The Microvascular Therapeutics & Imaging (MTI) laboratory’s research focuses on the role of the microvasculature in disease progression and response to novel therapeutics. The microvasculature is the primary means by which nutritional support is provided to tissue. Abnormal development of the microvasculature is a primary factor in several disease states, including cancer, age-related macular degeneration, and cutaneous vascular malformations. Current methods to study the microvasculature are limited in their ability to accurately localize and quantify biomarkers of interest.

To address these limitations, the MTI lab has focused on two areas of research: (1) in vivo optical imaging and (2) optical clearing for enhanced three-dimensional microscopy. Advances in these two areas are expected to enable chronic, in vivo studies of hemodynamic changes during both disease progression and its response to therapeutic intervention, with unprecedented localization and quantitative accuracy.