Ph.D. Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, 2008
B.Sc. Physics, University of British Columbia, 2003
Our lab is developing medical imaging systems and protocols to provide improved treatment options to patients with cancer. Applications of our work include (1) helping surgeons better identify cancerous from non-cancerous tissue during resection operations, (2) providing more sensitive measures of cancer spread to tumor draining lymph nodes (both non-invasively and for biopsies), and (3) acquiring more accurate measures of the molecular environment of an individual’s cancer, so that the treatment can be tailored on a personalized level (commonly referred to a precision medicine). Our work predominantly employs optical imaging systems and agents; however, we are exploring adaptation of our innovations to clinical nuclear medicine imaging modalities as well.
Land Acknowledgment: I acknowledge that the Illinois Institute of Technology is located on the traditional homelands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations, collectively known as the Council of Three Fires. This land has also been home to the Myaamiaki(Miami), Hoocąk (Winnebago/Ho’Chunk), Menominee, and many other Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this region for generations. This land was taken through centuries of forced removals, broken treaties, and systemic dispossession. I honor the resilience and contributions of Indigenous communities past and present and acknowledge the continuing impact of colonization.