The hybrid in-person and virtual event brought together leading biophotonic researchers from 13 institutions, some from as far away as Germany. The goal was to exchange ideas, foster collaboration, and celebrate the launch of NCIBT at UC Davis.
Laura Marcu is the director of NCIBT and a professor in the UC Davis College of Engineering’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. “The mission of our center is to promote public health by developing new light-based imaging tools that provide essential information during critical medical procedures,” Marcu said.
Laura Marcu, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Biomedical Engineering, is the director of NCIBT.
New method for diagnosing, treating disease
The field of biophotonics combines the biology of living tissue and the physics of light photons. It is a promising source of imaging technologies for guiding surgical and interventional medical procedures. The light-based imaging methods being created have the potential to transform how diseases are diagnosed, managed, and treated.
Two optical imaging technologies are being developed at UC Davis. The first is interventional fluorescence lifetime imaging (iFLIM). The second is interferometric diffuse optical spectroscopy (iDOS). Both measure fluctuations in how light is diffused, absorbed, or emitted by the body’s tissues.
Our goal is to promote awareness and understanding of the center’s technology by both scientists and clinicians. We hope that their use of NCIBT imaging tools will help improve patient outcomes in numerous common diseases."—Griffith R. Harsh IV
Training and dissemination of the technology central to the center’s mission
In addition to research and development, NCIBT will support training and education in biophotonic technologies and promote their clinical use.
Griffith R. Harsh IV, professor and former chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at UC Davis Health, is the deputy director and training leader of NCIBT. “Our goal is to promote awareness and understanding of the center’s technology by both scientists and clinicians. We hope that their use of NCIBT imaging tools will help improve patient outcomes in numerous common diseases,” Harsh said.
Currently located at the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility on the Davis campus, NCIBT will move to UC Davis’ Aggie Square in Sacramento upon its completion in 2024.
