LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A Texas Tech University researcher has been awarded a $2.1 million federal grant to advance medical imaging technology that allows doctors to see deeper and more clearly inside the human body.
Dr. Indrajit Srivastava, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, received the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
The five-year grant will fund his ongoing research into second near-infrared (NIR-II) imaging technologies and nanomaterials.
NIR-II imaging utilizes longer wavelengths of near-infrared light, which can travel through biological tissues with significantly less scattering and background interference than standard methods. This makes the technology highly promising for surgeons and medical researchers who need to visualize deep, complex internal structures.
“This award is a strong example of the kind of interdisciplinary, high-impact research that advances Texas Tech’s strategic research priorities,” said Song-Charng Kong, chair of the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. “Dr. Srivastava’s work has the potential to enable new biomedical imaging and sensing technologies while strengthening collaborations across engineering, health sciences and other disciplines.”
Srivastava believes this level of federal recognition will cement Texas Tech’s status as a premier hub for biomedical imaging.
“If people want to be trained in optical imaging or molecular imaging, they should be interested in coming to Texas Tech,” Srivastava said. “We have labs here that will be part of the next generation of imaging techniques for surgical and other biological disease visualization.”
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