Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems
At Northeastern’s Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems, we develop imaging tools to highlight chemical processes—enabling clinicians to better diagnose and treat disease.
- Chemical-based Imaging
- Chemistry-based imaging—the next frontier in medical science—will lead to advances such as better understanding of disease, faster pathways to treatment, and technologies that harness the brain-machine interface.
- Pre-eminent Research Facility
- In partnership with Zeiss, an international leader in imaging systems, we’ve created a pre-eminent research facility with five state-of-the-art microscopes that researchers at Northeastern and other institutions can reserve for use.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration
- Our researchers collaborate across six core disciplines—probe development, animal models, probe delivery, imaging technologies, embedded systems, and signal processing—to develop breakthrough imaging tools.
Recent News
Nanosensor Tracking Communication Between Body and the Brain
BioE/COS Professor Heather Clark developed a new DNA-based nanosensor that tracks neurotransmitter communication between the body and brain in real-time. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A burgeoning field of medicine known as bioelectronic medicine seeks to use highly specific nerve stimulation to treat neurological diseases. In order to precisely target the nerves, scientists need to know how they react in real time and in living organisms; this nanosensor represents a step in that direction.
Clark Named 2021 AIMBE Fellow
Professor Heather Clark, bioengineering, jointly appointed in chemistry and chemical biology, and director of Northeastern University’s Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems, has been named a 2021 AIMBE Fellow.