News

TETRA aims at introducing a paradigm shift in the way that cancer is detected by promoting the use of metamaterial-based formalism for cancer detection with the emphasis on the digital histology approaches. Our key concept is that using constructed artificial tissue-like metamaterials for phantom creation can enable the development of breakthrough technology to enable fast, cost-effective cancer recognition paradigm for clinical applications. TETRA is a multidisciplinary, and intersectoral collaborative effort that fully benefits from the current state of the art for practical applications.

https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA23125/

Our group participated in the VII Summer school “Photonics meets Biology”, 26– 30 August 2024, Split, Croatia

And our poster "Road to Non-Invasive Optogenetics: Challenges and Progress" has been awarded the 3rd Best Poster Prize.

Chair: Bojan Resan, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
Co-Chair: Maria Farsari, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL-FORTH), Greece
Co-Chair: Edik Rafailov, Aston University, UK

Dr Amit Yadav awarded prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellowship!

In an exciting development for both academia and industry, Dr. Amit Yadav has been awarded the esteemed Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellowship. This recognition is a significant milestone in his career, marking a remarkable opportunity to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world industrial applications.

The Industrial Fellowship, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed by the Royal Academy of Engineering, is designed to support individuals who have demonstrated exceptional promise in advancing engineering research and its practical implications for the industry. Dr. Yadav’s work, which focuses on innovating solutions in Ce-doped glass and fiber will blend scientific inquiry with industrial needs, has positioned him as a leading figure in his field.

https://raeng.org.uk/dr-amit-yadav

Dr. Viktor Dremin has been honored with a prestigious award from the Optica Foundation.

He is one of only ten individuals to receive this distinguished recognition, accompanied by a US$100,000 honorarium.

This is an excellent chance to help drive his idea of developing cutting-edge multimodal optical imaging, enhancing research into critical diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

https://www.optica.org/foundation/opportunities/competitions_prizes/challenge/

Exploring Novel Technology to Treat Glioma using 1267nm Light: Direct Light Therapy

We are a consortium of 6 partners working together to find better treatment for Glioma using a new Direct Light Therapy (DLT). DLT shines 1267nm light inside the brain to selectively kill cancer cells whilst leaving healthy tissue alive. The GlioLighT project will illuminate how and why this approach works.

Important note: DLT is not an established technology and will not be fit for human use for many years. The GlioLighT project is one of the first steps of an extensive decades-spanning development process before DLT is widely available to individuals suffering from Glioma or other cancers. DLT could be the cancer solution of the future, but regrettably, it is not a solution of the present.

Funded under Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder programme (No.
101129705). UK participants are funded by UKRI (No. 10110169)

https://gliolight.eu/

The results of the NEUROPA research project have been published on the CORDIS website in six languages. The technology holds promise for theranostics in brain disorder patients, with potential long-term improvements in clinical outcomes. NEUROPA’s approach signifies a significant step forward in addressing the complexities of brain disorders with a focus on precision and non-invasiveness.

Professor Edik Rafailov (Coordinator) and Dr Sergei Sokolovski have won a highly prestigious award from the Horizon Europe Pathfinder Scheme. The Proposal, GlioLighT attracting €3.23 million, with €866k going to the Aston team. The GlioLighT consortium has assembled to develop a conceptually novel non-invasive glioma treatment approach. GlioLighT proposes a novel alternative form of targeted ROS generation: Direct Light Therapy (DLT). DLT uses 1267nm light to generate 1O2 species in glioma cells without dependency on a photosensitisers (PS). The removal of PS will revolutionise glioma treatment, enabling novel treatment modalities to vastly improve efficacy, and earlier intervention options, all at reduced cost and complexity.

Our group presented works at two big conferences SPIE European Conferences on Biomedical Optics and CLEO/Europe-EQEC 2023.