Culver to Lead Biophotonics Research Center

Joseph P. Culver, PhD, the Sherwood Moore Professor of Radiology for Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named director of the Biophotonics Research Center (BRC) in the Division of Radiological Sciences. 

Culver’s work has been at the leading edge of functional and molecular biological imaging, particularly in leveraging non-invasive optical measurements and advancing diffuse optical tomography (DOT) technology. His group has developed optical neuroimaging technologies to map brain function in humans and animals, including a portable, wearable cap that is particularly useful for studying children, intensive care patients and people with deep brain stimulators and other implants that cannot be used safely in an MRI machine. He also serves as co-director of Washington University’s Imaging Sciences Pathway and its Imaging Sciences PhD program. 

Culver succeeds Samuel I. Achilefu, PhD, the inaugural Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Professor of Radiology. Achilefu has accomplished much in his many years of service at MIR and has made groundbreaking contributions to the field of optical imaging. Among numerous other scientific advancements, he has pioneered the development of a wearable goggles-based imaging system that allows surgeons to see cancerous cells and remove tumors more effectively. Achilefu is continuing his successful career as the inaugural chair of UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.