Speaker: Dr. Sanhita Sinharay, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, IISc.

Title: "Listening to Light: Transforming Treatment through Photoacoustic Imaging"

Date: Thursday, October 09, 2025 - Time: 4 PM

Hi-Tea & Coffee: 5 PM

Venue: CeNSE Seminar Hall 


Abstract:
Noninvasive imaging methods can quantify changes in biological/physiological signatures 
without need for invasive biopsies in real-time and within the entire tissue of interest. 
Photoacoustic or optoacoustic imaging is a relatively new hybrid imaging modality that 
combines the rich optical contrast with high resolution of ultrasound and can be used to 
image specific tissue biomarkers at tissue depth of >3-5 cm. Currently, with its FDA approval 
for breast cancer patients, this imaging modality demonstrates rich potential for clinical 
translation in other scenarios. I will focus on how our laboratory is using this modality to 
longitudinally monitor treatment outcomes and the development of a new class of theranostic agents, 
where the diagnostic modality is photoacoustic imaging.

Biography:
Sanhita completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemistry from Jadavpur University and IIT Madras, 
respectively. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, AZ, USA, in the Department 
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where she designed and translated Chemical Exchange Saturation 
Transfer (CEST) MRI contrast agents for the detection of in vivo enzyme activity within mice 
tumor models. As a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in the 
Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences she studied neuropathology in infectious diseases 
primarily with MRI and PET imaging. She joined IISc in 2021 as an Assistant Professor in the 
Department of Bioengineering. At IISc, her group focuses on biomarker development and translation 
with MRI, PET and photoacoustics to evaluate disease progression and treatment response noninvasively.

Host Faculty:  Prof. Pavan Nukala.