On Friday, April 8th @ 11:00AM ET, we welcome Prof. Srivalleesha "Valli" Mallidi from Tufts University as she presents, "Multi-parametric, nanotechnology enabled ultrasound guided photoacoustic imaging for treatment guidance, dosimetry and tumor recurrence prediction."

ABOUT THE SEMINAR

Multi-parametric, nanotechnology enabled ultrasound guided photoacoustic imaging for treatment guidance, dosimetry and tumor recurrence prediction

For personalizing effective treatment strategies it is paramount to understand the dynamic changes in the microenvironment as the tumor adapts or surrenders to a therapeutic insult. Towards this goal, we present the utility of non-invasive 3D ultrasound guided photoacoustic imaging (PAI) to understand the tumor functional and molecular heterogeneity in addition to predicting local recurrence. Photoacoustic imaging, as a nomenclature suggests, involves generation of acoustic signals by irradiating tissue with nanosecond laser pulses and it offers functional information with high sensitivity on par with optical imaging at deeper penetration depths. In the first part of the talk, I will present utility of PAI for monitoring photodynamic therapy (PDT), a photochemistry-based treatment modality, with 3D atlas of the changes in tumor blood oxygen saturation (endogenous contrast) and its correlation to tumor recurrence. In the second part of the talk, I will present utility of PAI in obtaining molecular maps of cancer biomarkers such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), with molecular targeted gold nanoparticles and drug antibody conjugates (exogenous contrast). Finally I will present long term strategy and directions on pushing the envelope of ultrasound-guided PAI as an important preclinical and clinical tool in tumor diagnosis, selection of customized patient-specific treatment, monitoring the therapeutic progression and overall treatment outcome.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Srivalleesha Mallidi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University

Srivalleesha Mallidi received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.  Dr. Mallidi master’s thesis involved custom designing ultrasound based multi-modality imaging systems while her doctoral work explored the utility of surface plasmon resonance properties of spherical gold nanoparticles for early detection of cancer and probing nano-molecular interactions. After graduation, she joined Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital as a NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral. She has received several young investigator awards from national and international conferences. She currently directs the integrated Bifunctional imaging and Therapeutics lab (iBIT Lab) at Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University. Her research interests are in the fields of ultrasound imaging, photoacoustic imaging, image-guided therapeutics, photodynamic therapy and combination treatments.

ABOUT THE 2021-2022 BME SEMINAR SERIES

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University is proud to host an annual weekly seminar series on the latest developments and research in Biomedical Engineering. The weekly series takes place on Friday mornings at 11:00AM Eastern and includes a variety of renowned academics from top universities to talk about their specific research and experience. This is a hybrid event.