Muyinatu “Bisi” Bell, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been selected to receive a 2019 Sloan Research Fellowship, a very competitive honor that annually recognizes 126 U.S. and Canadian researchers who have made significant contributions to their fields early in their careers.
Bell, who directs the Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Systems Engineering (PULSE) Laboratory, was nominated for the award by Ralph Etienne-Cummings, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is the lone winner from Johns Hopkins this year.
“Bisi is one of the rising stars in the department,” Etienne-Cummings said. “In her young career, she has made some significant contributions in the field of photoacoustic imaging and guidance for surgical tools. This is a well-deserved recognition of what she has accomplished, and also a recognition of her potential to do great things.”
Sloan Research Fellowships honor researchers in nine fields, with Bell receiving her recognition in physics. That award usually highlights researchers in more traditional areas of physics, something Bell believes made her application on safety limits for the use of lasers while performing photoacoustic image guidance of surgery stand out.
“If you look at the handbook for the safe use of lasers, it only provides exposure limits for eyes and skin because, traditionally, lasers that are marked as safe for human use would primarily come in contact with one of these two organs,” said Bell, who has a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. “I am developing an imaging technique that will see inside human bodies to help guide surgeons around critical blood vessels that they don’t want to injure, while also safely getting the light as close as possible to the surgical site. This close proximity coupled with knowledge of the maximum permissible laser energy for specific tissues will work together to improve image quality.”