Interdisciplinary Grants in the Mathematical Sciences

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This grant will provide an immersion experience for Prof. Jerome Spanier and Dr. Rong Kong at one of the premier Biomedical Optics institutions in the world, the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic (BLIMC) at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). A major thrust of the research program at BLIMC is to understand how light propagates in heterogeneous tissue. This understanding is essential to the use of the laser as an effective non-invasive diagnostic and therapeutic tool. The immersion of a small group of mathematical scientists at UCI, where there is access to an elaborate training program that prepares physical scientists for work in photomedicine, will deepen understanding of basic biological questions and provide accurate quantitative comparisons of Monte Carlo-based computer algorithms with clinical measurements. The latter is key to the development of real-time imaging techniques for non-invasive, early detection andtreatment of cancer, based on the use of laser probes.Benefits to be derived from the grant experience include: a. acceleration of the education of a cadre of mathematical scientists in the biology and medicine essential to an effective collaboration between appliedmathematicians and biomedical scientists; b. cultivation of a rich platform for additional training of mathematicians and scientists in the emerging field of tissue optics; c. enhancement of an important multidisciplinary research program aimed at real-time imaging of heterogeneous tissue using hand heldlaser probes in clinical settings; d. dissemination of new, important mathematical and computational methods for detection and treatment of disease through publications in the biomedical and applied mathematics literature and oral presentations at conferences attended by both mathematicians and biomedical scientists.This year of intense interaction will be followed by an ongoing collaboration between the two universities aimed at substantively improving their joint capability to quantify optical heterogeneities in tissues. This IGMS project is jointly supported by the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) and the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS).