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Britton Chance: his life, times, and Legacy

My career path before, during, and after being trained under BC

(1992-1996)

Hanli Liu, Ph.D.

Joint Program in Biomedical EngineeringThe Univ. of Texas at Arlington and

Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

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Before March 1992A graduate student in Physicsat Wake Forest University;

A very good Ph.D studentwith 7 papers ( not 1st author)

but did not know how to do research

During March meeting in 1992: In front of a poster, meet a “crazy” professor;shooting light to human head ?

Maybe he needs some help with research?

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Who is Britton Chance?

World renown scientist in biophysics/biochemistry!! 80 years old?!

In Summer of 1992, Joined JF

Enriched research environment;

Weekly seminars given by world-class scientists;

Extraordinary networking collaboration opportunities;

Translation studies with clinicians;

Survival principle with his patience and trust.

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First lesson learned:

July 4, 1992

Getting ready to sail in the afternoon;

Really got out from his house at 9:00 pm!!

Be brave to explore new adventure!

New journey to learn new knowledge!

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Am I smart enough to be there without correct training?

Second lesson learned:

Working with very bright and smart people,i.e., facing competition.

How to survive at JF and working in parallel with Arjun’s group, i.e., David and Maureen? After I got into BC’s lab in Summer 1992,

5 Medical Japanese doctors; 20 high school students;5+ post doctoral fellows; 10+ electrical engineers;

10+ graduate students; countless visitors/collaborators.

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Britt gave me enough time and trusted mefor about 2 years before I really became self-confident or found my survival methods:

Find what I am good at and explore unique and collaborative opportunities.

H. Liu*, B. Beauvoit, M. Kimura, and B. Chance, J. of Biomedical Optics 1, 200-211 (1996).

A. H. Hielscher, H. Liu, B. Chance, F. K. Tittel, and S. L. Jacques, Applied Optics 35, 719-728 (1996).

H. Liu*, D. A. Boas, Y. Zhang, A. G. Yodh, and B. Chance, Physics in Medicine and Biology 40, 1983-1993 (1995).

C. Dean Kurth, Hanli Liu, William Thayer, and Britton Chance, Physics in Medicine and Biology 40, 2079-2092 (1995).  

H. Liu*, A. H. Hielscher, F. K. Tittel, S. L. Jacques, and B. Chance, Medical Physics 22, 1209-1217 (1995).

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Fall 1996, I took the position at Univ. of Texas at Arlington;Had only $20K for Start-up, thinking I take my risk as a newjourney.

Nov. 1996, Britt was comingto Arlington, and Ron was very nicely hosted the dinnerand took this very valuable photo.

Whenever Britt came to Dallas, he called me and helped me with a larger or broader network.

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I took my naïveinitiation with 20Kand started with a neurosurgery navigation system to guide functional neurosurgery.

This led to the Whitaker fund and my first R01 grant.

Tumor oximetry by NIR spectroscopy

collaboration with Dr. Mason from UTSW to study tumor vascular dynamics for prognosis of breast cancer therapy.

This led to four different kinds of DoD Breast Cancer Research Funding.

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I found a group of mathematicians and a clinical program, stroke and its treatment. Then, worked with them, leading to a R21/R33 for a 5-year study.

Urethra

Urethra

I wish to go beyond breast cancer detections. So, took a few years to find a urologist and surgeon to explore the optical properties of human prostate.

This study led to two DoD prostate cancer research funding, and one R01 funding.

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I still wish to study the human brain,but I could not do it earlier.

With a STARS program from Texas, I obtained $500K for instrument, then, with UTSW/UTD, EarMark fund.

CW-6

DYNOT

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To predict therapy outcome for children with cerebral palsy.

Leading to a recent R01 funding.

~ 30 subjects

Cephalogics high-density brain imager To detect pain or pain intensity;

To study cognitive function during psychological tests;To quantify risk factors that can be used for high-risk populations; To study cognitive functions for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

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To detect cognitive function

Peak Int_E_ipsi aPFC (M)

-8e-6 -6e-6 -4e-6 -2e-6 0 2e-6

Rat

ing

0

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4

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To detect pain or pain intensity

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Without Britt’s trust and support, none of the above could have happened.

Oct. 2009