Prof. Samuel Achilefu

Dr. Achilefu is Professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biophysics, as well as the Director of Optical Radiology Lab (ORL) at Washington University in St. Louis. The ORL uses a multidisciplinary approach to address important biomedical problems and provide interdisciplinary training to students and postdoctoral fellows. ORL is particularly interested in developing molecular systems and methods to detect diseases at early stages, prevent disease complications, and implement tailored therapeutic regimen. Areas of interest include molecular optical imaging of tumors and angiogenesis as well as the design and development of new molecular probes and nanomaterials for imaging the expression of aberrant genes, proteins, and other pathophysiologic processes. Specific delivery of imaging agents and drugs to target cell organelles or tissue is another area of interest. In addition, the research program involves the biological evaluation of the new materials to assess ligand trafficking in cells, cytotoxicity, cell proliferation, subcellular distribution, enzyme kinetics, and activation of specific molecular pathways in cells. Small animal molecular imaging of pathologic tissues with state-of-the-art optical imaging systems provides preclinical data before human studies. ORL is also interested in developing tissue-specific multi-modal imaging molecules that harness the strengths of optical with other imaging methods such as MRI and PET. Instrument development is a significant part of our research. The lab has a multidisciplinary team of investigators with expertise in a wide range of fields, including chemistry, molecular and cell biology, biochemistry, physics, engineering, veterinary medicine, pathology, and immunology. Collaboration with other labs and institutions is highly encouraged. Dr. Achilefu has published more than 150 scientific papers and received more than 50 US patents as an inventor. He is a Fellow of the SPIE.