School of Physical Sciences
Title: Spectroscopic Fingerprinting of the Cancer Cell and its Microenvironment
Speaker: Ishan Barman (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore)
Date: January 9, 2018 (Tuesday)
Time: 16:00 hrs (4:00 pm)
Venue: Seminar Room, First Floor, School of Physical Sciences (SPS), JNU
Abstract: Molecular analysis of biomarkers has become a central theme in modern disease diagnosis,prognosis and therapy response monitoring. By combining optical spectroscopy,imaging and chemometrics, our research is directed towards developing novel approaches in which structural and molecular data converge to provide integrated insight from the molecular to tissue levels. Using breast cancer as the paradigm, I will focus on our determination of differential molecular markers in tissue and in disease using vibrational spectroscopy. These spectral markers provide routes to recognition of cell types within tissues as well as objective cancer detection and grading that exceeds human capabilities. Importantly,integration of these spectroscopic sensor probes with biopsy needles has enabled us to perform real time monitoring of local histology, pathology and necrosis. Engineering nanostructured probes for ultrasensitive detection of specific molecular species, a second module of our research captures the complex changes in tissue that can predict disease progression in an individual. I will discuss how the molecular specificity and multiplexing capability of nanoprobes are leveraged for translating molecular markers into serum assays for accurate disease screening and for tumor delineation in vivo.