Samuel Achilefu


Samuel Achilefu is a Nigerian-born Scientist and medical researcher who has pioneered both fundamental and applied research in science, engineering, and medicine. Dr. Samuel Achilefu is the Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Professor of Radiology and Vice Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine. He holds joint appointments as a professor of Medicine, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Biomedical Engineering. He currently serves as the Director of the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center and the privately funded Theranostic Innovation Program. He is co-Director of the and co-Leader of the of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University.
Dr. Achilefu is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors as well as many professional societies, including the Royal Society of Chemistry, American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Optical Society of America, the International Society for Optics and Photonics Engineers, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the . A member of the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute’s intramural Molecular Imaging Program, he also serves as Editor-in-Chief of and an editorial board member of many scientific publications. Dr. Achilefu is a former trustee of Loma Linda University in California. He was a member of the College of Reviewers for the National Institutes of Health and served as a member and chair of grant review panels for the NIH, the Department of Defense, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Education

Achilefu earned his PhD from the University of Nancy in France as a French Government Scholar and his postdoctoral training at Oxford University in England.
He was recruited from Oxford to St. Louis to work for Mallinckrodt Medical in 1993 and joined the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in 2001, where he established the more than 80-member renowned at the School of Medicine.

Research

Dr. Achilefu is a world-renowned expert in the development and use of light-sensitive drugs for cancer detection, imaging, and therapy. Recently, he conceived and led the development of a novel wearable cancer viewing goggles for the accurate removal of cancer cells during surgery. He also discovered a novel treatment paradigm for cancer using a special type of light and non-pharmacological doses of drugs to selectively trigger cancer cell death without harming healthy tissue. These and many other innovations have resulted in and over 300 scientific papers..
Dr. Achilefu has received over 30 local, national, and international honors and awards, including the prestigious Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award in 2019 at SPIE, Distinguished Investigator Award in 2018, the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award in 2018, Excellence in Healthcare Award in 2017,  the first Department of Defense Distinguished Investigator Award in 2016, IEEE Donald G. Fink Award, Outstanding Scientist Award in 2015, Best Global Impact 2015, St. Louis Innovator Award 2015, the Medical Innovation Award in 2014, St. Louis Award in 2014, Featured Innovator 2014, Achiever Award 2008, Extraordinary Performance Award 1998, and Technical Innovation Award 1995.
Dr. Achilefu is featured in many public media. Representative examples include:
  1. Physics Worlds – Optics and Photonics Spotlight
  2. SPIE announces 2019 Society Awards
  3. Scientists Report Advances in Light-source Medicine to Help Fight Metastatic Cancer
  4. National Public Radio; Story Collider: When science complicates home and family
  5. 2018 AAAS Fellows approved by the AAAS Council
  6. Tumor imaging technique has potential as anti-cancer weapon, mouse study shows
  7. Glasses that make cancer glow
  8. New high-tech glasses detect cancer cells during surgery
  9. Goggles help surgeons ‘see’ tumours
  10. Special glasses help surgeons ‘see’ cancer
  11. Who To Watch: Samuel Achilefu, PhD
  12. New ‘Cancer Goggles’ help surgeons spot malignant tumors
  13. Hi-tech goggles 'detect cancer cells”
  14. Cancer-Spotting Goggles Help Surgeons Remove Diseased Cells
  15. Medical Innovator Award: Sam Achilefu, Washington University School of Medicine
  16. Inventor of 'Cancer Goggles' Receives St. Louis Award
  17. Academy of Science-St. Louis honors Washington University researchers
  18. Achilefu receives prestigious St. Louis Award

    Honors and Awards

References