 |
Science and Technology Center, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA. 02155 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Principal Investigator: Sergio Fantini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About the Group Research Areas People Posters Publications by Topic Patents Contact Us Home |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tufts University | School of Engineering | Department of Biomedical Engineering | Maps & Directions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| © 2012 Diffuse Optical Imaging Group, Tufts University. Site designed and maintained by ITS. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Angelo Sassaroli is currently a research
assistant professor working with Prof. Fantini.
He graduated from the University of Florence
(Italy) in April 1996. He received his PhD in
Physics from the University of
Electro-Communication in Tokyo, Japan. He has
been helping Prof. Fantini in supervising
several projects: optical mammography,
small-tissue oxygenation measurements, and
peripheral nerves studies. He has been
particularly involved in brain imaging studies,
including data collection and analysis. He has
collaborated with McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA
on concurrent studies of fMRI and fNIRS. In his
free time, he likes running and doing Yoga.
Jana Kainerstorfer is a postdoctoral associate
in Prof. Fantini’s lab. She is originally from
Vienna, Austria, where she received her M.Sc.
degree in Physics from the University of Vienna
in 2007 and her PhD in 2010, from the same
department. Her thesis topic was on non-contact
multi-spectral imaging of the skin and her
dissertation research was performed at the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) in
collaboration with the Medical University of
Vienna, Austria. Her current work includes
optical mammography and optical brain imaging.
In addition to Prof. Fantini’s lab, she is
working in the lab of Prof. Fiorenzo Omenetto on
silk optics.
Bertan Hallacoglu
is a Ph.D. candidate in Prof. Fantini’s Diffuse
Optics Lab. He has a B.S. in Electronic
Engineering (2005) and a M.S. in Electrical
Engineering (2009), respectively from Wentworth
Institute of Technology and Tufts University.
Prior to his graduate studies, he has served as
a Systems Engineer at GE Global Signaling (2005
– 2007). Bertan has been working in the Diffuse
Optics Lab since 2008. His current research
focuses on developing non-invasive near-infrared
measurement and analysis techniques to robustly
and reliably evaluate absolute cerebral blood
volume and oxygenation in the human brain.
Michele
Pierro is a Ph.D. student in Prof. Fantini’s
lab. He was born and raised in Turin, a
wonderful city in the northern part of Italy. He
received both his B.S. and his M.S in Biomedical
Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino,
respectively in 2006 and 2008. Following his
great passion for the biomedical field, he
started his research experience in muscle
skeletal diseases at the Faculty of Medicine and
Surgery of the University of Turin. In 2009
Michele moved to the States to start his PhD
work at Tufts University in the Diffuse Optical
Imaging Group of Professor Fantini. His current
project involves the study of functional
connectivity of the brain by means of the NIRS
technology. In his leisure time Michele likes
running and working out. During the winter
season he loves skiing.
Pami Anderson is a Ph.D. student in Professor Fantini’s lab. She is from Carlisle,
Massachusetts, a small town in the Boston
suburbs. For her undergraduate degree she went
to Duke University where she studied Biomedical
and Mechanical Engineering. As an undergrad,
Pami did work in an ultrasound lab working with
tissue mimicking phantoms. After graduating in
2011, she started at Tufts with an interest in
staying in the imaging research field and joined
Professor Fantini’s group. She is currently
working on the optical mammography system. Pami
also loves watching and playing basketball. 
Gillian Emma Madden is a PhD student in Prof. Fantini’s lab. She was born in Cork, a city in
the south of Ireland. She earned a BSc (Honours)
in Applied Physics and Instrumentation in Cork
Institute of Technology in 2007 and in her final
year became increasingly interested in optics
and photonics when she completed a project
entitled “Laser Doppler Velocimetry” in Tyndall
National Institute, Cork. In 2008, she commenced
an MSc in Tyndall National Institute in the
field of pump-probe spectroscopy which led to an
MSc thesis entitled “Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics
of an InAs/GaAs Semiconductor Quantum Dot
Absorber”. Gillian moved to Boston in September
2011 to join Prof. Fantini’s group. Her research
interests are in the area of biomedical optics
and imaging of the brain. In her leisure time,
Gillian likes to do yoga and dancing.
Roni Cantor-Balan is a Ph.D student at Prof.
Fantini’s Lab. Originally from Israel, Roni got
her B.S in biomedical engineering in 2006 from
Tel Aviv University, focusing on biomedical
optics. Prior to her studies Roni served as an
Intelligence Officer for 4 years at the IDF.
Following her bachelor’s degree Roni became the
Optical Coating Department Manager and main
design engineer at Raicol Crystals, dealing with
non-linear optics. Together with her husband,
Roni moved to the U.S to pursue her Ph.D. degree
in biomedical engineering and joined the Diffuse
Optical Imaging Group at Tufts University.
Roni’s research project deals with developing an
optical mammography method – a non-invasive
imaging tool to detect breast cancer. Roni holds
a private pilot license, enjoys yoga and is a
big animal lover. 
Geethika Weliwitigoda is a M.S. student in
Professor Fantini's lab. After living in
various places around the world ranging from
Europe to Asia, he moved to the United States at
the age of 7. He graduated from Syracuse
University in 2010 with a B.S. in Bioengineering
with a specializiation in instrumentation and a
minor in Electrical Engineering. During his
stay in Syracuse, he worked for the Syracuse
Research Corporation (SRC) as an undergratuate
student intern and worked on bistatic radar
mapping simulations. After working closely with
the radiology department of SUNY Upstate Medical
University for his senior thesis, he realized
that his interests and passion lie primarily
with medical imaging. Gee has been working for
the Difuse Optical Imaging Group at Tufts
University as of 2011 and his current research
focuses on the depth discrimination of blood
vessels in breast tissue using Diffuse Optics.
In his spare time he likes going to the gym and
biking.
Elleesse Pillas is an MS candidate working in
Professor Fantini’s lab. He studied Physics as
an undergraduate in De La Salle University
(Manila, Philippines), graduating in 2008.
Arriving in the US in 2010, he decided to
further his education while indulging his
fascination with the behavior of light in matter
by enrolling in Tufts’ Biomedical Engineering
program. His research currently explores the
behavior of near-infrared light in a layered
model of human tissue with the overall aim of
obtaining concentrations of oxyhemoglobin [HbO]
and deoxyhemoglobin [Hb] in blood
non-invasively. 
