Dr James Hallinan is a Senior Consultant at NUH and an Assistant Professor at NUS. A Bristol‑trained physician (MBChB Hons) and Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists (UK), he completed subspecialty training in musculoskeletal MRI under Prof Donald Resnick at UC San Diego.
His research focuses on AI‑driven spine imaging. As Principal Investigator he secured the NMRC Clinician‑Scientist IRG‑NIG (2021) for “Deep Learning Pathway for Spine Metastases” and the NMRC Clinician Innovator Award (2023) for “Deep Learning Pipeline for Augmented MRI Spine Reporting,” totalling > S$640 k. He also leads a Practice Changing Innovation award deploying the “Spine AI” model clinically and maintains a technology‑development agreement with Siemens Healthineers.
Dr Hallinan has authored more than 90 peer‑reviewed papers; his recent first‑/senior‑author publications in Radiology (IF 29.1) showcase deep‑learning tools that halve lumbar‑MRI reporting time. His team’s 2025 Spine Journal paper further demonstrated AI‑driven improvements in cervical‑MRI accuracy and productivity.
Regionally recognised, he received the 2024 NCIS Best Surgical Oncology Poster and the 2023 ExxonMobil–NUS Research Fellowship, and was part of teams honoured with the 2022 AO Spine Best Basic Science Award and the 2021 APSS‑ASJ Best Clinical Research Award. He serves as an Affiliate Member of NCIS and reviews for Radiology, European Journal of Radiology, Spine Journal, and Cancers.
An advocate for clinically integrated AI, Dr Hallinan mentors radiology residents and speaks internationally on musculoskeletal radiology.
Research and Conferences