Malini Olivo is the Distinguished A*STAR Fellow and Distinguished Principal Scientist of A*STAR Skin Research Labs (A*SRL) where she leads the Translational Biophotonics Laboratory. Concurrently, she is also an adjunct professor at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National University Health System, NUS, Singapore; LKC School of Medicine, NTU, Singapore; and Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. In 2015, she was elected by the Optical Society of America for "pioneering contribution in clinical photodiagnostics in the area of clinical spectroscopy and imaging in early cancer detection and photo-therapeutics of cancer".[1][2]
Malini Olivo | |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biophotonics, Medtech, Nano-biophotonics |
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Education
editShe obtained a Bachelor of Science with Education degree in Physics and Mathematics in 1985 and a Doctorate degree in Biomedical Physics from the University of Malaya and University College London (UCL) in 1991, working on photodynamic therapy of cancer. Following her doctorate, she honed her expertise in medical biophotonics by doing her post-doctoral training from 1991 to 1995, collaborating with top-notch institutions such as UCL in the UK, McMaster University and the University of Toronto.
Career
editShe is currently a Distinguished Principal Scientist in A*SRL, a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).[3] She was previously appointed as Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator at National Cancer Centre Singapore between 1995 and 2009. In 2007, she was also appointed as Head of Bio-optical Imaging at the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) and also adjunct professor at Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore. In 2009, she was appointed as Stokes Professor of Biophotonics at the National University of Ireland, Galway and Adjunct Professor of Biophotonics in Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Awards and recognition
editShe is recognised for her research in photomedicine by the International Biophotonics Community and regarded as a pioneer in the area of clinical applications of photomedicine in optical diagnostics and therapeutics both in Singapore and Ireland. For more than 25 years, she has been pioneering bio-photonics, analytical-based point-of-care technologies and wearable technology for clinical applications across oncology, skin, cardio-respiratory & womens health. She has led 5 First-in-human clinical studies using innovation in biophotonics technologies to improve healthcare outcomes in skin cancer, breast cancer and skin inflammatory disease such as eczema and psoriasis.
She received the SingHealth research excellence award for her contribution to scientific research excellence in the area of clinical biophotonics for diagnostics and therapeutics of cancer. She has won numerous awards in recognition of her contribution to biophotonics in Singapore, Ireland and the United States, including election as a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering[4] and Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2015. She has successfully obtained over $35 million in competitive research funding to advance her groundbreaking work both in Singapore and internationally. She has authored more than 500 scientific papers, holds an H-index of 63, and has been awarded over 75 patents for medical technology platforms and devices, including those in photo-acoustic hybrid imaging, confocal Raman and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, as well as diffuse optics for clinical imaging and biosensors. She is also the co-founder of 2 Medtech companies. In addition to that, she also published three books, and 20 chapters in her name.
Her international standing in her field allows her to serve in numerous international scientific advisory boards in the area of Photonics in Medicine. She has been recognized with the Women in GovTech award for her contributions to advancing technology in the public sector. Additionally, she has been honored by SPIE, OPTICA, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for her impact as a woman in photonics. Prof. Malini is also ranked among the Top 2% of the world’s most cited scientists, according to Stanford.
Prof. Malini holds several international advisory roles and is widely acknowledged for her groundbreaking research in biophotonics, including her contributions to the Nobel subcommittee. Her pioneering work has earned her international recognition and prestigious titles such as Fellow of the Optical Society of America (Optica), Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and most recently, Fellow of the Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS).
Research Interest
edit- Medical technology
- Translational medicine
- Nano-biophotonics
- Clinical Photodiagnostics in the area of clinical spectroscopy and imaging and phototherapeutics of cancer
- Biophotonics in Medicine and Biology
- Nanomedicine
References
edit- ^ "Fellowship Profiles". The Optical Society. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "2015 Fellows | Optica". www.optica.org. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ "Malini Olivo". A*STAR Research. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ "Fellow Directory". American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.