Anita Mahadevan-Jansen

Anita Mahadevan-Jansen is the Orrin H. Ingram Professor of Engineering at Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering, with joint appointments in Biomedical Engineering, Neurological Surgery, and Otolaryngology. She directs the Biophotonics Center and serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies in Biomedical Engineering. Her research focuses on optical techniques for medical diagnostics, particularly fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy for cancer detection and surgical guidance. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas and advanced degrees in Physics from the University of Bombay.

Her academic roles span multiple disciplines, including leadership in interdisciplinary initiatives like the Biophotonics Center. Research interests include real-time tissue diagnostics, non-invasive hydration assessment, and optical tools for surgery. She has pioneered technologies such as Raman spectroscopy-based devices for parathyroid gland identification during thyroid surgeries and handheld probes for otitis media analysis. Her work bridges engineering, medicine, and physics to improve clinical outcomes.

Key innovations include:

• Development of biochemical standards for high-wavenumber Raman spectroscopy
• Integration of Raman and optical coherence tomography for ear disease diagnosis
• Augmented reality systems for surgical navigation

Her articles highlight advancements in:

• Parathyroid viability assessment via laser speckle contrast imaging
• Non-invasive hydration monitoring for athletes
• Bacterial detection using SERS techniques

Though no scientific awards are explicitly listed, her extensive publication record and leadership roles reflect significant contributions to biomedical optics and surgical innovation.