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Feb. 19, 2009 - Ben Vakoc

 Optical frequency domain imaging
A new tool for studying tumor biology and evaluating cancer therapies

High resolution, intravital multiphoton microscopy has provided powerful mechanistic insights into health and disease, and has become a common instrument in the modern biological laboratory. The requisite high numerical aperture and exogenous contrast agents that enable multiphoton microscopy, however, result in a limited capacity to investigate substantial tissue volumes or to probe dynamic changes repeatedly over prolonged periods. Here, we introduce optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) as an intravital microscopic tool that circumvents the technical limitations of multiphoton microscopy and, as a result, provides unprecedented access to previously unexplored, critically important aspects of tumor biology. We describe the operation of the OFDI instrument, and present measurements of tumor angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and both vascular and cellular responses to therapy, thereby demonstrating the potential of OFDI to facilitate the exploration of physiological and pathological processes and the evaluation of treatment strategies.

Ben Vakoc

Ben Vakoc received a bachelor's degree in applied physics from Cornell University in 1996, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University in 2001. He did his graduate research in the field of fiber-optic sensing, and transitioned to the field of biomedical optics for his post-graduate research. He has worked since 2004 at the Wellman center for photomedicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is currently a faculty member developing optical diagnostics and therapeutics as well as new microscopic tools.

Reservations:

DINNER reservations are required by noon, February 16, 2009, the Monday of the meeting. MEETING ONLY reservations are required by noon, February 19, 2009, the day of the meeting. 

Please make reservations online. Reservations may also be left on the answering machine at 617.584.0266. We no longer have an email address for reservations due to SPAM. When making reservation requests, please provide the following information: 

  • DINNER AND MEETING or meeting only
  • Name(s) and membership status
  • Daytime phone number where you can be reached (in case of change or cancellation)

Location:

Best Western TLC in Waltham (Map to TLC).

Networking—5:45 PM, Dinner—6:30, Meeting—7:30 PM.

Menu: 

Dinner will include --- and coffee, tea, or milk.

Vegetarian option available on request 


Dinner Prices:

Members and their guests$25.00 each
Students$15.00
Non-members$30.00 (See NOTE Below)

General Information on NES/OSA Meetings

Cancellations and No-shows:

If the meeting must be canceled for any reason, we will try to call you at the phone number you leave with your reservation. Official notice of cancellation will be on our answering machine.

We have to pay for the dinners reserved as of the Tuesday before the meeting, so no-shows eat into our cash reserve. If you will not be able to attend, please let us know as early as possible. Otherwise, no-shows will be billed.

Membership Rates:

Regular members$15.00
Student membersfree

NOTE: The extra $5.00 of the non-member dinner fee can be used toward membership dues if the nonmember joins and pays dues for the current year at the meeting.

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