Samuel Achilefu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Obingwa, Nigeria |
| Alma mater | University of Nancy Oxford University |
| Known for | CancerVision Goggle |
| Awards | Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award St. Louis Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cancer Imaging Cancer Therapy |
| Institutions | Washington University School of Medicine |
Samuel Achilefu is a Nigerian-born scientist and medical researcher [1] who has pioneered both fundamental and applied research in science, engineering, and medicine. [2] Dr. Samuel Achilefu is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he holds the Lyda Hill Distinguished University Chair in Biomedical Engineering. [3] [4] He is also Professor of Radiology and a member of the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before joining UT Southwestern, he was the Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Professor of Radiology [5] and Vice Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine. [6] He held joint appointments as a professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and biomedical engineering. [7] He also served as the Director of the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center [8] and the privately funded Theranostic Innovation Program and was co-director of the Center for Multiple Myeloma Nanotherapy and co-Leader of the Oncologic Imaging Program of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University. [9]
Achilefu is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors as well as many professional societies, [10] including the Royal Society of Chemistry,[ citation needed ] American Association for the Advancement of Science, [11] the Optical Society of America, [12] the International Society for Optics and Photonics Engineers (SPIE), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the St. Louis Academy of Science. [13] A member of the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NACBIB) and the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute’s intramural Molecular Imaging Program, he also serves as Editor-in-Chief of Current Analytical Chemistry and an editorial board member of many scientific publications. Dr. Achilefu is a former trustee of Loma Linda University in California. He was a member of the College of Reviewers for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and served as a member and chair of grant review panels for the NIH, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Achilefu earned his PhD from the University of Nancy in France as a French Government Scholar and his postdoctoral training at Oxford University in England. [14]
He was recruited from Oxford to St. Louis to work for Mallinckrodt Medical in 1993 and joined the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in 2001, [15] where he established the more than 80-member Optical Radiology program at the School of Medicine.
Achilefu is an expert in the development and use of light-sensitive drugs for cancer detection, imaging, and therapy. Recently, he conceived and led the development of a novel wearable cancer viewing goggles for the accurate removal of cancer cells during surgery. [16] The cancer goggle works on the principle of optical imaging. Optical imaging enables real-time visualization of intrinsic and exogenous contrast within biological tissues.[ citation needed ] Cancer goggles are designed to make it easier for surgeons to distinguish malignant cells from healthy cells, helping to ensure that no stray tumor cells are left behind during surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.[ citation needed ] He also discovered a novel treatment paradigm for cancer using a special type of light and non-pharmacological doses of drugs to selectively trigger cancer cell death without harming healthy tissue. These and many other innovations have resulted in 59 issued US patents and over 300 scientific papers. [17]
Achilefu has received over 30 local, national, and international honors and awards, including the Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award in 2019 at SPIE, [18] Distinguished Investigator Award in 2018 (Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research), [19] the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award in 2018 (Washington University), [20] Excellence in Healthcare Award in 2017 (St. Louis American), [21] the first Department of Defense Distinguished Investigator Award in 2016 (DoD Breast Cancer Research Program), [22] IEEE Donald G. Fink Award (2016), Outstanding Scientist Award in 2015 (St. Louis Academy of Science), Best Global Impact 2015 (Alive magazine), [23] St. Louis Innovator Award 2015, [24] the Medical Innovation Award in 2014 (St. Louis Business Journal), St. Louis Award in 2014 (St. Louis Award Committee), Featured Innovator 2014 (Bloomberg BusinessWeek), [25] Achiever Award 2008 (Blacks in Science), Extraordinary Performance Award 1998 (Mallinckrodt, Inc.), and Technical Innovation Award 1995 (Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc.).
Achilefu is featured in many public media. Representative examples include:
| 1995 | Technical Innovation Award, Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc. |
| 1998 | Extraordinary Performance Award, Mallinckrodt, Inc. |
| 2001-present | Editorial Board, Journal of Biomedical Optics |
| 2002-present | Co-Editor, Proceedings of the SPIE on Molecular Reporters/Probes for Biomedical Applications |
| 2004-2008 | Member, Microscopic Imaging Study Section, National Institute of Health (NIH) |
| 2004-2008 | Member, Breast Cancer and Era of Hope Scholars peer-review panels, Department of Health (DoD) |
| 2004-present | Member, Scientific Advisory Board, National Cancer Institute's Intramural Molecular Imaging Program |
| 2008 | Achiever Award, St. Louis Science Center |
| 2008 | Fellow, SPIE – International society for optics and photonics |
| 2009-2018 | Member, NIH Medical Imaging Study Section |
| 2010-2015 | Overseas Distinguished International Professor, China Pharmaceutical University |
| 2010 | Chair, Review Panel on Lung Cancer Research Program Collaborative Translational Research Award, CDMRP, DoD |
| 2011 | Chair, SBIR Molecular Imaging and Cell Biology Study Section, NIH |
| 2011 | SPIE Fellow, International Society for Optics and Photonics |
| 2011 | St Louis innovator award, Alive magazine 2011 |
| 2012-2016 | Member, Board of Trustees, Loma Linda University, CA |
| 2013-present | Editorial Board, Scientific Reports |
| 2014 | Medical Innovator Award, St. Louis Business Journal |
| 2014 | Inventor, Bloomberg BusinessWeek (March 2014) |
| 2014 | St. Louis Award |
| 2014 | Outstanding scientist fellow award, academy of Science |
| 2014-present | Editor-in-Chief, Current Analytical Chemistry |
| 2015 | St. Louis Innovator Award (Alive magazine) |
| 2015 | Best Global Impact Award, We Heart Stl |
| 2015 | Fellow, Academy of Science – St. Louis |
| 2016 | Donald G. Fink Award, IEEE |
| 2016 | Fellow, the Royal Society of Chemistry |
| 2017 | Fellow, Optical Society of America |
| 2017 | St. Louis American Excellence in Healthcare Award |
| 2018 | Fellow, National Academy of Inventors |
| 2018 | Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award |
| 2018 | Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| 2019 | Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award |
| 2019 | Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) |
| 2019 | SPIE Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award [43] |
| 2020 | Member, National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, NIH |
| 2020 | Fellow, Royal Society of Medicine |
References
SPIE is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It organizes technical conferences, trade exhibitions, and continuing education programs for researchers and developers in the light-based fields of physics, including: optics, photonics, and imaging engineering. The society publishes peer-reviewed scientific journals, conference proceedings, monographs, tutorial texts, field guides, and reference volumes in print and online. SPIE is especially well-known for Photonics West, one of the laser and photonics industry's largest combined conferences and tradeshows which is held annually in San Francisco. SPIE also participates as partners in leading educational initiatives, and in 2020, for example, provided more than $5.8 million in support of optics education and outreach programs around the world.
Michel Matthew Ter-Pogossian was an American medical physicist. He was professor of radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine for over 30 years. A pioneer in nuclear medicine, he is best known for his research on the positron emission tomography (PET). He is considered one of its creators and often referred to as the "father of PET."
Bruce J. Tromberg is an American photochemist and a leading researcher in the field of biophotonics. He is the director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Before joining NIH, he was Professor of Biomedical Engineering at The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and of Surgery at the School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine. He was the principal investigator of the Laser Microbeam and Medical Program (LAMMP), and the Director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at Irvine. He was a co-leader of the Onco-imaging and Biotechnology Program of the NCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at Irvine.
The University of Utah School of Medicine is located on the upper campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1905 and is currently the only MD-granting medical school in the state of Utah.
Carlos Alberto Pérez was an American radiation oncologist. He is well known for his contributions to the clinical management of patients, especially those with gynecologic tumors and carcinoma of the prostate, the breast and head and neck.
The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is a cancer treatment, research and education institution with six locations in the St. Louis area. Siteman is the only cancer center in Missouri and within 240 miles of St. Louis to be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Siteman is also the only area member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit alliance of 32 cancer centers dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of cancer care.
Michael W. Berns was an American biologist who was a professor of surgery and cell biology at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and an adjunct professor of bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego. Berns was a founder of the first Laser Microbeam Program (LAMP), the Beckman Laser Institute, the UCI Center for Biomedical Engineering, and the UCI Photonics Incubator.
Maryellen L. Giger, is an American physicist and radiologist who has made significant contributions to the field of medical imaging.
The Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), established 1931, is an academic radiology center associated with the Washington University School of Medicine, located within the Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to providing diagnostic and therapeutic patient-care services, the institute is a top research and education center. It employs over 140 academic staff and is among the top recipients of National Institutes of Health funding of radiology departments. The center provides radiology services to Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, as well as multiple other hospitals and outpatient centers in the St. Louis area. The center performs 700,000 examinations and procedures annually.
Tayyaba Hasan is a Professor of Dermatology at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Harvard Medical School. She is one of the inventors of Visudyne, a Food and Drug Administration approved treatment for age-related macular degeneration. She received the 2018 SPIE Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award.
Jason S. Lewis is a British radiochemist whose work relates to oncologic therapy and diagnosis. His research focus is a molecular imaging-based program focused on radiopharmaceutical development as well as the study of multimodality small- and biomolecule-based agents and their clinical translation. He has worked on the development of small molecules as well as radiolabeled peptides and antibodies probing the overexpression of receptors and antigens on tumors.
Georgia "Gina" D. Tourassi is the Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory health data sciences institute and adjunct Professor of radiology at Duke University. She works on biomedical informatics, computer-aided diagnosis and artificial intelligence (AI) in health care.
Anita Mahadevan-Jansen is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and holds the Orrin H. Ingram Chair in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Her research considers the development of optical techniques for clinical diagnosis and surgical guidance, particularly using Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy. She serves on the Board of Directors of SPIE, and is a Fellow of SPIE, The Optical Society, Society for Applied Spectroscopy, and the American Society for Lasers in Medicine and Surgery. She was elected to serve as the 2020 Vice President of SPIE. With her election, Mahadevan-Jansen joined the SPIE presidential chain and served as President-Elect in 2021 and the Society's President in 2022.
Nirmala (Nimmi) Ramanujam is an educator, innovator, and entrepreneur. Ramanujam is recognized for creating globally accessible technologies for women’s health related to cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. She is the Robert W. Carr Professor of Engineering and Professor of Cancer Pharmacology and Global Health at Duke University. She founded the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies in 2013 to catalyze impactful research, educational and community outreach activities that promote women’s health. In 2023, she won the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Technical Field Award, given annually for outstanding contributions to the field of Biomedical engineering. In 2019, she received the social impact Abie Award for making a positive impact on women, technology, and society. She was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2017. She founded Calla Health to commercialize technologies developed at the center. Further she has created a number of initiatives and consortia including WISH, (In)visible Organ and IGNITE to have far reaching impact in cervical cancer, reproductive health and engineering design education, respectively.
Audrey K. Ellerbee Bowden is an American engineer and Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips Chancellor's Faculty Fellow at Vanderbilt University, as well as an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. She is a Fellow of Optica, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).
Melissa Caroline Skala is an American biomedical engineer who is a professor at the Morgridge Institute for Research. Her research considers photonics-based technologies for personalised medical therapies. She is a Fellow of The Optical Society, SPIE and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Irene Georgakoudi is a Greek biophysicist and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University, where her work focuses on developing non-invasive medical imaging techniques based on optical spectroscopy for applications in medical diagnostics and therapeutics.
Pamela K. Woodard is an American cardiovascular physician who is the Hugh Monroe Wilson Professor of Radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022.
Amir Amini is the Professor and Endowed Chair in Bioimaging at the University of Louisville. Prior to this, he was the founder of the Cardiovascular Image Analysis Laboratory and associate professor at the Washington University in St. Louis. He was elected a fellow of the IEEE in 2007, the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2017, the International Society for Optics, Photonics, and Imaging in 2019, and the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association in 2021.
