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About TERC: TERC Personnel
Irene Georgakoudi, Tufts University
 Contact info:
Irene Georgakoudi
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Science and Technology Center - Room 245
Medford, MA 02155
Phone: 617-627-4353
Fax: 617-627-3231
Email: irene.georgakoudi@tufts.edu
Research interest:
Research efforts in my laboratory focus on the development of novel optical methods for "looking" at cells and tissues so that we can understand better the basic processes involved in disease progression and regression and improve the ways we use to detect and treat human disease. Optical spectroscopic imaging techniques offer an ideal tool for understanding how different biological units are brought together and communicate as they determine our state of health or disease. Their main advantage stems from their non-invasive nature, which allows us to examine cells and tissues in their native state, without interfering in important biochemical functions and without disturbing the dynamic interactions between different units of a cell or an organ. Using a combination of methods, such as fluorescence and light scattering, we can acquire information on biochemistry, morphology and structure. Our approach involves the development of new instrumentation and model-based data analysis methods which allow us to study specific biomedical problems. One exciting aspect of this work is that it is relatively straightforward to transfer the knowledge we gain from the lab to the clinic, since our techniques are based on the characterization of intrinsic sources of optical contrast (i.e. they do not rely on the administration of exogenous chromophores) and we use safe levels of irradiation.
The first area that we focus on involves characterization of the intrinsic light scattering and fluorescence properties of epithelial cell cahnges that are associated with neoplastic transformation. We have shown that intrinsic fluorerscence and light scattering signals acquired in vivo from normal and precancerous lesions exhibit diagnostically useful differences. The aim of this project is to understand at a fundamental level the origins of these changes, which in turn may lead to further improvements in detecting and monitoring these lesions in vivo at an earlier, more effectively curable stage. This is a project we are performing in close collaboration with Dr. Karl Munger from Harvard Medical School, who has studied extensively the changes induced by HPV infection and has developed cell and in vitro tissue models for their study.
The second area of research in my group involves the development and use of in vivo flow cytometry as a new non-invasive method for detecting and monitoring circulating cells. Thus, cells can be examined without the need to draw a blood sample, without affecting the cell and host physiology and as frequently as needed. We have already demonstrated the feasibility of fluorescence based in vivo flow cytometry (FIVFC) and its use in addressing fundamental questions related to tumor metastasis. To further develop this technology, we are forging collaborations with tumor biologists and clinicians at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Tufts Sackler School of Medicine.
The third area of research that I plan to pursue is the use of advanced imaging technologies, such as confocal, two-photon and second harmonic generation imaging, for the characterization of engineered tissue scaffolds and in vivo tissues during cancer progression and metastasis.
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