When
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Title
Endogenous Contrast Nonlinear Microscopy for High-Resolution 3D Functional Imaging of Living Tissues
Abstract
Label-free, non-linear optical techniques provide unique insights into biological systems by exploiting multiphoton processes that offer intrinsic chemical and structural contrast. In particular, two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) intensity and lifetime imaging enable direct measurement of cellular metabolic function through endogenous fluorophores such as NAD(P)H and FAD. Combined with second harmonic generation (SHG), which probes the ordered structure of non-centrosymmetric molecules like collagen, these methods reveal complementary information about extracellular matrix organization and biomechanics. Integrating quantitative image analysis with detailed spectroscopic approaches, we map metabolic states and structural changes across multiple scales and biological contexts. In this talk, I will present how TPEF and SHG—applied to a wide range of samples from engineered brain tissue models to living humans—can uncover critical functional parameters without the artifacts introduced by exogenous labels. I will also highlight how these new capabilities can ultimately offer new paradigms for detecting, treating, and monitoring a wide range of processes, from normal aging to cancer.
Bio
Irene Georgakoudi joined the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in June 2024, as Professor and co-director of the Translational Engineering in Cancer program at the Dartmouth Cancer Center. She studied Physics at Dartmouth College, and Biophysics at the University of Rochester. She was introduced to label-free, optical diagnostics as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT and continued to pursue this line of research as an independent investigator at Tufts University, after being an Instructor at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Her work focuses on the development and application of imaging modalities that exploit endogenous light scattering and fluorescence contrast to characterize quantitatively tissue function and morphology to improve understanding, diagnosis, and monitoring of human diseases. She has over 140 peer reviewed publications and holds several patents on optical technologies that assess cell and tissue properties. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Optica, and SPIE.
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