies with many exciting upcoming projects (in chest radiography, heavy-element contaminant detection, and more).

In late 2025, I was awarded a Starting Grant from the Swedish Research Council and launched the OpenXRF initiative (www.openxrf.org).

An up-to-date list of my published work can be found in my Google Scholar profile.