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College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Biomedical Engineering
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Ulas Sunar, Ph.D. 

SUNY Empire Innovation Professor

 

Research Focus

Sunar The primary research area focuses on functional and molecular optical imaging techniques for early disease detection and image-guided intervention in preclinical and clinical settings. For disease characterization and evaluation of intervention efficacy, there is a strong need for imaging modalities that can provide (bio)markers fast, frequently and noninvasively. Furthermore, realistic tissue constructs involve multilayered thick constructs consisting of vascular bed layer and cells such that there exists neovascularization during tissue healing and proliferation and differentiation of cells in these dynamic thick tissue mimicking constructs. Hence, there is a critical need to develop new imaging techniques that can image well beyond the penetration limits of conventional microscopy. We apply custom-developed imaging techniques in neuroimaging, cancer imaging, and monitoring tissue regeneration research. Optical/Photoacoustic imaging modalities can simultaneously quantify functional and
metabolic contrasts, such as tissue blood flow, oxygenation, and oxygen metabolism, without the need for contrast agent administration, which is particularly attractive for early diagnosis and intraoperative evaluation in real time. We apply these techniques for neuro-monitoring, quantitative imaging of light-triggered nanovesicles, and 3D mesoscopic imaging for engineered 3D tissue constructs and regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and neural systems. Overall, portable, and fast multimodal technology has allowed us to study tissue noninvasively in a variety of physiological contexts in both preclinical and clinical settings.

EDUCATION

  • 12/2006 Ph.D., Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
  • 06/1998 M.S., Physics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkiye
  • 06/1995 B.S., Physics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkiye

RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2025- SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University-SUNY

2022-2025 SUNY Empire Innovation Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University-SUNY

2015-2022 Associate Professor & Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Wright State University, Dayton, OH.

2014-2015 Research Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, SUNY-University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.

2008-2014 Assistant Professor, Cell Stress Biology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (RPCCC), Buffalo, NY.

 

HONORS ( SELECTED, MOST RECEnt)

2025- SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Stony Brook University-SUNY.

2024-  NIH/ITD Standing Panelist.

2022-2025  SUNY Empire Innovation Associate Professor, Stony Brook University-SUNY.

2015-2022 The Ohio Research Scholar, Endowed Chair in Medical Imaging, Wright State University, Dayton, OH.

 

PUBLICATIONS

Publications via Google Scholar

Lab Web PAGE

FUNDING AGENCIES

    • NIH/NIBIB
    • NIH/NCI
    • NIH/NINDS
    • VA MERIT
    • DHA/STTR PHASE I & II
    • NSF I-CORPS
    • NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH UNIT
    • AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY (ASDS)

COURSES

    • BME 310:  Introduction to Biomedical Optics and Ultrasound
    • BME 311: Fundamentals of Macro to Molecular Bioimaging
    • BME 533:  Biomedical Imaging Quantification and Analysis
    • BME670: Special Topics in BME (Topic Area: Biomedical Imaging Quantification and Analysis)  
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  • Previous COURSES

    •  Optical Imaging, Biomedical Optics, Medical Imaging, Neurophotonics 
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