SAS - Vibrational Spectroscopy of Biological Systems: From Fundamental Studies to Clinical Practice

Session 1650, Room 119B, 8:00 a.m.

This Wednesday morning afternoon session was arranged by Bruce Chase of the University of Delaware (Newark, Delaware) and Joel M. Harris of the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah). Bruce Chase will preside over the session. The session will begin with introductory remarks by Chase and Harris.

The first presentation is titled “Electrospun Fibers for Bio-Scaffolds: Vibrational Spectroscopy Meets Biology” and will be given by Bruce Chase. Electrospinning is a fiber forming technique that has recently experienced a dramatic increase in interest, and it allows the control of polymer structure and morphology with fiber diameters as small as 50 nm.

The next presentation in the session is titled “Infrared and Raman Microspectral Imaging of Human Cells and Tissues for Medical Diagnostics” and will be given by Max Diem of Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts). Diem will discuss the use of infrared and Raman microspectrometers for the collection of tens of thousands of individual spectra, each collected from pixels of diffraction-limited size, from cells and tissues.

Next, Zachary D. Schultz of the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana) will present a talk titled “Raman Investigations of Nanoscale Biology.” His presentation will describe the application of label-free methodologies to explore nanoscale assemblies in biological systems.

Rhohit Bhargava of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, Illinois) is scheduled to present the next talk, “Theory and Simulation to Establish the Foundation of Vibrational Spectroscopic Imaging for Cancer Pathology.” Bhargava will discuss experimental realization of microspectroscopic imaging and its application to tissue analysis.

The session’s final presentation will be given by Ira W. Levin (retired) and is titled “Biomedical Research at the National Institutes of Health: A Vibrational Spectroscopist's Perspective.” Levin spent nearly five decades at the National Institutes of Health and will share various perspectives on the interplay between pure and applied biomedical research.