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Professor recognized for exemplary lifetime contributions to the study of Earth

View of the Earth from space

York University Professor Spiros Pagiatakis received the Canadian Geophysical Union’s J. Tuzo Wilson Medal, which recognizes a Canadian scholar’s outstanding contributions throughout their career to the geosciences – the study of the Earth – and counts as the highest national honour earned by those in the field.

“I am deeply honoured and privileged to be awarded the highest accolade of geosciences and join the previous 45 laureates,” says Pagiatakis of the medal, which was given to him in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to the advancement of knowledge and education in Canadian geosciences. He is only the third York-affiliated person to receive the award.

Spiros Pagiatakis
Spiros Pagiatakis

Pagiatakis joined York U in 2001, after already having made a nearly decade-long impact in the field as a lead senior research scientist for the federal Department of Natural Resources Canada. In both his professional and academic careers, Pagiatakis has dedicated himself to the study of the Earth as observed from terrestrial and space platforms, with highly innovative work and discoveries starting from the Earth’s inner core motions. He has specialized in measuring and understanding the planet’s geometric and physical shape, and how its internal forces – like plate tectonics – bend form, deform and more, as well as how its atmosphere and gravity operate.

Pagiatakis has tackled innovative research questions across the spectrum of geodesy and Earth sciences, with groundbreaking findings that led to the recent recognition.

Among Pagiatakis’s innovations in the field, he pioneered a better understanding of deformation of the Earth due to the dynamics of ocean tides, as well developed the first map of Canada and the U.S. showing how gravity changes with time due to the rebounding of the Canadian land mass due to climate change and the melting of the ice since the last ice age glacial maximum, some 23 thousand years ago.

Since joining York U, his interests have shifted to space science, which has led to important discoveries highlighting how dynamics in the Earth’s lower and upper atmosphere influence, impact and shape climate science.

Pagiatakis’s work has been recognized and funded by the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada, the GEOIDE National Centre of Excellence, the Carbon Management Canada National Centre of Excellence, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Innovation Trust and Natural Resources Canada.

Pagiatakis’s impact has also extended beyond research by influencing future generations in the field, notably at York University. He was one of a handful of pioneers who created the first engineering programs and accreditation at York U, which ultimately led to the founding of the Lassonde School of Engineering, where he served as the inaugural associate dean of research and graduate studies for five years. He has also led the development of innovative methods of teaching in a virtual classroom environment and in blended course delivery to university students and engineering professionals before online teaching became commonplace.

A lifetime of efforts aren’t limited to the administrative, however. Pagiatakis has been a passionate teacher, deeply invested in collaborating and supervising graduate students to help guide the next generation of pioneers in the field of geophysics. Former students – many of whom now work for top organizations like NASA, the European Space Agency and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, and in academia in Canada and abroad – credit him for providing high-quality graduate education, training and mentoring opportunities in an equitable, safe, welcoming and encouraging environment built on trust, where acceptance, openness, motivation, enthusiasm and curiosity have been paramount.

For his part, Pagiatakis is reluctant to take too much credit for what he has accomplished. “My graduate students are the heart, the soul and inspiration of our research; without them nothing would be possible” he says.

Nonetheless, as one of his J. Tuzo Wilson Medal nominators emphasized, Pagiatakis “is one of those exceptional scientists who do not shy away from various administrative and organizational duties someone has to undertake in order to keep science healthy.” His dedication to doing just that – keeping his field of science thriving with his career, academic work and mentorship – are what now have earned him the recognition his students would agree he’s long deserved.

Digital inclusion plays key role in financial inclusion, according to new Schulich study

Hands of woman with credit card and phone for a digital payment on sofa relaxing at home.

New research from York University’s Schulich School of Business shows that digital inclusion – the policy of providing greater access to high-speed internet – plays a key role in gaining greater access to credit, particularly in regions with marginalized and underserved populations.

Professor Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam close-up portrait
Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam

The research findings are contained in the paper “Digital Inclusion and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Peer-to-Peer Lending,” published in the Journal of Business Ethics. The paper was co-authored by Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam, a professor of accounting and the Ron Binns Chair in Financial Reporting, Banking and Governance at Schulich, together with Xiaoran (Jason) Jia, an assistant professor of accounting at Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business & Economics and a former PhD student of Kanagaretnam’s.

“We found robust evidence that digital inclusion – a public policy designed to provide high-speed internet infrastructure for historically digitally excluded populations – is positively associated with the greater access to capital by people from marginalized communities,” said Kanagaretnam.  

The study generated a number of additional findings, including the discovery that digital inclusion may contribute to higher lending rates due to the availability of more information about borrowers that assist lenders in their decision-making process, and the strong likelihood that digital inclusion may facilitate faster loan approvals. 

The research findings also showed digital inclusion led to higher lending penetration in areas underserved by traditional banks as well as areas with greater minority populations.

“These results suggest that digital inclusion plays a key role in financial inclusion, particularly in regions with more vulnerable and/or underserved populations,” noted Kanagaretnam.

New funding supports training in vaccine production at York U

test tube vaccine production

Thanks to new funding from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges & Universities, the Faculty of Science is launching a new micro-credential in Vaccine Production and Quality Assurance in Winter 2025 at York University’s Markham Campus.

The provincial funding comprises $50,000 from the Micro-credentials Challenge Fund (Round 2) and $75,000 from the Training Equipment and Renewal Fund, which will go toward the creation of the new micro-credential that will prepare trainees for jobs in vaccine biomanufacturing and processing.

Hovig Kouyoumdjian
Hovig Kouyoumdjian

“Our new programs in vaccine production and biotechnology aim to bridge talent gaps in the pharmaceutical industry in Canada and to offer students and professionals a variety of training options for upskilling for industry jobs,” says Hovig Kouyoumdjian, associate dean of curriculum and pedagogy in the Faculty of Science.

Spearheaded by Kouyoumdjian and faculty members Jade Atallah, the Markham biotechnology graduate program director, and Luz Adriana Puentes Jácome in the Department of Biology, the micro-credential in Vaccine Production and Quality Assurance will provide accelerated, experiential and industry-centred training on the fundamentals of vaccine production, including emerging technologies.

“It will be offered as an eight-week, blended program, shaped by input from a variety of industry partners,” says Jácome. “The micro-credential offers more rapid, vaccine-focused training relative to the new Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology and Master’s in Biotechnology Management programs, which are broader in scope and completed in one year or two, respectively.”

With the new funding, the Faculty of Science will also purchase new equipment that will not only benefit student training in the micro-credential but also the Master’s in Biotechnology Management and Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology programs starting this fall at Markham Campus. The equipment will include cell culture tools for various expression systems (bacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian cells) and novel vaccine platform technologies (DNA, RNA and recombinant proteins) that are highly aligned with current advancements in the vaccine industry.

“Given the focus of these biotechnology postgraduate programs on applied training, the new equipment will support a curricular delivery that is hands-on and highly experiential in nature,” says Atallah. “Our students will complete their training with the knowledge and skills they need to secure in-demand jobs in the biotechnology and vaccine production industry.”

“We are grateful to the Ontario Ministry of Colleges & Universities for supporting the creation and enhancement of these important programs at York University,” says Kouyoumdjian.

Students gain experiential education in South Korea

Students-at-the-Namsan-Tower-looking-out-to-Seoul BANNER

Fifteen undergraduate students, from across Faculties and disciplines, travelled to South Korea for a Global Political Studies course designed to immerse undergraduates in the history and culture of the country – both academically and experientially.

Each year, students in the course South Korea: The Politics of Youth and Old Age participate in a unique opportunity representative of York University’s commitment to experiential education.

Thomas Klassen
Thomas Klassen

Beginning with one week of study at York U’s Keele Campus, students in the course embark on a three-week trip to Seoul, South Korea. There, the students “take advantage of every opportunity to understand, and participate in, Korean society,” notes Professor Thomas Klassen, who teaches the annual course.

This year, in addition to absorbing the culture through visiting museums, palaces and temples, the students learned to cook, watched live shows and a professional baseball game. They also met with staff at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul for a presentation on Canadian diplomacy and the life of diplomats. The course – and trip – concluded with a full-day guided tour to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Kavindi Perera, a student in the course, says, “Getting to visit and study in South Korea was a dream come true for me. I was able to learn and experience so much.”

During their visit, students spent two days collaborating with Korean undergraduate students at Chung-Ang University, exchanging knowledge on – and designing solutions to – major social problems in both Canada and Korea.    

Each student developed a research project while in Seoul, covering topics such as the K-pop industry, gender inequality, Korean beauty standards, fertility trends, education fever and international relations. Speaking and observing Koreans, seeing local advertisements and clothing, and living in Seoul provided students with a rich knowledge base that would have been impossible to obtain otherwise.  

Students-wearing-traditional-Korea-dress-visiting-a-palace BANNER
York University students wearing traditional Korean clothes while visiting a palace.

“I learned enormously by being immersed in Korean culture, politics and society,” says student Alex Singh. “The knowledge I acquired helped me grow as a person and will be an integral part of my university education.”

Another student, Samantha McConnell, says the course was “the greatest and most fun adventure of my academic career.”

Klassen adds, “The students learned more, not only about Korea but about themselves. They returned with a much deeper understanding of the world around them, but also their place in it, and the possibilities they have to make positive changes.”

York U mature students take their studies abroad this summer

Map plane travel international world

By Elaine Smith

York University’s summertime, faculty-led study abroad opportunities continue to be popular post-pandemic, and it’s not only 20-somethings who are taking advantage of the chance to broaden their cultural horizons. Mature students, too, are registering for courses that take them across the globe.

York International, the University’s hub for both international students and international education programs, supports Faculties and academic units in offering study abroad opportunities led by York U course directors, and mature students are eager to participate.

F. Evnur Taran on a research trip in Georgia.

Human geography PhD student F. Evnur Taran, for example, studied in Mexico City last month. Meanwhile, undergraduate student Paula Kaston is off to York U’s Las Nubes EcoCampus in Costa Rica and Richard Smith has headed to China. None of them had studied abroad previously, but their life experiences made them confident that they would succeed in an unfamiliar environment.

“I’m excited,” says Taran. Called Free Trade, Unfree Labour and Environmental Justice in Continental North America, it looks at the current North American free trade agreement. Students in this intensive course, led by Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC) Professor Anna Zalik, spend a week studying with peers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City and reconvened the following week at York U.

“It’s an opportunity to be in a university in another country and see what their system is like,” says Taran.

Taran loves both travelling and learning. Once her children were grown, she earned a second bachelor’s degree at Glendon College. Next came a master’s degree in international development studies, which led her to apply for the PhD program in human geography.

“I’m living my second youth,” she says. “I love to study and to be active, and I’ll continue as long as life permits me.”

Kaston, who is retired, is finishing her bachelor’s degree in environmental sustainability. She decided that a course at York U’s EcoCampus would be a wonderful end to her undergraduate studies.

Years earlier, career opportunities lured Kaston away from her university studies, so she is fulfilling her long-term goal now by earning a degree. In fact, she has enjoyed the experience so much that she is continuing on to a master’s program in environmental science this fall.

“Environmental sustainability has been a passion of mine for a long time,” she says, “and when I found the York program, I decided to go full on.”

Kaston registered for a course called Conservation and Development for Social-Environmental Sustainability and Wellbeing, led by EUC professor and Las Nubes director Felipe Montoya. The course explores the ways Costa Rica is succeeding with sustainable development.

“I want to see what these initiatives that we read about really look like on the ground,” Kaston says.

Smith, who retired from York U last year as director of institutional planning, began taking language courses prior to retirement. This summer, he embarked on an intensive course in Mandarin – Intermediate Chinese Language and Culture in China: Shanghai as an International and Chinese Centre – taught by Assistant Professor Gang Pan in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. It brought him to China at the end of May.

“I’m fascinated by how people in other countries do the same things in different and often surprising ways,” he says.

To help support his trip, Smith received a $2,000 award from the Government of Canada’s Outbound Student Mobility Pilot Program Global Skills Opportunity (GSO). The funding is meant to offset the cost of travel while increasing the participation of under-represented groups in international learning opportunities.

Smith and 10 of his classmates studied at Fudan University in Shanghai for a month, lived in the residences there and ate in the dining hall. Their course was intensive, with five hours of language classes daily, but the month-long session ended with a five-day trip to the cities of Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing, as well as the Shaolin monastery (the birthplace of Buddhism) and the countryside of Zhejiang Province to experience first-hand the culture, history and landscapes – and put their language skills to the ultimate test.

“I’ve been dropped into cities with a different language before,” Smith says, “but here, it may be hard to find English speakers, so I’ll pretty much have to rely on my Chinese.”

Ashley Laracy, associate director of global learning for York International, urges students of all ages to follow in the footsteps of these mature students.

“Faculty-led study abroad programs create a supportive space for students to travel abroad with a group of their known peers,” she says. “We’re excited to see the diversity of our student population reflected in our global learning programs. Our Global Engagement Strategy outlines York’s commitment to building and facilitating opportunities that are inclusive and accessible to our students. Global learning is lifelong learning.”

This summer, York University has more than 300 students abroad as part of faculty-led programs. With the help of the GSO funding, the University has been able to increase its participation levels in summer study abroad initiatives, with more than 220 participating students receiving financial support towards their global learning.

For more information about York University faculty-led abroad opportunities, contact yuabroad@yorku.ca.

Discover York Academics to be integrated with Faculty websites

Discover York Academics YFile banner

York University’s new curriculum vitae (CV) tool, Discover York Academics, will enter its latest phase this summer following its launch earlier this year, enabling Faculty websites to adopt Discover York Academics’ enhanced electronic profile format, transforming how faculty profiles are displayed and updated.

The system integration – which includes an interface for users to edit their data and continuous updates through automation and aggregation features, among other improvements – is an opportunity to centralize and unify faculty profiles across the University and create a single source for content updates. Converting faculty profiles over to the Discover York Academics system will also save time and the resources needed for manual data entry.

“Joining Discover York Academics and setting up a public profile allows faculty to streamline their digital presence and maintain one online profile to showcase their professional and scholarly activities more comprehensively than ever before,” said Jennifer Steeves, associate vice-president research and a professor in the Faculty of Health. “Leveraging this tool can help capture the outstanding achievements and research excellence of York faculty in their entirety, making their leading work in their respective fields easier to search, access and share.”

“Discover York Academics is an exciting, career-enhancing opportunity for York’s researchers, scholars and creatives to more widely share their public expertise and their local and global efforts to drive positive change,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “By using this tool, our faculty members gain a bigger platform to network, strengthen their visibility and grow their work’s reach, influence and impact.”

If faculty need assistance setting up a profile, they can register for Laptop & Learn drop-in sessions organized by the Research Commons throughout the summer.

Faculty can also book a one-on-one training session online or in-person, or email their CV to dyahelp@yorku.ca for direct help. Training resources, guides and technical support are available on YU Link.   

To join and learn more, visit Discover York Academics on YU Link.

Study examines impact of Quebec’s Bill 21

The senior southeast Asian woman with hijab standing on the blue background

York University Professor Nadia Hasan, in collaboration with the National Council of Canadian Muslims, has published a new study called “Social Discord and Second-class Citizenship” that examines how legislation passed in Quebec has negatively impacted the lives and careers of Muslim women.

Nadia Hasan
Nadia Hasan

Bill 21, a legislation enacted in 2019, prohibits Quebec public servants – teachers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and others – from wearing religious symbols like the hijab, turban or kippah while at work.

Given the implications of the bill, Hasan, who joined York U’s School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies last year, sought to better understand the impact the bill has had on the lives of Muslims and other religious minorities in Quebec since its inception.

After conducting in-depth interviews with 10 Muslim women, surveying 411 Quebec Muslim women and 750 other individuals in the general Quebec population, and drawing on information from Canadian market research company Abacus Data, a clear conclusion – shared in the published study – emerged: “Bill 21 systematically corners Muslim women into vulnerable positions as second-class citizens,” says Hasan. “This study is one of the largest of its kind and it contributes to a mounting body of evidence that illustrates the clearly damaging and harmful impacts of Bill 21.”

Per the findings in the report, Muslim women are experiencing heightened levels of stress and discriminatory treatment from colleagues due to the legislation, in ways that leave many facing a difficult decision between their religious beliefs and their professional careers.

“This important study provides compelling evidence for the real and negative impact of Law 21 on Muslim women living in Quebec, especially regarding access to the job market and career advancement opportunities, mental health, rise in verbal and physical aggressions, and gender equality,” says Professor Amelie Barras from the Department of Social Science, who was an external advisory committee member on the study.

“When you take away people’s rights, when you legislate and legitimize discrimination against them, it is not surprising to find that their lives have deteriorated in multiple ways,” says Hasan 

The negative impact of the bill isn’t limited to individuals, either, the study finds. As many Muslim women are contemplating relocating from the province to seek better opportunities elsewhere, this potential exodus could result in billions of dollars of income loss for Quebec.

“The study shows that these negative consequences are far from being limited to women working in public services affected by the law, but extend to Quebec society at large, affecting both public and private sectors,” says Barras.

The study ends with 11 recommendations to help mitigate the impact of Bill 21, but for Hasan, the hope is the report will help advance what she believes is the most important outcome. “The only real solution is to repeal it,” she says.

Parking and traffic modifications for National Bank Open tennis

YFile featured image by Photo by Kelly L from Pexels shows a parking lot

The 2024 National Bank Open tennis tournament will take place at the Sobeys Stadium on York University’s Keele Campus from Sunday, Aug. 4 to Monday, Aug. 12. While every effort is made to minimize the disruption of operations on the Keele Campus, the following parking and traffic modifications will be in effect.

Reserved parking for tennis pass holders:

  • Founders Road West Lot
  • Northwest Gate Lot (north/middle)
  • Arboretum Lane Parking Garage
  • Student Services Parking Garage
  • Shoreham Drive Lot

Patrons and participants are required to have a virtual Tennis Parking Pass to access these lots/garages. All lots, with the exception of the Shoreham Drive Lot, will be occupied for this event from Sunday, Aug. 4 at 6 a.m. until Monday, Aug. 12. at 12 a.m. The Shoreham Drive Lot will be closed for this event from Friday, Aug. 2 at 6 a.m. until Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 6 a.m.

York U parking permit holders

Permit holders with the exception of Shoreham Lot permit holders, will not be displaced during this event. A predetermined quantity of parking spaces have been reserved for community members who must be on campus during this time. Shoreham Lot permit holders will be moved to Arboretum Lane Parking Garage from Friday, Aug. 2 until Tuesday, Aug. 13 inclusive.

York U visitor/short-term parking

Visitor and short-term parking will be available in the following places:

  • Vanier Lot
  • Founders Road East Visitor Lot ($10 flat rate)
  • Northwest Gate South lot ($10 flat rate)
  • Calumet Lot ($15 flat rate)
  • York Lanes Parking Garage
  • Atkinson Lot
  • Passy Crescent
  • Assiniboine Road
  • Fine Arts Road
  • Physical Resources Building Lot South
  • Thompson Road Lot West
  • Thompson Road Lot East
  • University Street
  • Lumbers Visitors Lot
  • Student Services Parking Garage

There will be no short-term parking in the following places:

  • Arboretum Lane Parking Garage
  • Northwest Gate Lot (north/middle)
  • Shoreham Lot

Traffic restrictions on campus

The following road restrictions will be in place from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. from Sunday, Aug. 4 to Monday, Aug. 11 and from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 12 inclusive:

  • Shoreham Drive will be closed for the duration of the event.

For more information or if any special parking arrangements are required, contact Parking Services at parking@yorku.ca.

York U initiative amplifies voices of refugee youth

A hand holds a microphone. Collage element in halftone effect. P

York University’s Singing Our Stories project, led by Professor Andrea Emberly, aims to amplify the voices of refugee and newcomer children and youth through music and collaborative arts creation.

andrea emberly
Andrea Emberly

Partnering with refugee settlement agencies COSTI and CultureLink, as well as international research leaders in applied community music, Singing Our Stories mobilizes arts- and music-based programs to support the well-being goals of refugee children and youth.

Supported by a $447,000 grant from Canada’s Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council, the project explores how music-making, songwriting and storytelling can foster young people’s well-being, cultural resilience and individual resilience. At the same time, it looks to challenge discriminatory assumptions about their experiences and addresses systemic barriers to their well-being during displacement, migration and resettlement.

“Music is key to disrupting these barriers because it provides a tangible and creative way for young people to reclaim and tell their own stories and share insight into their own lived experiences,” explains Emberly, an ethnomusicologist and York Research Chair in Children’s Musical Cultures.

The goal is for participants to begin healing, participate more fully in their own communities and cultures, and even begin to change prejudiced stereotypes held about them by others.

Among its efforts has been the Singing Our Stories festival, held in June at York University and community venues in Toronto, where children and youth from ongoing programs shared their music and arts. Part of the festival included a five-day residency called Common Ground Voices, running concurrently with the festival dates, led by world-renowned choral conductor and peace activist André de Quadros from Boston University. The residency invited musicians, artists and creative individuals, particularly those affected or impacted by war and conflict, to participate in creative arts as a means to dialogue about peace-building in the current world.

Residency participants collaborated with children’s and youth refugee choirs in a final performance at the Aga Khan Museum Theatre, showcasing the power of music and arts in amplifying the voices of displaced communities and fostering understanding and dialogue.

“By telling their own stories,” says Emberly, “children and young people help to shape the future of our communities.”

Lassonde prof explores optical imaging for heart attack prevention

hand holding heart near stethoscope BANNER

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in Canada and the U.S. Understanding the severity of the disease in patients is crucial for preventing complications like heart attacks – and researchers across the globe are racing toward solutions to avoid such devastating outcomes.

Over the past few years, Nima Tabatabaei, an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering – along with his former PhD student Mohammad Hossein Salimi and Professor Martin Villiger, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School – has been working to develop a new intravascular imaging technology to enable early detection and prevention of heart attacks.

Nima Tabatabaei

“When aiming to prevent heart attacks,” Tabatabaei says, “a major point of interest is early detection of unstable atherosclerotic plaques.”

These plaques are made up of fatty substances known as lipids, which can accumulate in different arteries throughout the body.

“If an atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, patients can experience a heart attack,” he says. “However, not all plaques will rupture. A major issue is that cardiologists don’t have a reliable way of distinguishing plaques that are problematic from those that are not.”

Tabatabaei’s new technology, called photo-thermal optical coherence tomography (PT-OCT), can distinguish rupture-prone plaques from stable ones based on their distinct structure and chemistry. An enhanced version of a biomedical imaging technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is primarily used to diagnose eye diseases, PT-OCT uses two lasers as well as principles of interferometry – a measurement method using the interference of superimposed waves to extract information – to capture light scattering and absorption from biological tissues. This generates high-resolution images that show both plaque structure and tissue chemistry, providing an objective tool for assessing the risk of atherosclerotic plaque rupture.

“OCT is one of the most widely used optical imaging methods in clinical settings,” explains Tabatabaei. “Our idea was to include additional lasers to the system at specific wavelengths, allowing for absorption by the chemistry of unstable plaques.”

Although PT-OCT is a promising method for imaging atherosclerotic plaques, it is not currently being used in clinical settings for this purpose.

“Very few labs have access to this technology,” says Tabatabaei, “and it can also be quite slow, complicated and hindered by noise.”

Throughout the past four years, Tabatabaei and his research team have worked to address several fundamental and technological challenges of PT-OCT, while exploring innovative ways to improve this method for the purpose of imaging and characterizing atherosclerotic plaques.

In a recent paper published in the prominent journal Scientific Reports, Tabatabaei explored the use of an artificial intelligence method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of PT-OCT signals and contrast of PT-OCT images. Neural networks were designed and trained with experimental data, allowing the system to better predict specific structural and chemical features in images. This work also created opportunities to significantly improve imaging speed and efficiency.

Through previous research, the team studied the implications of PT-OCT signals and their relationship with biological tissue, linking optical signals to corresponding chemical structures. They also investigated ways to improve additional qualities like accuracy, working toward practical use in clinical settings.

Detecting and characterizing atherosclerotic plaques, this imaging technology boasts the potential to transform the future of heart attack detection and treatment, ultimately improving patient outcomes. Moving forward, Tabatabaei will continue to apply his expertise in biomedical optics to improve PT-OCT and explore additional applications, contributing to ongoing efforts of combatting heart disease.