We are excited to announce that Michalina Gora, Manager in Neurophotonics at the Wyss Center, will be presenting at the prestigious SPIE Photonics West Conference. This event, known as the world’s largest photonics technologies conference, will take place from January 25 to January 30, 2025, in San Francisco, California.
January 25, 7:20PM PST – Shining light on gut feelings
Our digestive system is made up of a series of organs that are exposed to a wide variety of external stimuli including environmental factors. The gut comprises an intricate network of more than half a billion neurons known as the enteric nervous system (ENS). The ENS controls gut motility, nutrient absorption, immune regulation, and defense, and is thus crucial in maintaining the health of the gut. Proper functioning of the brain is also connected to the health of the gut via the gut-brain axis. Despite the importance of the status of the gut in efficient diagnosis and treatment of digestive and neurological disorders, it is still not well understood. One of the limiting factors is the lack of tools enabling in-vivo and minimally invasive investigations of the enteric nervous system’s involvement in diseases.
During this event, Michalina Gora will present a novel, minimally invasive endoscopic approach to understand, diagnose, and potentially treat disorders in the gut and brain. Her research team uses high resolution light-sheet microscopy to gain access to qualitative and quantitative information about the network of neurons involved in gut function, and developed a custom mini-endoscope that enables imaging of morphology and recording of electrophysiology of the gut in in-vivo anesthetized mice. This optoelectrical device offers two redout modalities capable of mapping and evoking activity, offering unique insights into the dynamic changes in electrical activity from the gut with morphological confirmation. This proposed technology, funded by an ERC Starting Grant, addresses the needs of neurogastroenterology research, advancing our understanding of the gut-brain axis in longitudinal studies.
Join us at SPIE Photonics West to learn more about this exciting research and connect with leading experts in the field! For more information and to register, please visit spie.org.
About SPIE Photonics West
SPIE Photonics West is an annual conference and exhibition that provides the most comprehensive biomedical optics meeting in the field. Photonics West brings together researchers, innovators, engineers, and business leaders from across the globe for an exciting week of research-sharing, collaboration opportunities, and innovation-inspiring exchanges. This year, the week will include 4,500 technical presentations and host over 1,200 companies to explore cutting-edge research in biomedical optics, therapeutics and diagnostics, biophotonics, new imaging modalities, optical coherence tomography, neurophotonics, optogenetics, tissue optics, and nanophotonics.
