2024 Annual Conference Recordings – ABSTRACTS: Basic Science and Translational Research (Non-CME) - 4/12 1:30PM

Imran Rizvi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology (tenure-track) at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and an Assistant Biomedical Engineer at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Imran received his Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, a Master’s in Tumor Biology from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. Imran trained as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratories of Dr. Tayyaba Hasan at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, MGH and Dr. Utkan Demirci in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Imran is a recipient of the K99-R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). More recently, Imran obtained competitive funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb as a co-PI on a sponsored research agreement to develop a bioprinting and imaging-based 3D model for immuno-oncology applications. Imran has published 35 peer-reviewed publications comprised of 32 original articles and 3 reviews. Imran is on the Executive Committee, as Secretary, of the Pan-American Photodynamic Therapy Association (PAPDT), and a former member of the PAPDT Board of Directors. He is on the Council of the American Society for Photobiology (ASP), and is the former ASP Associate Councilor (elected by the associate members). Imran is on the Program Committee for SPIE Photonics West (BIOS Conference B0110), and on the Scientific Advisory Board of the14th World Congress of the International Photodynamic Association. He has served as a member of the ASP Grants and Awards Committee, Education and Mentoring Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and Organizing Committee for the 37th Meeting of the ASP. Among his recent honors, Imran received the New Investigator Award from the ASP, the Best of Session Award from the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, the Chair’s Research Award from the DOM at BWH, and the Ruth and William Silen, M.D. Award for outstanding oral presentation at the New England Science Symposium.

Emily Wenande MD PhD, is a Danish-American post doctoral researcher with Professor Merete Haedersdal's lab at the Department of Dermatology, Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark and former research fellow with Professor Rox Anderson's lab at Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

An alumna of Copenhagen University, Dr. Wenande completed her PhD on laser-assisted drug delivery (LADD) in 2019. She contiues her work on LADD and other experiemental treatment approaches for keratinocyte carcinoma at Bispebjerg Hospital -- the birthplace of daylight photodynamic therapy. By employing new drug combinations with laser delivery in preclinical and clinical trials, Dr. Wenande hopes to develop simple, efficacious and tolerable local treatments for premalignant and malignant skin lesions.

Thomas Milner is the Director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic and a Professor in the Department of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering. Milner co-invented the dynamic cooling device that is used on laser dermatological surgical instruments worldwide. He is one of the early developers of optical coherence tomography - a diagnostic imaging technology used clinically in ophthalmology and cardiology. He is the recipient of the Coherent Young Investigator Award, numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, and Inventor of the Year at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an inventor of 55 issued U.S. patents and five international patents that have been licensed to six companies. He is a co-founder of CardioSpectra and Dermalucent. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles and twelve book chapters. Milner is a member of the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Society for Lasers in Medicine and Surgery.

Nashwa Cheema, Phd from University of Alberta in Physiology, Cell and Developmental Biology. Her research interest is in mitochondrial/ muscle biology. She is current s research fellow in Rox Anderson lab at Wellman Center for Photomedicine. Her researcf project is focused on near infra red light therapy in muscle performance.

I obtained my bachelor's degree from Fudan University in Shanghai. Building upon this foundation, I pursued both my master's and doctoral degrees at the Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, specializing in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery, in the Craniofacial Surgery Group and the Laser Cosmetology Group, respectively. My research primarily focuses on photodynamic therapy for combating bacterial infections and exploring innovative photosensitive materials.
Currently, I am employed as a resident physician for standardized clinical training at the Dermatology Department of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital. My responsibilities encompass a spectrum of dermatological diseases interventions, also facial rejuvenation including injections and laser cosmetology, scar repairing and surgical procedures.
I have published a total of five SCI articles, with three focusing on photodynamic antimicrobial therapy and the other two on craniofacial reconstruction by now.

A PhD candidate in surgery at Shanghai Jiao Tong University;
A resident in department of plastic and reconstructive surgery, Shanghai ninth people’s hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University school of medicine;
I mainly engaged in wound repair, scar treatment, photomedicine and other related research，Published 2 articles in English as the first author.

Feben Messele is a medical student at UC Irvine School of Medicine, doing research in dermatology involving vascular conditions, therapy and non-invasive imaging techniques. Feben is passionate about health care equity and she is part of Leadership, Education, to Advance diversity-African, Black, Caribbean (LEAD-ABC), a mission based program committed to addressing health care disparities. Her clinical interests include skin of color and skin imaging using non-invasive techniques.

Hao Zhang is currently a graduate student in medical school in Shanghai jiaotong university. She majored in Clinical Medicine, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Her research direction is Precision therapy for pigmented diseases. She plans to graduate this June and continue her residency training in the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Ninth People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Shan Wu, MD, PhD, Resident in Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Education
2013- 2020: PhD. in Surgery (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
2008- 2013: MD. North Sichuan Medical School, Nanchong, Sichuan, China.

Hospital or affiliated Institution Appointments
2022- present: Resident in Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
2020- 2022: Postdoctoral Research Scientist. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

One Awards
2019 Third prize from The 7th Oriental Congress of Burns and Plastic Medicine &.
A total of 6 publications

Lynhda Nguyen, MD, works at the department of laser and aesthetics and department of dermatology of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Her research is focused on the efficacy and safety of various laser and energy-based devices, intravital microscopy including multiphoton tomography and fluorescence lifetime imaging, and health care research.

Current pre-doctoral trainee in the lab of Dr. Gal Shafirstein in the Photodynamic Therapy Center at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. My research focuses on improving the delivery of palliative radiation therapy in combination with photodynamic therapy for the treatment of lung cancer. I have a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from the University at Buffalo and an associates in Engineering Science from Alfred State College.

Biography: Dr. Christine C. Dierickx, MD, received her M.D. degree from the medical school program of the University of Leuven, Belgium and completed a dermatology residency at the same university. She then developed clinical expertise in phlebology during a two-year fellowship with Professor Neuman in the Netherlands. Subsequently, she finished a clinical laser fellowship with Dr. R. Fitzpatrick in San Diego, California, and a Mohs fellowship with Dr. F. Mohs in Madison, Wisconsin. During a two-year laser fellowship with Dr. R. Rox Anderson at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard University, she developed research laser expertise in various fields. The projects on vascular lesions draw directly upon her research on the thermal relaxation time of ectatic blood vessels. She established the need of millisecond laser pulses for the treatment of vascular lesions and showed that the formation of gentle cavitations driven by a slow photothermal process underlies the destruction of blood vessels with the longer millisecond laser pulses. For this work, she received the Best Basic Science Award of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. Subsequently, she became a full-time staff member of the Wellman Laboratories at Harvard. During this time, she conducted research projects with long pulsed ruby and diode lasers for hair removal. She returned to Europe in early 1999, where she is currently in private practice in Luxembourg. In 2013 she was the recipient of the Vasant Orwal Oration van de British Medical Laser Society in April 2016 she received the Leon Goldman memoriam award from the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. She continues to be involved in the development of new applications for energy-based devices as well as new applications for photodynamic therapy. Dr. Dierickx has published and lectured nationally and internationally in the field of laser surgery and photodynamic therapy.

Dr Uffe Høgh Olesen, MSc, PhD, is senior researcher at Dept of Dermatology, Copenhagen University Hospital – Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark with Dr. Merete Haedersdal as part of the Danish Research Center for Skin Cancer.
His current focus is translational research on the potential roles of energy-based devices in prevention and treatment of keratinocyte cancers with particular emphasis on ablative fractional lasers, the immune system and immunotherapy.