Dieter Haemmerich

Dieter Haemmerich is a tenured Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Medicine, specializing in bioengineering with a focus on image-guided therapies for cancer and cardiac arrhythmias. His work spans thermal tumor ablation techniques (radiofrequency, microwave, focused ultrasound), heat-activated drug delivery systems (particularly thermosensitive liposomes), computational modeling of thermal therapies, and medical device development. He co-founded the IEEE EMBS International Summer School on Computational Modeling in Medicine and has extensive experience in in vivo animal studies and fluorescence imaging applications.

• 2001 Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 2003 Dr. Sci. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Vienna University of Technology

His research integrates computational modeling with experimental validation to optimize therapeutic outcomes, particularly in targeted chemotherapy delivery across the blood-brain barrier. Key innovations include patents for intravascular triggered drug delivery and systems for reducing skin heating during radiofrequency ablation. Current studies emphasize enhancing corneal macromolecule delivery via ultrasound and refining thermosensitive nanoparticle kinetics.

Scientific contributions are documented through publications in journals like Cancers, Communications Biology, and IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, with a focus on mathematical models, device validation, and clinical translation. He leads collaborative efforts between engineering and clinical teams at MUSC's Darby Children’s Research Institute.