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Meet the Team

Jean-Christophe Fillion-Robin

Distinguished Engineer

Medical Computing

Kitware North Carolina
Carrboro, NC

15 Years Service at Kitware

Jean-Christophe Fillion-Robin is a Distinguished Engineer at Kitware, Inc.’s branch office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. J-Christophe is leading the development of commercial applications based on “3D Slicer”, a medical imaging platform built with C++ and Python. In the last three years, he engaged with 10 different customers and crafted Statements of Work (SOWs) to address their needs. Customers report high satisfaction. Projects had between 2 and 5 follow-up SOWs. He also reviewed C++ and Python pull requests and coordinated teams of up to 5 developers across multiple companies.

In parallel, J-Christophe is also leading the development of “3D Slicer”, a cross-platform, open source software for medical visualization and image computing downloaded over 230K times. He made many distinguished contributions to the Slicer platforms. He created more than 10 releases of “3D Slicer” in the last 5 years. He improved code to reduce “3D Slicer” startup time by 50%. He designed and implemented a web front-end, web services and build system infrastructure allowing to distribute more than 100 “3D Slicer” plugins written in C++ and/or Python and contributed by the community. He authored more than 5000 commits addressing issues or implementing new features in C++ and Python which requires expertise in multiple toolkits such as VTK, ITK, Python, CTK or Qt. He is also administering build bots and maintaining build system with more than 30 dependencies. And finally, he facilitated more than 200 weekly developer hangouts.

Jean-Christophe is also the founder and key contributor to “scikit-build”, an improved and open source build-system generator for CPython C/C++ extensions. He won $60k NIH award to further develop “scikit-build” and improve the medical imaging and segmentation C++ toolkit (ITK) packaging for integration in the scientific Python ecosystem. This was presented during the Carolina PyData 2016 conference.

J-Christophe is the founder and key contributor to “python-cmake-buildsystem”, an open source replacement build-system for CPython facilitating its cross-compilation. This was presented at SciPy 2014 conference.

J-Christophe is a co-founder and key contributor to the Common Toolkit (CTK), a multi-platform and open source Qt based toolkit providing re-usable components allowing to easily build biomedical imaging applications.

J-Christophe led the development of Visomics, an open source tool for the exploration of biological omics data.

J-Christophe developed web API framework and grid computing module for MIDAS, an open source toolkit enabling the rapid creation of tailored, web-enabled data storage.

Jean-Christophe received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University Claude Bernard of Lyon in 2003 and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Information Processing in 2008 from the ESCPE Lyon (France). His Master’s thesis was realized at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) as a result of a joint project between Automatic Lab and TouchMind.com. The goal was to design and implement an automatic bidding platform for online keyword auctions.

In the semester prior to starting his thesis, J-Christophe was enrolled as an exchange student at the EPFL. His coursework mainly revolved around his interests in swarm intelligent systems, bio-inspired systems and cognitive psychology. In 2005, J-Christophe did a one-year internship with the pharmaceutical company Scynexis, Inc. (NC, USA) in their information system division. At Scynexis, J-Christophe worked on the development of a web-based Drug Research information management application (relying on J2EE, Tomcat and an Oracle database) to support scientists and facilitate collaboration in their daily work. He successfully introduced new technologies such as AJAX, SQLX and WEB 2.0 into the pre-existing framework. Simultaneously, he actively worked on the tuning and performance improvement projects, focused on a redesign of the core of the platform.

When not staring at computer screen, J-Christophe enjoys outdoor activities especially rock-climbing, mountaineering and backcountry skiing. In Spring 2008, prior joining Kitware, he was in northeastern Turkey skiing and exploring the Kackar mountains and then in Corsica for canyoneering, rock-climbing and kite-surfing. More recently he climbed the south face of Eiger Mountain in the Swiss Alps (2008), the Sajama Nevada in Bolivia (2009), the mount Rainer in USA (2015). Checking his instagram account will update you on his more recent adventures

Publications

  1. M. Gillot, F. Miranda, B. Baquero, A. Ruellas, M. Gurgel, N. Al Turkestani, L. Anchling, N. Hutin, E. Biggs, M. Yatabe, B. Paniagua, J. Fillion‐Robin, D. Allemang, J. Bianchi, L. Cevidanes, and J. Prieto, "Automatic landmark identification in cone‐beam computed tomography," Orthodontics & Craniofacial Research, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 560-567, Nov. 2023. [URL]
  2. J. Vicory, Y. Han, J. Prieto, D. Allemang, M. Leclercq, C. Bowley, H. Scheirich, J. Fillion-Robin, S. Pizer, J. Fishbaugh, G. Gerig, M. Styner, and B. Paniagua, "SlicerSALT: From Medical Images to Quantitative Insights of Anatomy," in Shape in Medical Imaging. Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023, pp. 201-210. [URL]
  3. M. Gillot, B. Baquero, C. Le, R. Deleat-Besson, J. Bianchi, A. Ruellas, M. Gurgel, M. Yatabe, N. Al Turkestani, K. Najarian, R. Soroushmehr, S. Pieper, R. Kikinis, B. Paniagua, J. Gryak, M. Ioshida, C. Massaro, L. Gomes, H. Oh, K. Evangelista, C. Chaves Junior, D. Garib, F. Costa, E. Benavides, F. Soki, J. Fillion-Robin, H. Joshi, L. Cevidanes, and J. Prieto, "Automatic multi-anatomical skull structure segmentation of cone-beam computed tomography scans using 3D UNETR," PLOS ONE, vol. 17, no. 10, pp. e0275033, Oct. 2022. [URL]
  4. É. Léger, S. Horvath, J. Fillion-Robin, D. Allemang, S. Gerber, P. Juvekar, E. Torio, T. Kapur, S. Pieper, S. Pujol, R. Bardsley, S. Frisken, and A. Golby, "NousNav: A low-cost neuronavigation system for deployment in lower-resource settings," International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 1745-1750, May 2022. [URL]
  5. R. Deleat-Besson, C. Le, N. Al Turkestani, W. Zhang, M. Dumont, S. Brosset, J. Carlos Prieto, L. Cevidanes, J. Bianchi, A. Ruellas, M. Gurgel, C. Massaro, A. Aliaga-Del Castillo, M. Ioshida, M. Yatabe, E. Benavides, H. Rios, F. Soki, G. Neiva, J. Fernando Aristizabal, D. Rey, M. Antonia Alvarez, K. Najarian, J. Gryak, M. Styner, J. Fillion-Robin, B. Paniagua, and R. Soroushmehr, "Automatic Segmentation of Dental Root Canal and Merging with Crown Shape," in 2021 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC), 2021. [URL]
  6. Y. Ye, S. Barapatre, M. Davis, K. Elliston, C. Davatzikos, A. Fedorov, J. Fillion-Robin, I. Foster, J. Gilbertson, A. Lasso, J. Miller, M. Morgan, S. Pieper, B. Raumann, B. Sarachan, G. Savova, J. Silverstein, D. Taylor, J. Zelnis, G. Zhang, J. Cuticchia, and M. Becich, "Open-source Software Sustainability Models: Initial White Paper From the Informatics Technology for Cancer Research Sustainability and Industry Partnership Working Group," Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 23, no. 12, pp. e20028, Dec. 2021. [URL]
  7. N. Al Turkestani, J. Bianchi, R. Deleat‐Besson, C. Le, L. Tengfei, J. Prieto, M. Gurgel, A. Ruellas, C. Massaro, A. Aliaga Del Castillo, K. Evangelista, M. Yatabe, E. Benavides, F. Soki, W. Zhang, K. Najarian, J. Gryak, M. Styner, J. Fillion‐Robin, B. Paniagua, R. Soroushmehr, and L. Cevidanes, "Clinical decision support systems in orthodontics: A narrative review of data science approaches," Orthodontics & Craniofacial Research, vol. 24, no. S2, pp. 26-36, Dec. 2021. [URL]
  8. A. Fedorov, R. Beichel, J. Kalpathy-Cramer, D. Clunie, M. Onken, J. Riesmeier, C. Herz, C. Bauer, A. Beers, J. Fillion-Robin, A. Lasso, C. Pinter, S. Pieper, M. Nolden, K. Maier-Hein, M. Herrmann, J. Saltz, F. Prior, F. Fennessy, J. Buatti, and R. Kikinis, "Quantitative Imaging Informatics for Cancer Research," JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, no. 4, pp. 444-453, Nov. 2020. [URL]
  9. C. Pinter, A. Lasso, S. Choueib, M. Asselin, J. Fillion-Robin, J. Vimort, K. Martin, M. Jolley, and G. Fichtinger, "SlicerVR for Medical Intervention Training and Planning in Immersive Virtual Reality," IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 108-117, May 2020. [URL]
  10. J. Bianchi, B. Paniagua, A. De Oliveira Ruellas, J. Fillion-Robin, J. Prietro, J. Gonçalves, J. Hoctor, M. Yatabe, M. Styner, T. Li, M. Gurgel, C. Chaves Junior, C. Massaro, D. Garib, L. Vilanova, J. Henriques, A. Castillo, G. Janson, L. Iwasaki, J. Nickel, K. Evangelista, and L. Cevidanes, "3D Slicer Craniomaxillofacial Modules Support Patient-Specific Decision-Making for Personalized Healthcare in Dental Research," in Multimodal Learning for Clinical Decision Support and Clinical Image-Based Procedures. Springer International Publishing, 2020, pp. 44-53. [URL]
  11. M. Dumont, J. Prieto, S. Brosset, L. Cevidanes, J. Bianchi, A. Ruellas, M. Gurgel, C. Massaro, A. Del Castillo, M. Ioshida, M. Yatabe, E. Benavides, H. Rios, F. Soki, G. Neiva, J. Aristizabal, D. Rey, M. Alvarez, K. Najarian, J. Gryak, M. Styner, J. Fillion-Robin, B. Paniagua, and R. Soroushmehr, "Patient Specific Classification of Dental Root Canal and Crown Shape," in Shape in Medical Imaging. Springer International Publishing, 2020, pp. 145-153. [URL]
  12. A. Lasso, J. Fillion-Robin, G. Fichtinger, M. Asselin, C. Pinter, K. Martin, and J. Vimort, "SlicerVR for image-guided therapy planning in immersive virtual reality," in The Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics, 2019. [URL]
  13. J. Fillion-Robin, M. McCormick, O. Padron, M. Smolens, M. Grauer, and M. Sarahan, "jcfr/scipy_2018_scikit-build_talk: SciPy 2018 Talk | scikit-build: A Build System Generator for CPython C/C++/Fortran/Cython Extensions," presented at SciPy 2018, 2018. [URL]
  14. A. Lasso, H. Nam, P. Dinh, C. Pinter, J. Fillion-Robin, S. Pieper, S. Jhaveri, J. Vimort, K. Martin, M. Asselin, F. McGowan, R. Kikinis, G. Fichtinger, and M. Jolley, "Interaction with Volume-Rendered Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Images in Virtual Reality," Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, Aug. 2018. [URL]
  15. J. Vicory, L. Pascal, P. Hernandez, J. Fishbaugh, J. Prieto, M. Mostapha, C. Huang, H. Shah, J. Hong, Z. Liu, L. Michoud, J. Fillion-Robin, G. Gerig, H. Zhu, S. Pizer, M. Styner, and B. Paniagua, "SlicerSALT: Shape AnaLysis Toolbox," in Shape in Medical Imaging. Springer International Publishing, 2018, pp. 65-72. [URL]
  16. C. Herz, J. Fillion-Robin, M. Onken, J. Riesmeier, A. Lasso, C. Pinter, G. Fichtinger, S. Pieper, D. Clunie, R. Kikinis, and A. Fedorov, "dcmqi : An Open Source Library for Standardized Communication of Quantitative Image Analysis Results Using DICOM," Cancer Research, vol. 77, no. 21, pp. e87-e90, Nov. 2017. [URL]
  17. J. van Griethuysen, A. Fedorov, C. Parmar, A. Hosny, N. Aucoin, V. Narayan, R. Beets-Tan, J. Fillion-Robin, S. Pieper, and H. Aerts, "Computational Radiomics System to Decode the Radiographic Phenotype," Cancer Research, vol. 77, no. 21, pp. e104-e107, Nov. 2017. [URL]
  18. M. M McCormick, M. L Palmeri, J. Fillion-Robin, and S. Aylward, "SlicerITKUltrasound: A 3D Slicer extension for scan conversion of B-mode and next-generation ultrasound imaging modalities," The Journal of Open Source Software, vol. 2, no. 10, pp. 153, Feb. 2017. [URL]
  19. D. Punzo, J. van der Hulst, J. Roerdink, J. Fillion-Robin, and L. Yu, "SlicerAstro: A 3-D interactive visual analytics tool for HI data," Astronomy and Computing, vol. 19, pp. 45-59, Apr. 2017. [URL]
  20. T. Kapur, S. Pieper, A. Fedorov, J. Fillion-Robin, M. Halle, L. O'Donnell, A. Lasso, T. Ungi, C. Pinter, J. Finet, S. Pujol, J. Jagadeesan, J. Tokuda, I. Norton, R. Estepar, D. Gering, H. Aerts, M. Jakab, N. Hata, L. Ibanez, D. Blezek, J. Miller, S. Aylward, W. Grimson, G. Fichtinger, W. Wells, W. Lorensen, W. Schroeder, and R. Kikinis, "Increasing the impact of medical image computing using community-based open-access hackathons: The NA-MIC and 3D Slicer experience," Medical Image Analysis, vol. 33, pp. 176-180, Oct. 2016. [URL]
  21. A. Fedorov, R. Beichel, J. Kalpathy-Cramer, J. Finet, J. Fillion-Robin, S. Pujol, C. Bauer, D. Jennings, F. Fennessy, M. Sonka, J. Buatti, S. Aylward, J. Miller, S. Pieper, and R. Kikinis, "3D Slicer as an image computing platform for the Quantitative Imaging Network," Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 1323-1341, Nov. 2012. [URL]
  22. R. Cardona and J. Fillion-Robin, "Experimental framework for the quantification of the dynamic visual acuity," Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Jun. 2007.
  23. J. Fillion-Robin, "Modeling of a real quadruped robot using WebotsTM simulation platform," Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 2007.

Bibliography generated 2024-05-15-17:16:21 (7155)

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