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Work supported by the National Science Foundation
Cooperative Agreement No. PHY-0120999. |
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Greetings!
 The months of March and April were filled with travel, hosting visitors at our Center, and coordinating our Annual Spring Science Workshop. We are now preparing for our Annual NSF Site Visit at the beginning of June.
In March, the NSF Director Dr. Arden Bement and UC Davis Chancellor Katehi visited CBST, where we shared with them the Center's successes in our Science & Technology, Education, and Knowledge Transfer Programs. At the end of March, I was an invited speaker for the 2nd Annual Invest in Photonics conference in Bordeaux, France. I reviewed the biophotonics industry, upcoming high value technologies and their applications, as well as their commercialization potential.
In early April, we organized our Annual CBST Spring Science Workshop, which was held at the M.I.N.D. Institute on the UCD Health System campus. We invited all CBST faculty researchers, graduate students and postdocs to UCD for a day of presentations, a poster session, and networking. I was on the road again in mid-April, headed to Brussels, Belgium for Photonics Europe and a Biophotonics4Life (BP4L) Worldwide Consortium Node Leaders meeting. The BP4L Node Leaders and Co-Chairs are actively engaged in connecting the worldwide community of biophotonics researchers, students, educators, and we discussed about both the challenges and the opportunities that lay ahead.
We are now preparing for our annual site review which occurs June 2-3. We will again bring together all our researchers in order to review our progress towards our legacy projects as well as our strategies for sustainability.
~Dennis Matthews, Ph.D. CBST Director |
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Autofluorescence Method and Optical Fiber Probe System
Dr. Rajesh Raman, a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. Stavros Demos at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is involved in a project evaluating the non-invasive monitoring of tissue response to ischemia (the condition of inadequate blood flow to a region of tissue resulting in oxygen deprivation), and subsequent reperfusion (the restoration of blood flow). Currently, neither the amount of ischemic injury incurred (e.g. in cadaveric donor tissue, during the transplantation process, or as a result of traumatic injury) nor the return of tissue function upon medical intervention, is measurable in the transplant or trauma clinic where timely decisions on tissue resuscitation need to be made. To address this problem, Dr. Stavros Demos' laboratory has developed an autofluorescence method and optical fiber probe system [1,2] to monitor the response of tissue optical properties to ischemia and reperfusion. The system employs two UV excitation laser sources: one at 355 nm to excite primarily NADH (a molecule directly involved in cellular metabolism), and the other at 266 nm to excite primarily tryptophan (a molecule not involved in metabolism and therefore utilized as a reference). This method can identify injured rat kidneys (within hours of reperfusion), which are very likely to fail (signs of which are observed typically days after the injury).
References:
1. R.N. Raman, C.D. Pivetti, D.L. Matthews, C. Troppmann, and S.G. Demos, "A non-contact method and instrumentation to monitor renal ischemia and reperfusion with optical spectroscopy," Opt Express 17, 894-905 (2009)
2. R.N. Raman, C.D. Pivetti, D.L. Matthews, C. Troppmann, and S.G. Demos, "Quantification of in vivo autofluorescence dynamics during renal ischemia and reperfusion under 355 nm excitation," Opt Express 16, 4930-4944 (2008)
Contact Information:
Rajesh Raman, Ph. D., Postdoctoral Researcher
Condensed Matter and Materials Division
Lawrence Livermore National Lab
7000 East Ave, L-353
Livermore, CA 94550
Tel: (925) 423-2050
Email: raman4@llnl.gov |
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Meet the Researcher - Dr. Stavros Demos
 Dr. Stavros Demos is currently a Staff Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA within the Condensed Matter and Materials Division. Dr. Demos also holds the position as a Professional Researcher at the Department of Urology, University of California, Davis. His training is in Physics where he received his B.S. from the University of Ioannina, Greece and his Ph.D. from the City University of New York. Dr. Demos' research focuses on the following:
- Interaction of lasers with optical materials, - Nonradiative processes in laser materials, - Optical properties of defects in high power laser materials, - Laser material processing, - Laser-induced damage in optical materials, - Photonic applications in medicine, - Subsurface imaging and lesion assessment in tissues, and - Optical methods for in vivo tissue diagnostics. - Hyperspectral and time resolved microscopy To read more, please click on https://www.llnl.gov/str/Demos.html and https://str.llnl.gov/OctNov09/awardsOctNov09.html.
Published Writing and/or Creative Activities:
Journal articles :92 (abbreviated list below)
Chapters / Articles in Books: 101
Abstracts and Presentations: more than 150
1. R. A. Negres, M. D. Feit, and S. G. Demos, "Dynamics of material modifications following laser-breakdown in bulk fused silica", Optics Express, in press.
2. B. Lin, S. Urayama, R. M. G. Saroufeem, D. L. Matthews, S. G. Demos, "Real-time microscopic imaging of esophageal epithelial disease with autofluorescence under ultraviolet excitation", Optics Express, 17, 12502-12509, 2009.
3. Rajesh N. Raman, Christopher D. Pivetti, Alexander M. Rubenchik, Dennis L. Matthews, Christoph Troppmann, and Stavros G. Demos, "Evaluation of the contribution of the renal capsule and cortex to kidney autofluorescence intensity under ultraviolet excitation", Journal Biomedical Optics, 14, 020505-1, 2009.
4. Negres, R. A., M. W. Burke, P. P. DeMange, S. B. Sutton,, M. D. Feit, and S. G. Demos, "Evaluation of UV absorption coefficient in laser-modified fused silica," Applied Physics 90, 061115 (2007).
5. Lieber, C., S. Urayama, N. Rahim, R. Tu, R. Saroufeem, B. Reubner, and S. Demos, "Multimodal near infrared spectral imaging as an exploratory tool for dysplastic esophageal lesion identification," Optics Express14, 2211-2219 (2006).
6. DeMange, P., R. A. Negres, A. M. Rubenchik, H. B. Radousky, M. D. Feit, and S. G. Demos, "Understanding and predicting the damage performance of KDxH2-xPO4 crystals under simultaneous exposure to 532- and 355-nm pulses," Applied Physics Letters 89, 181922 (2006).
7. Demos, S. G., A. J. Vogel, and A. H. Gandjbakhche, "Advances in Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging of Breast Lesions," Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia 11, 165-181 (2006).
8. Jason T. Fitzgerald, Andromachi Michalopoulou, Christopher D. Pivetti , Rajesh N. Raman, Christoph Troppmann, Stavros G. Demos, "Real-time Assessment of in vivo Renal Ischemia Using Laser Autofluorescence Imaging", Journal of Biomedical Optics, 10, 044018 1-7, 2005
9. Stavros G. Demos, Regina Gandour-Edwards, Rajen Ramsamooj, Ralph deVere White, "Spectroscopic detection of bladder cancer using near infrared imaging techniques",. Journal of Biomedical Optics 9, 767-771, 2004
10. C.W. Carr, H.B. Radousky, A.M. Rubenchik, M.D. Feit, S.G. Demos "Localized dynamics during laser-induced damage in optical materials", Physical Review Letters, 92, 087401-1, 2004.
Selected Patents Highlighted out of 20:
Patent application title: SIMULTANEOUS ACQUISITION OF DIFFERING IMAGE TYPES
Patent application number: 20100020319
Patent application title: PORTABLE LASER SYNTHESIZER FOR HIGH-SPEED MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SPECTROSCOPY
Contact:
Stavros Demos, PhD
Research Scientist
Condensed Matter and Materials Division
Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore,
California, 94550
Tel:
(925) 423-3388
Email:demos1@llnl.gov
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| CBST Education Highlights | |
CBST Education Team presented at the 16th Annual "College: Making It Happen!" Event at CSU Sacramento
Dr. Marco Molinaro with students and their families at the
"Make It Happen!" Event.  | The CBST education team presented at the 16th Annual - College: Making It Happen! event at California State University, Sacramento on March 20th. This half day event is packed with workshops for 6th through 9th grade students and their families, and provides practical and easy-to-understand information on how to prepare academically and financially for college. The annual free event is a collaborative effort with Los Rios Community College District, UC Davis Academic Preparation Programs, Sacramento Cal-SOAP (California Student Opportunity Access Program) Consortium, and other community and educational organizations. Dr. Marco Molinaro and two undergraduates in the ET-CURE program, Ngabo Nzigira and Teresa Williams, shared their research experiences and spoke to the interdisciplinary field of biophotonics. Cal-SOAP Project Director Monica Roberts reviewed the many education pathways and career choices. For more information on College Making it Happen please see: http://webapps2.csus.edu/cmih/default.aspx. |
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Exploring Light and Life
Have you ever tried shining a laser in extra virgin olive oil? I know, it's an unusual question. Well, we have, and the picture below is what you get! Fluorescence and Olive Oil  | You might wonder, how can green light turn red then back to green? The magic is fluorescence - high energy green light in and low energy red light out. But what's the magic ingredient you ask? Chlorophyll! It was found in those green olives that were pressed to make the delicious olive oil - yum! |
| CBST Knowledge Transfer Highlights | |
NSF Director Dr. Arden Bement and UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi Tour CBST
As the first speaker in the Chancellor's Colloquium Distinguished Speaker Series on March 5, 2010, Dr. Arden L. Bement addressed the UC Davis audience on a theme near and dear to our heart: "Innovation: An Old American Virtue, A New American Imperative". His daylong visit to UC Davis included a tour of the CBST laboratories and presentations about the NSF-sponsored Center's Science & Technology, Education, and Knowledge Transfer programs. CBST Graduate student, Gregory McNerney, and postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Kaiqin Chu, explaining the OMX instrument to NSF Director, Dr. Arden Bement, during his tour of the CBST laboratories.  |
Dr. Bement was most interested to observe the OMX superresolution microscope, the world's most powerful wide-field fluorescence imaging platform whose development NSF supported via a Major Research Instrumentation grant.
In his talk, Dr. Bement called for local "innovation ecosystems" with feedback loops, information exchange and problem solving between industry, academia and government, and cited CBST to point out that UC Davis has the experience and know-how necessary to cultivate this ecosystem.
For more information, visit http://www.ucdavis.edu/spotlight/0310/how_america_can_compete.html or contact Gabriela Lee at Gabriela.Lee@cbst.ucdavis.edu. |
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UC Davis Wins NSF Grant to Launch Medical Technology Commercialization Clinic
The 2-year, $600,000 Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) grant will be used to develop the Medical Technology Commercialization Clinic, a multidisciplinary and collaborative program that will help bring university-developed technologies closer to market. At the same time, the program will provide an important framework for hands-on education of students, including those from underrepresented groups, and faculty in the strategies required to convert research discoveries to marketable products. Claire Pomeroy, UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Human Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine will lead the project as principal investigator; Dennis Matthews, CBST Director, Arnold Burger of Fisk University (Nashville, TN) and Warren Smith of CSUS are co-investigators. Past research and education collaborations between CBST and Fisk University, a Minority Serving Institution with a reputation of successfully educating students from underrepresented groups who go on to pursue advanced degrees, and past PFI awardee, provided the basis for the new grant. The partnership includes UC Davis, Fisk University, California State University at Sacramento, Los Rios Community College District, Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) and its MedStart Initiative, PRIDE Industries, T2 Venture Capital, Wavepoint Ventures and the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento. For more information, please contact Gabriela Lee, MBA, MS, Director of
Partnerships and New Program Development, who manages the program.
Contact: Gabriela.Lee@cbst.ucdavis.edu, 916-734-1775. |
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CBST Faculty Member, Professor Susan Spiller of Mills College, Receives NSF BES Grant
Professor Susan Spiller of Mills College in Oakland, CA, a long-time member of CBST, received a NSF BES (Division of Bioengineering & Environmental Systems) grant to conduct a project titled "Development of Bioengineered Cyanobacteriochromes for in vivo Fluorescence Tagging". This project, effective April 15, 2010 through March 31, 2013, will build on Professor Spiller's past collaboration with Dr. Clark Lagarias from CBST. Together, their laboratories plan to engineer red fluorescent tags for use in mammalian cells. The goal is to image a red fluorescent-tagged cytoskeleton during infection so that understanding the infection process will suggest therapeutic protocols. Over the past 8 years, students from Mills College (~30 students) have participated in the foundation work for this research, which had been made possible through a NSF-funded subaward from CBST as well as through support from Dr. Clark Lagarias. For this particular three year NSF BES grant, approximately 20 Mills College undergraduate students in bioengineering will be participating. Dr. Susan Spiller and Mills College students from CBST's 2010 Spring Science Workshop. Pictured from L to R: Stephanie Kwong, Professor Spiller, Rosa Meza-Acevedo, Christina Kwong, and Steffi Zarifis (pictured in front)  |
Contact Information:Susan C. Spiller,
Associate Professor of Biology Mail and Copy Center, MC 37
Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, CA 94613 Tel: 510 430-3175, Fax: 510 430-3304 Email: spiller@mills.eduProfessional Interests: Physiology and molecular biology of plants and photosynthetic bacteria |
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May 19 - SARTA's Leadership Series: "Hop on the Economic Recovery Train- Workforce Planning" (When the train leaves the station, will you and your workforce be ready?) (8:30 - 11:30 AM)
Sponsored by: Drexel University Center for Graduate Studies
Registration, breakfast and networking from 8:30-9:00 a.m.
Location: Drexel University, One Capitol Mall, Suite 260, Sacramento, CA 95814
Cost: General Admission: $40; SARTA Members: $25
Price includes free parking for 4 hours at the One Capitol Mall Valet
Garage on 2nd Street (valued at $8) and a continental breakfast.
For member discount code, please email members@sarta.org
To read more, please click on http://www.sarta.org/go/sarta/news-events/events/sartas-leadership-series-may-2010/
May 19 - California Life Sciences Day - At the State Capitol Sacramento, California (8:30 AM to 6:30 PM)
Registration: Click here http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=840486 to register by Wednesday, May 12, 2010.
Cost: $75
Hotel Information: The Citizen Hotel, 926 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
To read more, please visit http://www.lifesciencesday.org/index.shtml.
May 25-27 - 12th Annual C21 BioVentures™Location: The Meritage Resort | Napa, California, USA
C21 BioVentures™ (C21) is the leading
conference where early stage innovators, investors and pharma partners
come together to do the deals that make 2010 the year of global
partnering. With a focus on private companies seeking investors and
pharma partners, C21 provides the best early stage opportunities for
partnering.
To read more, please click on http://www.techvision.com/c21/index.php?src=baybio
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| Grants and Funding Opportunities | |
Grants of Interest & UCD Limited Submissions
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| Thank You - Please Pass Along |
We'll be sending out our CBST Newsletters once/month. Please send your comments and suggestions to amy.gryshuk@cbst.ucdavis.edu. We look forward to staying in touch and welcome news/highlights from your organization for inclusion in future newsletters.
Please forward our CBST Newsletter along by CLICKING on the FORWARD EMAIL hyperlink at the bottom of this newsletter. |
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Sincerely,
Director of New Ventures / UC Discovery Fellow
NSF Center for Biophotonics Science & Technology (CBST)
2700 Stockton Blvd., Suite 1400, Sacramento, CA 95817
TEL (916)734-0785; FAX (916)703-5012
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