Miller and Claudia pass their Qualifying Exam!
Congratulations to BFIL members Miller Dickerson and Claudia García Zorba for successfully completing their Qualifying Exams!
Congratulations to BFIL Alum Catherine Hawkins on Being Named to Tulane 34!
Congratulations to our BFIL alum, Catherine Eleanor Hawkins, for being named to Tulane 34, one of the university’s highest honors! Catherine earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering and was recognized for her exceptional leadership in the Society of Women Engineers, her impactful STEM outreach, and her work on the Toddler Mobility Trainer project. At BFIL, she completed an independent thesis designing a metal housing for photoacoustic imaging using ultrasound and laser technologies. Catherine will join Medtronic in Colorado as a quality engineer in the Neuroscience Business Unit.
Congratulations to Miller on winning Innovation prize at 2025 TRICS!
Congrats to Miller Dickerson for winning the Innovation Prize for Societal Impact at the 2025 Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summint! She presented her research on portable photoacoutic device or placenta imaging.
Vinoin Vincely wins the TRICS Open MIC night 2025!
Open MIC Night is a platform that fosters human health and wellness solutions. It is open to all Tulane faculty, staff, students, PhD candidates, postdocs, residents, fellows, and recent alumni. Graduate student Vinoin Devpaul Vincely wins among five teams to commercialize their idea!
Read more here!
Congratulations to Lili Shi on New Publication in Molecular Imaging and Biology!
Congratulations to Lili Shi on her latest publication, “Quantifying Molecular Changes in the Preeclamptic Rat Placenta with Targeted Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging,” in Molecular Imaging and Biology! This study demonstrates how targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasound (T-CEUS) and a bicompartmental model (BCM) provide a quantitative, high-resolution assessment of placental vascular changes in preeclampsia (PE). The findings reveal improved detection of abnormal placental remodeling, offering potential for earlier diagnosis and better monitoring of PE.
🔬 Read more: DOI: 10.1007/s11307-025-01988-4
This is an exciting step forward in imaging research—well done, Lili!
Congratulations to Vincely on New Publication in Journal of Biomedical Optics!
Congrats to Vinoin Devpaul Vincely on their latest publication, “Photoacoustic imaging of rat kidney tissue oxygenation using second near-infrared wavelengths,” in Journal of Biomedical Optics! Their study shows how NIR-II wavelengths (950–1400 nm) enhance spectral photoacoustic imaging (sPAI), reducing errors by 50% and enabling deeper, more accurate tissue oxygenation measurements—advancing the clinical potential of photoacoustic imaging.
Read the full paper here: DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.30.2.026002
Great work, Vincely!
Andrew Markel presenting at the IEEE Utrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Joint Symposium!
PhD candidate Andrew Markel attended the 2024 IEEE Utrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Joint Symposium in Taipei, Taiwan where his presentation was titled “In-Vivo Quantitative Ultrasound Imaging of the Placental Microstructure in a Rat Model of Preeclampsia”.
Preeclampsia is a life-threatening pregnancy disorder associated with abnormal development of the placenta microstructure. The placenta is a complex organ comprised of several layers, each of which is affected differently by preeclampsia. B-mode ultrasound is the gold standard for pregnancy imaging, but does not provide enough information to detect the changes in the placenta that occur during preeclampsia. Quantitative ultrasound deduces information about tissue microstructure by analyzing the radiofrequency signals backscattered from the tissue, and could potentially detect the changes that occur in the placenta. Here, we use an established rat model of preeclampsia to demonstrate how quantitative ultrasound can detect differences in microstructural properties that occur during preeclampsia and differences between the anatomical layers of the placenta.
Dr. Carolyn Bayer and Lili Shi at the World Molecular Imaging Congress 2024!
Dr. Carolyn Bayer and Lili Shi attended the 2024 World Molecular Imaging Congress in Montréal where Lili presented her poster titled “Biocompartmental Model of Molecular Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging Detects Placental Molecular Expression Changes During Preeclampsia”.
Lili Shi passes Qualifying Exam!
Congratulations to BFIL member Lili Shi for successfully completing her Qualifying Exam!
