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Wellcome / EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences

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Professor Adrien Desjardins appointed as Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair

4 October 2021

Dr. Adrien Desjardins

Huge congratulations to Professor Adrien Desjardins (Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering and Wellcome / EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences) who has been awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Clinical Translation of Optical Ultrasound Imaging.

With a focus on industry-relevant research across the full range of engineering disciplines, the Academy’s Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships scheme enhances the links between academia and businesses with each of the prestigious five-year positions co-sponsored by an industrial partner. Each awardee will establish a world-leading research group in their engineering field.

Professor Desjardins’ research aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular patients by developing all-optical ultrasound imaging probes for real-time visualisation of tissues and medical devices from inside the body.

A multidisciplinary, collaborative effort between University College London and Echopoint Medical, this project will focus attention and stimulate connections across many fields, including optics, ultrasound, materials science and medical device design, thereby creating a knowledge base to speed up the translation of future biomedical sensing innovations.

Professor Desjardins says: “I anticipate that this partnership with Echopoint Medical will enable UCL innovations to significantly improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients in the UK and worldwide. The research will have a transformational impact on the technology readiness level of all-optical ultrasound, progressing from its robust foundation with pre-clinical demonstrations to a first-in-human study.”

Commenting on the appointment of the three new Research Chairs and one Senior Research Fellow, Professor Karen Holford CBE FREng FLSW, Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University and Chair of the Academy’s Research Committee, says: “These awardees illustrate brilliantly how expert engineering researchers, when partnered with industry, underpin the success of UK engineering research and innovation. The kind of work we are seeing illustrates why government has demonstrated such confidence in the economic value of our sector through its Innovation Strategy.”