Profile

Christine Hendon is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Vice Dean of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships within the Engineering School at Columbia University. Christine received a BS degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2004 and the MS and PhD degrees from Case Western Reserve University in Biomedical Engineering in 2007 and 2010, respectively. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2012. She joined Columbia University in 2012. At Columbia, Hendon teaches Optical Systems and Digital Image Processing to a diverse student population, including Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics, and Mechanical Engineering students. Hendon is also the director of the Structure Function Imaging Laboratory. Her research contributions have been developing optical systems and processing methods for enabling the extraction of architectural information and the identification of structural substrates within tissue.

The Structure-Function Imaging Laboratory has made several contributions toward the characterization of the human myocardium with optical coherence tomography and monitoring of ablation therapy with near-infrared spectroscopy. Hendon utilizes optical methods to address significant unmet clinical needs in cardiac electrophysiology. She has developed integrated OCT, NIRS, and ablation probes for real-time assessment of interventional procedures, along with processing tools for measuring lesion depth, monitoring, and generating substrate maps for procedural guidance. Hendon's recent research efforts are towards using optical coherence tomography and near-infrared spectroscopy to address unmet needs in women's health, with an emphasis on breast and uterine cancer.

She has received recognition for her work from Forbes' 30 under 30 in Science and Healthcare (2012), MIT Technology Review's 35 under 35 Innovators (2013), NIH New Innovator Award (2014), NSF CAREER Award (2015), and Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (2017). Prof. Hendon is a fellow of Optica, SPIE, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AMBIE).
 

Election Statement

Service is my opportunity to use my talents to impact others outside my laboratory or classroom. As a high school and undergraduate student, I participated in many outreach events, which were life-changing opportunities. As a faculty member, participating in service efforts is natural. I am privileged and honored to serve in my current roles with the university and use all of my experiences to provide different perspectives within the various communities and committees I am a part of.

My service to the biophotonics scientific community is highlighted through my participation as a reviewer for the US National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, and through my involvement with the Optica, SPIE and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) professional societies. My service to the scientific community has broadened my perspective. I will utilize those experiences if allowed to serve as an Optica Director-at-Large.

Within Optica, I was appointed to the Optica Board of Meetings, starting a three-year term in January 2019, to represent the biomedical conferences that Optica sponsors, including the Optica Biophotonics Congress (Biomedical Optics and Optics in the Life Sciences) and the Optica European Conference on Biomedical Optics (ECBO). I co-chaired the conference meetings on Optical Coherence Tomography, Optical Tomography and Spectroscopy, and Bio-Optics Design and Applications. This year, I was the general chair of the Optica Biophotonics: Biomedical Optics Congress.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was a conference chair and member of the Board of Meetings in transitioning the conference to a virtual format. I also participated in the Optica Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Rapid Action Committee. These experiences have enabled me to think outside the box as we approach events organization to ensure we reach a wider audience.

Mentoring is another critical form of teaching and career development. My first service role within Optica was organizing the Meet the Expert event to facilitate mentoring events at the Biophotonics Congress. I am also the faculty advisor of the Optica/SPIE and NSBE student chapters at Columbia University. As a Director-at-Large, I will work toward the continued development of student and early-career researcher engagement and career development opportunities and continue working toward expanding access.