Research Program and Theme
Cancer Technology and Data Science | Cancer Imaging
Research Focus
Rohit Bhargava, CCIL Director, has pioneered the development of infrared spectroscopic imaging, starting from his doctoral thesis, which was the first in this field. Bhargava has developed several new capabilities in IR instrumentation, provided new methods to analyze spectral data, and developed high-throughput methods for pathology. Bhargava runs the Chemical Imaging and Structures Laboratory. His research team has performed large-scale studies on prostate, breast, colon, brain, and skin tissue samples. His lab has also focused on fundamental science by developing optical theory for spectroscopy. It has created cell culture methods for 3D tumor mimicking systems – building a 3D printer to develop biomedical scaffolds and engineering cancer models. Instruments developed in his laboratory provide new means to characterize and define cancer using chemical imaging, leading to the emergence of the field of digital molecular pathology.
Education
- Ph.D., Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2000
Campus Affiliations
- Director, Cancer Center at Illinois, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
- W. W. Grainger Chair, Bioengineering
- Abel Bliss Faculty Scholar, Bioengineering
- Professor, Bioengineering
- Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering
- Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Professor, Micro and Nanotechnology Lab
- Professor, Health Care Engineering Systems Center, Coordinated Science Lab
- Special Advisor to the Dean, Grainger College of Engineering
- Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences
- Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Select Honors and Recognitions
- Optica Fellow, 2022
- AIMBE Fellow, 2016
- Ellis R. Lippincott Award, 2021
- AAAS Fellow, 2020