UNC-CH Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

Kevin Eliceiri, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Multiscale Imaging of Cellular Microenvironments”

Over the last thirty years the field of Biophotonics, the study of the interaction between light and biological material, has exploded with the advent of advanced labeling and optical imaging technologies that allow for unprecedented imaging resolution with high specificity in cellular and animal models. A major strength of optical imaging is the broad range of scales that are possible, from single molecules to cells. Moreover, the modern tools of fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging are able to bridge cellular studies in a dish to cells and molecules in animal models. However, optical approaches have largely failed to translate to the clinical setting. While this is partially due to the emerging nature of these approaches, the majority of these techniques either do not yet have the depth penetration needed for clinical imaging, or require exogenous labels that are not yet validated in the clinical environment. Despite the clear complementary potential of optical approaches to traditional PET and MRI methods by coupling high resolution and research models with depth penetration and clinical validation, such multimodal approaches are uncommon and not yet used clinically. New techniques that could combine the micron level spatial resolution of optics with the millimeter depth visualization of medical imaging are needed and have great potential. Three collaborative multiscale efforts will be the focus of this talk: 1) Multiscale Imaging instrumentation development 2) Bridge between biomedical and basic researchers and their research models 3) Multiscale Visualization and computational strategies.