About me

Since 2018 I have been serving as Imaging and Bioimage Informatics Specialist at the Imaging Core of Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic. This unique position offered the prospect of greatly expanding my knowledge of imaging modalities while educating and assisting investigators from numerous research groups. The Imaging Core at LRI provides an environment rich in resources. I have acquired significant experience in bio-imaging techniques such as confocal microscopy, total internal reflection microscopy (TIRF), multi-photon microscopy, and multi-spectral imaging; in the context of biology. With my background in actually building imaging systems, I was able to dive deeply into each of the imaging modalities offered in the Imaging Core.

Early in my work with the team at the Imaging Core, I became aware of the unmet need for more robust image processing and analysis capabilities. This discovery motivated me to further develop my data analysis skills. I began with existing commercial software tools used in the Core (such as Image Pro, Volocity, ImageScope, inForm and HALO), and expanded them to include more diverse open-source tools (such as QuPath, CellProfiler and Python). Some of the projects I worked on involved analyzing whole slide images (chromogenic IHC stained tissue sections) and multiplexed fluorescence whole slide images (tumor biopsies stained for immune cell marker). I have developed image processing pipelines to phenotype cells and study cellular interactions in whole slide images (including tumor infiltration, nearest neighbor analysis) for Immuno-oncology research.

As part of my responsibility to implemente iLab for the Imaging Core, I developed software that verifies a user’s identity and accounting information, tracks equipment usage, and facilitates Imaging Core billing in iLab. I have also developed a plug-in for the software package Digital Micrograph, which allows our electron microscope operators to verify and correct patient information for the clinical diagnostic images.

Before joining the Imaging Core of Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic, I performed my dissertation research at the Advanced Chemical Imaging Facility in the laboratory of Dr. John F. Turner II within the Department of Chemistryat Cleveland State. As part of this work, I have developed a novel broadly tunable surface plasmon-coupled wavelength filter for visible and near infrared hyperspectral imaging. The novel filter technology is designed to minimize the short coming of the current wavelength filter technologies for wide-field hyperspectral imaging like the liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) and acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). In addition, the surface plasmon filter that I developed is rugged, compact, and able to be integrated into existing optical microscopes and handheld imagers. Also as part of my dissertation work, I have constructed a wide-field AOTF Raman imaging system to investigate the distribution of crystalline and amorphous domains in an important biodegradable implant material, poly-L-lactide. In its crystalline state, poly-L-lactide exhibits a greater elastic modulus, similar to bone, and is piezoelectric. The Raman imaging modality can discern subtle variations in the crystalline content of poly-L-lactide nondestructively and is useful for characterizing biomaterials in general. Both research projects required considerable effort in optical design, photonic device construction, optical testing, computer interfacing to control acquisition, computer programming (Visual Basic, Visual C++, MatLab, etc.), and novel multivariate methods for data analysis.

In addition to my dissertation research, I also have considerable experience in scanning probe methods like atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). In fact, as part of my teaching assistantship, I was assigned to oversee the SEM lab and to provide SEM analysis and training on the SEM/EDS systems. Before initiating my Ph.D. studies at Cleveland State University, I conducted research at Governors State University where I gained significant experience using chromatography for extraction, identification and quantification of trace amounts of contaminants in foods. My work there was focused on the detection of melamine and its derivatives in milk and other food products employing LC/MS and GC/MS.