By Rick Vacek | May 27, 2025
Dr. Baowei Fei has received numerous awards and other honors for his accomplishments in medical imaging and cancer research, but the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring moved him in a special way.
“I know a lot of faculty do a fantastic job, and I know this is a very prestigious award. That’s the award I am humbled to receive,” said the Professor of Bioengineering and Cecil H. and Ida Green Chair in Systems Biology Science. “This is the highest recognition for faculty, to be recognized for their work in undergraduate research.”
In the seven years since Fei joined the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas, his Quantitative BioImaging Laboratory has produced these impressive numbers:
In addition, numerous graduates credit Fei’s guidance for their academic and career success.
For example, a student who went to the Columbia University School of Medicine wrote, “I certainly could not have done this without the opportunity to work and learn in the lab. I am very grateful for all the support you have provided and cannot thank you enough.”
Fei tells the story of a student who first came to talk to him during the pandemic and didn’t stop sending emails until becoming part of the lab.
The student subsequently stayed more than three years, is co-author on nine papers, has gone to the SPIE conference multiple times, earned a cash award from SPIE and is now a PhD student at UT Southwestern.
“A future leader,” Fei said.
His one-on-one approach to students starts with a simple question: “What do you want to do in the next five or 10 years?”
If the student wants to go into industry, he provides hands-on experience with the lab’s imaging equipment. “We have X-ray, optical, robotics, all the toys,” he said.
If medical school is the goal, biological experiments are available. “Those will be very helpful for those students who want to be doctors,” he said.
If the student is eyeing a PhD, Fei can help design an experiment that could be connected to a data set, published and presented at a national or international conference.
“We can tailor it to each student’s career development,” he said.
But the key is to trigger the development right away.
“I love to work with undergraduate students. I really enjoy seeing their growth,” he said. “If they come to me earlier – as sophomores, or even freshmen – I will have time to help them more. Then maybe in their junior year they may be able to submit to a conference.
“I always tell them, ‘Your success is my success. We have the same goal.’”
For all the good Fei’s work has done, he values just as much this exponential opportunity to pass on his knowledge to students.
“That’s one way we can impact society,” he said. “But if I can teach 100 people to do something like me, that impact is even higher. It really amazes me how education is so important. For some, it will change their whole career. That’s why I’m so proud to be a professor at UT Dallas.”