Irene Georgakoudi

Irene Georgakoudi is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. She holds a B.A. in Physics from Dartmouth College (1993), an M.Sc. (1996) and Ph.D. (1999) in Biophysics from the University of Rochester. Her research focuses on developing label-free optical methods for non-invasive assessment of tissue metabolism and structure, with applications in cancer detection, osteoarthritis, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Her lab specializes in technologies like two-photon microscopy, metabolic imaging, and in vivo flow cytometry to study tissue dynamics without exogenous contrast agents. Key projects include cervical cancer screening via metabolic heterogeneity analysis and vitiligo treatment monitoring using optical biomarkers. She has pioneered methods to evaluate 3D engineered brain tissues and developed algorithms for deep-learning-based image restoration.

Scientific Awards:

• Claflin Distinguished Scholar
• NSF Career Award
• American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award
• Fellowships: AIMBE, Optica, SPIE

Her work integrates in vivo imaging with molecular biology, enabling real-time monitoring of cellular interactions and disease progression. Recent studies highlight her lab's role in detecting rare circulating tumor cell clusters and developing standardized nomenclature for metabolic imaging metrics.