Dr. Milvia Alata

Milvia Alata is a Peruvian researcher working in the development of label free,nonlinear imaging techniques. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Enteric Neuro Science of Professor Pieter Vanden Berghe, in KU Leuven. Milvia received her degree in exact sciences (physics and mathematics) from the University of Tarapaca in the north of Chile. During her master studies at the Centro de Investigaciones en Optica in Mexico she joined the biophotonics Lab under the supervision of Dr. Valeria Piazza, where she worked on the development of a mounting medium for high resolution optical microscopy. She also obtained her PhD at the same institution, working in an interdisciplinary project, studying the CNS using different imaging approaches like MRI and second harmonic generation microscopy. Now she continues using harmonics imaging, but now third harmonics, and applies it to the understanding of demyelination during neurodegeneration and for the study of the enteric nervous system.

Milvia joined the Optica chapters during her PhD studies in Mexico, where she met very active leaders who motivated her participate and organize outreach activities. Her volunteering focuses in bringing science closer to Latin American communities. She has given talks on microscopy, on the use of software for image analysis and also developed learning activities for children and young students.

Follow Milvia on LinkedIn.