Research

Photomedicine Overview

Photomedicine may encompass any biomedical research, technology development, therapy or diagnostic that involves light. There are broad, fundamental reasons to pursue photomedicine – light has the right quantum energy to trigger specific non-ionizing chemistry in drugs and tissues; tissue interactions unique to high-intensity laser light are very useful in medicine; and light based diagnostic and therapeutic interventions can often be designed to be minimally invasive and selectively targeted. The concept of photomedicine was discovered in antiquity and is now in a renaissance of rapid technological and clinical progress.

The Wellman Center has assembled a diverse research faculty representing the expertise and interests of clinicians, biologists and microbiologists, chemists, physicists and engineers to create a robust team to exploit the opportunities presented in this field.