My research is focused on the development and clinical application of optical microscopy and spectroscopy tools, with an emphasis on the ultrasensitive detection of molecular markers, label-free imaging of tissues and the imaging and quantification of tissue oxygenation.

My laboratory has led the use of coherent Raman imaging technologies in biomedicine, and was the first to apply it to the real-time visualization of lipids in skin, in vivo. I’ve led the development of a number of imaging devices and methods, including coherent Raman imaging, time-lapse optical coherence tomography, hyperspectral confocal microscopy, tissue clearing methods and “smart” sensing bandages, and currently hold 9 patents and patent applications. Our recent efforts in the synthesis of bright oxygen sensors has resulted in the creation of four new porphyrin molecules that are currently being translated for clinical use.

I received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University and completed my postdoctoral training under the supervision of Tayyaba Hasan and Johannes de Boer in the application of advanced microscopy to cancer research. I am an Assistant Professor at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine of Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a planning group member of the Harvard Ludwig Center. I am a Royce Fellow of Brown University and have received several awards, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.