Meeting MI: Dr. Angela Atinga
#MeetingMI offers the Department of Medical Imaging the opportunity to meet the members of MI and learn about their experience in their own words.
Name: Angela Atinga
Pronouns: She/Her
Division: Medical Imaging (Musculoskeletal Radiology)
Academic Rank: Assistant professor
Hospital site: Sunnybrook (Mt Sinai from 8 Dec 2025)
1. What inspired you to pursue radiology after medical school?
I always thought I would be an orthopedic surgeon, just like my dad and my brother. My internship was based at a very busy inner-city hospital in London (England) where every day felt like fighting fires with a teaspoon. The people that offered the greatest support were radiologists. Sometimes it was delivered with humour, sometimes it was a reprimand grunted from behind a screen in a dark room, but it was always with the patient’s best interests at heart and a genuine desire to solve the puzzle. I never forgot that experience and Radiology was my top choice when I applied for residency. I chose musculoskeletal radiology because it was orthopedics adjacent, so it’s really my perfect job.
2. What is the most rewarding aspect of working in radiology?
Puzzles and people. I have always enjoyed figuring out solutions to problems and radiology offers that opportunity every day. One of my earliest memories of residency was seeing an emeritus professor excited to see something for the first time ever, even after working as a radiologist for the better part of 40 years. It’s hard not to be inspired by that. I am also very privileged to work alongside wonderful colleagues and interact with all the different specialties in the hospital.
3. What are some of the challenges you’ve experienced working in radiology?
Puzzles and people. Sometimes we don’t find the answer to the puzzle and living with uncertainty can be frustrating for the perfectionist in all of us. You also must live with the knowledge that our mistakes are documented forever in our reports, but I think this has been great for my personal and professional development as a reminder to never stop learning. Radiology can feel like a lonely journey when it’s busy and you sit behind a screen for hours whispering into a microphone. On those rare occasions, I miss people.
4. What interesting research are you currently working on?
I have a broad interest in AI in imaging. I have spent the last year collaborating with my colleagues in biomedical engineering, utilizing machine learning to improve diagnostics in rural areas where access to advanced imaging in limited. In the near future, I will be resuming work on AI in musculoskeletal sports imaging and musculoskeletal tumours.
I am also collaborating with my surgical colleagues to establish imaging predictors for patients with knee instability and exploring how this influences their surgical approach.
5. What are some of the biggest highlights of your career so far?
I was honoured to receive a research grant from the largest North American MSK radiology society, the Society of Skeletal Radiology, and have recently been selected to attend the RSNA Introduction to Academic Radiology for Junior Faculty program. I am also excited to be inducted into the International Skeletal Society this fall, an interdisciplinary society that brings together leaders in the field of musculoskeletal medicine, including radiologists, pathologists, oncologists and surgeons. Other highlights have been first author publications in respected journals and successfully co-editing an entire special issue of an MSK journal.
6. Tell us something about you that might surprise your colleagues!
I was born and raised in Kenya, but I do not run long or short distances. I am Torontonian by adoption, but I have a deathly fear of pigeons.