Heather Clark, Ph.D.
Director, School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering
Olin Endowed Chair
Arizona State University
Seminar Information
My group is currently working at the interface of chemistry and biology to develop and apply novel nanoscale probes for biological measurements. In order to fulfill our goal of chemical imaging deep in the body (brain, central nervous system, circulatory system) we are we are tailoring our sensors to be compatible with advanced imaging techniques (diffuse in vivo flow cytometry, photoacoustics, or MRI) to image deep in the body. Ultimately, we will use the probes to image specific chemical processes and biomarkers in the brain/body, in real-time. I will discuss two projects that image acetylcholine in the body. The first will maximize measurement sensitivity and spatial information by using a fluorescent sensor. The second project is being developed to minimize invasiveness by the use of MR-active imaging agents.
Heather Clark is the Director of the School for Biological and Health Systems Engineering at Arizona State University and an Associate Editor at ACS Sensors. Previously, she was a Professor at Northeastern University where she was the Founding Director of the Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems. She received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Michigan and completed a postdoc in the Center for Cell Analysis & Modeling at the University of Connecticut Health Center. She is a AIMBE Fellow and has received awards for both research and teaching, including the DARPA Young Faculty Award. Her work has been featured in a live CNN interview, the Wall Street Journal, WIRED magazine and MIT Technology Review.