ACADEMIA

Tuan Vo-Dinh, a UT-Battelle corporate fellow, director of the Center for Advanced Biomedical Photonics, and leader of the Advanced Biomedical Science and Technology Group in the Life Sciences Division of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). The selection recognizes Vo-Dinh's many distinguished contributions and his interest, concern and involvement with critical issues affecting medical and biological engineering. Fellowship membership in the AIMBE institute is a distinct honor. The total membership is not to exceed two percent of the total number of individuals active in medical and biological engineering. Vo-Dinh received ORNL's 2003 Director's Award last November for outstanding individual accomplishment in science and technology, along with ORNL's Distinguished Scientist Award. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers, authored a textbook on microscopy and has edited four books. He recently served as editor-in-chief of a new handbook about biomedical photonics. Vo-Dinh holds more than 28 patents - five of which have been licensed to environmental and biotech companies for commercial development. He has also received numerous awards including seven R&D 100 awards - the most recent earned in July for his development of the Raman Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTS), which is a compact "point and shoot" monitor. He earned a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (known as ETH) before completing his post-doctoral research in analytical chemistry from the University of Florida. He and his wife, Kim-Chi, live in Knoxville. They have a daughter, Jade. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.