Laura Marcu is an American scientist and a professor of

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...

and neurological surgery at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. She is also a Fellow of numerous professional societies: the

Biomedical Engineering Society BMES (the Biomedical Engineering Society) is the professional society for students, faculty, researchers and industry working in the broad area of biomedical engineering. BMES is the leading biomedical engineering society in the United States and w ...

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

The Optical Society Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...

and the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

Career and research

Professor Laura Marcu received her Diploma of Engineer in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania. She did a post-graduate specialization in Spectroscopy, Laser and Plasma Physics at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, Romania. Marcu obtained her M.S and Ph.D. Diploma in Biomedical Engineering from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, Los Angeles. Marcu's work focuses primarily on research for development of optical techniques for tissue diagnostics. Her laboratory has developed time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TRFS) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) systems for ''

in vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, an ...

'' tissue interrogation, including human patients. Her laboratory has a broad expertise in clinical translation of biophotonic technologies that play an important role in addressing challenges associate with tissue diagnostics and therapies. Her group also studies the application of semiconductor

quantum dot Quantum dots (QDs) or semiconductor nanocrystals are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size with optical and electronic properties that differ from those of larger particles via quantum mechanical effects. They are a central topic i ...

s to early detection of pathologic transformations in tissues as well as the application of ultrashort electric fields to cancer therapy. Marcu developed a catheter probe able to image

arteries An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

inside a living heart which could help cardiologists predict

heart attacks A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is retr ...

more reliably.

Patents

* Single catheter system that provides both intravascular ultrasound and fluorescence lifetime imaging * Biochemical marker detection device * Internal biochemical sensing device * Method for intracellular modifications within living cells using pulsed electric fields * Time-resolved and wavelength-resolved spectroscopy for characterizing biological materials

Awards and honors

* Named a fellow by the

in 2017. * Fellow of the

Optical Society Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...

in 2014 for "the development and clinical translation of fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy and imaging techniques." * Fellow of

in 2012. * Fellow of the

in 2011. *Senior Member of

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

References

External links

Marcu on becoming interested in optics
at osa.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcu, Laura Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American biomedical engineers University of California, Davis faculty Fellows of Optica (society) 21st-century American women engineers 21st-century American engineers 21st-century American inventors American women inventors American women engineers Fellows of the Biomedical Engineering Society Fellows of SPIE Women in optics 21st-century American women University of Southern California alumni