Boston Chapter of the IEEE Photonics Society

Abstract:  Interferometry is a useful method for measuring small features and displacements with light. This is also true in biomedical research, where it is used to characterize complex and diverse nanoscale structures from all across the phylogenic tree of life. In this talk I will highlight a technique called interferometric reflectance imaging and describe several applications in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. These applications include rapid detection and size measurements of biological nanoparticles such as viruses and extracellular vesicles and ultra-sensitive assays for nucleic acid biomarkers of antimicrobial drug resistance and metastatic cancer.

Biography:  Derin Sevenler is a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boston University. He received his BS (2011) in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University, and his PhD (2017) in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. His research is focused on designing new molecular diagnostic technologies using principles from nano-optics and applying them to address current challenges in treating cancer and infectious disease.