Chain of amino acid or bio molecules called protein - 3d illustration

Group Leader Translational Optoacoustics

Prof. Dr. Miguel Pleitez

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CV

Miguel A. Pleitez conducted (thanks to a full DAAD scholarship) and received his Ph.D. at the Institute of Biophysics of Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, where he created sensors for non-invasive glucose monitoring by mid-IR photoacoustic and photothermal spectroscopy. His work contributed to the foundation of DiaMonTech AG—a company translating these sensors into the diabetes clinic. Next, he moved to the Optical Imaging Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis where he contributed to the development of UV and mid-IR photoacoustic microscopy. In 2016, he joined the Chair for Biological Imaging of TU-Munich and the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging of Helmholtz Munich—creating Mid-infraRed Optoacoustic Microscopy (MiROM) for label-free live-cell metabolic monitoring. In 2021 he was appointed Assistant Professor for Translational Optoacoustics at TU-Munich. The technologies developed in his lab hold great promise for live-cell metabolic microscopy, fast analytical histology, and non-invasive sensing of metabolites.

Personal Background

since 2021

Assistant Professor for Translational Optoacoustics & Group Leader “Translational Optoacoustics”

Technical University of Munich & Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany

2016-2021

Postdoctoral Fellow

Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany

2016-2017

Postdoctoral Fellow

Technichal Universityof Munich, Chair of Biological Imaging, Munich Germany

2015-2016

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engeneering, Washington, USA

2013 - 2014

Postdoctoral researcher on the project \Noninvasive glucose monitoring"

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt, Germany

2009 - 2013

Ph.D. in physics

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany

2015

Masters in Physics

Technical University of Munich

2001 - 2008

Bachelor in Physics

Universidad de El Salvador, El Salvador

Publications

Nat. Methods, DOI: 10.1038/s41592-026-03025-w (2026)

Gasparin, F. ; Prebeck, A. ; Solda, A. ; Uluc, N. ; Glasl, S. ; Berger, C. ; Pleitez, M.A. ; Ntziachristos, V.

Differentiation of sphingomyelin and cholesterol by hyperspectral mid-infrared detection of single-bond vibrational modes in the fingerprint region.
In: 22-26 June 2025 (4th Translational Biophotonics: Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Munich). 1000 20th St, Po Box 10, Bellingham, Wa 98227-0010 Usa: Spie-int Soc Optical Engineering, 2025. 2 (Proc. SPIE ; 13934)

Puttfarcken, B. ; Berger, C. ; Qiu, J. ; Pleitez, M.A.

Intravital Mid-Infrared Pump and Probe Detection of Metabolites.
In:. 1000 20th St, Po Box 10, Bellingham, Wa 98227-0010 Usa: Spie-int Soc Optical Engineering, 2025. 2 (Proc. SPIE ; 13938)

Berger, C. ; Kim, M. ; Platz, L.I. ; Eigenberger, A. ; Prantl, L. ; Liu, P. ; Gujrati, V. ; Ntziachristos, V. ; Jüstel, D. ; Pleitez, M.A.

Setting the stage for intraoperative histological quality guidance in autologous fat treatments via computed optoacoustic microscopy.
npj Imaging 3:37 (2025)

Ko, V. ; Goess, M.C. ; Platz, L.I. ; Yuan, T. ; Chmyrov, A. ; Jüstel, D. ; Ruland, J. ; Ntziachristos, V. ; Keppler, S.J. ; Pleitez, M.A.

Author Correction: Fast histological assessment of adipose tissue inflammation by label-free mid-infrared optoacoustic microscopy.
Sci. Adv. 11:eadu7319 (2025)

Berger, C. ; Kim, M. ; Platz, L.I. ; Eigenberger, A. ; Prantl, L. ; Liu, P. ; Gujrati, V. ; Ntziachristos, V. ; Jüstel, D. ; Pleitez, M.A.

Bayesian reconstruction of rapidly scanned mid-infrared optoacoustic signals enables fast, label-free chemical microscopy.
Nat. Bio. Eng., DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01443-3 (2025)

Gasparin, F. ; Tietje, M.R. ; Katab, E. ; Nurdinova, A. ; Yuan, T. ; Chmyrov, A. ; Uluc, N. ; Jüstel, D. ; Bassermann, F. ; Ntziachristos, V. ; Pleitez, M.A.

Label-free protein-structure-sensitive live-cell microscopy for patient-specific assessment of myeloma therapy.
In: (Liquid Crystals Optics and Photonic Devices 2024, 8-11 April 2024, Strasbourg). 1000 20th St, Po Box 10, Bellingham, Wa 98227-0010 Usa: Spie-int Soc Optical Engineering, 2024. DOI: 10.1117/12.3021846 (Proc. SPIE ; 13016)

Kim, M. ; Lee, H.R. ; Ossikovski, R. ; Jobart-Malfait, A. ; Lamarque, D. ; Novikova, T.

Digital histology of gastric tissue biopsies with liquid crystal-based Mueller microscope and machine learning approach.
Nat. Metab. 6, 678-686 (2024)

Uluc, N. ; Glasl, S. ; Gasparin, F. ; Yuan, T. ; He, H. ; Jüstel, D. ; Pleitez, M.A. ; Ntziachristos, V.

Non-invasive measurements of blood glucose levels by time-gating mid-infrared optoacoustic signals.
Nat. Metab. 6, 615–616 (2024)

Pleitez, M.A. ; Ntziachristos, V.

Blood glucose concentration measurement without finger pricking.