About this Event
111 Research Dr., Bethlehem, PA 18015
View map
We cordially invite you to "Light on the Mountaintop", a biweekly seminar series on optical imaging techniques and applications in science, engineering, and medicine. This week's talk is
"Imaging & Monitoring Far Below the Tissue Surface with Diffusing Light"
Presented by:
Arjun Yodh, Ph.D.
James M. Skinner Professor of Science and Chair
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Pennsylvania
Date: Monday, October 6, 2025
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: Iacocca Hall, Governor's Suite
or via Zoom (please email jul724@lehigh.edu for zoom link)
The Organizing Committee:
Lifang He (Computer Science), Chenshu Liu (Biology), Ju Lu (Biology), H. Daniel Ou-Yang (Physics), Will Xia (Bioengineering), Xiaoji Xu (Chemistry)
Abstract of the Talk:
Diffusing light in the near infrared spectral part of the spectrum can be used to quantitatively probe physiology of tissues located far below body surfaces. After traversing through tissue, the emerging light fields contain a wealth of diagnostic information about blood flow, blood oxygenation, and oxygen metabolism, about molecular biomarkers such as cytochrome-C oxidase, lipid, and water. From these biomarkers, metrics of tissue health can obtained. I will introduce the essential diffuse optics measurement tools and paradigms. Then I will discuss selected clinical and pre-clinical examples that we have investigated with our collaborators. Depending on time, this will include studies of brain metabolism and flow autoregulation, cancer monitoring, placental health, and more.
Biosketch of Dr. Yodh:
Arjun G. Yodh is the James M. Skinner Professor of Science and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). He was recently Director (2009-2020) of Penn’s Materials Science and Engineering Center (NSF-MRSEC) and its Laboratory for the Research on the Structure of Matter. Areas of his current research include: Biophotonics, especially functional imaging and monitoring of living tissues with diffuse light for which he was awarded the 2021 Feld Biophotonics Prize of the Optical Society of America (now Optica), the physics of Soft Matter such as colloids and liquid crystals, and Optical Sciences. In addition to mentoring more than one hundred PhD students and post-doctoral associates, Yodh has made significant contributions to education and outreach at Penn, for example leading partnerships with the University of Puerto Rico and research experience programs for undergraduates and high school students/teachers. Yodh graduated from Cornell University (1981) with a B.Sc. in Applied & Engineering Physics. He obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard (1986) under the guidance of Tom Mossberg, and he then spent two years at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a post-doc working with Steven Chu and Harry Tom. Yodh joined the faculty at Penn in 1988, where he has remained for his entire career.
