My group is currently working at the interface of chemistry and biology to develop and apply novel nanoscale probes for biological measurements. In order to fulfill our goal of chemical imaging deep in the body (brain, central nervous system, circulatory system) we are approaching the problem through two directions. First, we are working with fluorescence-based sensors in the peripheral nervous system to understand the capabilities of the sensors for cellular signaling. Second, we are tailoring our sensors to be compatible with advanced imaging techniques (diffuse in vivo flow cytometry, photoacoustics, or MRI) to image deep in the body. Ultimately, we will use the probes to image specific chemical processes and biomarkers in the brain/body, in real-time.
Heather Clark is a Professorin the Departments of Bioengineering and Chemistry at Northeastern University. In addition, she is the Founding Director of the Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems and an Associate Editor at ACS Sensors. She received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Michigan and completed a postdoc in the Center for Cell Analysis & Modeling at the University of Connecticut Health Center. She is a AIMBE Fellow and has received awards for both research and teaching, including the DARPA Young Faculty Award. Her work has been featured in a live CNN interview, the Wall Street Journal, WIRED magazine and MIT Technology Review.
