Prof. Vasilis Ntziachristos, Msc PhD
Director, Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging and Director, Bioengineering DepartmentOur research at Helmholtz Munich is driven by our interest to provide solutions that address critical unmet medical need and positively impact healthcare and the well-being of society.
Our research at Helmholtz Munich is driven by our interest to provide solutions that address critical unmet medical need and positively impact healthcare and the well-being of society.
Academic Career and Research Areas
Vasilis Ntziachristos’ research focuses on the development of new methods for advancing well-being and accelerating discovery. His focus is the development of novel methods for prevention and early detection of disease, also serving as the means of administering more efficient treatment. His expertise span the fields of imaging, sensing and computation and his activities cover the entire spectrum from theoretical and methodological developments and basic discovery to clinical translation and entrepreneurship. Examples of his work involve the development of Fluorescent Molecular Imaging as means to improve guidance in surgery and the performance of diagnostic endoscopy as well as the development of Optoacoustic Imaging and Microscopy methods for advancing discovery and impacting healthcare. He is the founder of several companies including SurgVision BV which commercializes fluorescence imaging solutions for surgery, now under Bracco SpA, and iThera Medical GmbH, a company that commercializes optoacoustic technology.
Professor Vasilis Ntziachristos studied electrical engineering at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Following his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, he was then appointed Assistant Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Bio-Optics and Molecular Imaging at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 2007, he has served as Professor of Medicine and Electrical Engineering and the Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich and Director of the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging at Helmholtz Munich. Prof. Ntziachristos is also currently Director of Bioengineering at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus and the Head of the Bioengineering Department at Helmholtz Munich.
Fields of Work and Expertise
Biomedical Engineering PhotonicsImagingMicroscopyOptoacousticsClinical Translation Computational Methods Machine Learning
Data Analytics Biological Engineering
Professional Background
Instructor, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital
Assistant Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Bio-optics and Molecular Imaging, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital
Full Professor C4/W3 of Medicine and Electrical Engineering, Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich Director, Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging
Highlight Publications
Read more2024 Scientific Article in Photoacoustics
Non-invasive optoacoustic imaging of dermal microcirculatory revascularization in diet-induced obese mice undergoing exercise intervention.
2024 Scientific Article in Journal of Controlled Release
Tuning the photophysical properties of cyanine by barbiturate functionalization and nanoformulation for efficient optoacoustics- guided phototherapy.
2024 Scientific Article in Angewandte Chemie - Internationale Edition
Merged molecular switches excel as optoacoustic dyes: Azobenzene-cyanines are loud and photostable NIR imaging agents.
2024 Scientific Article in IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging
Performance assessment and quality control of fluorescence molecular endoscopy with a multi-parametric rigid standard.
2024 Scientific Article in Nature metabolism
Non-invasive measurements of blood glucose levels by time-gating mid-infrared optoacoustic signals.
2024 Scientific Article in Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research
PARP1-targeted fluorescence molecular endoscopy as novel tool for early detection of esophageal dysplasia and adenocarcinoma.
2024 Scientific Article in Science Advances
Phase-shifting optothermal microscopy enables live-cell mid-infrared hyperspectral imaging of large cell populations at high confluency.
2024 Scientific Article in IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging
Machine learning analysis of human skin by optoacoustic mesoscopy for automated extraction of psoriasis and aging biomarkers.
2024 Scientific Article in Photoacoustics
Quality control in clinical raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy.
2023 Scientific Article in npj Imaging
Fast histological assessment of adipose tissue inflammation by label-free mid-infrared optoacoustic microscopy.
2023 Review in Medical Physics
AAPM Task Group Report 311: Guidance for performance evaluation of fluorescence-guided surgery systems.
2023 Scientific Article in Nature biomedical engineering
Dermal features derived from optoacoustic tomograms via machine learning correlate microangiopathy phenotypes with diabetes stage.
2023 Scientific Article in Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Detection of early esophageal neoplastic barrett lesions with quantified fluorescence molecular endoscopy using Cetuximab-800CW.
2023 Scientific Article in Proceedings of SPIE
Functional live-cell mid-infrared microscopy and spectroscopy by optoacoustic and optothermal detection.
2023 Review in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
Optoacoustic biomarkers of lipids, hemorrhage and inflammation in carotid atherosclerosis.
2023 Scientific Article in Laser & Photonics Reviews