On Campus, 03/01/02 Arete: Anne Clark

Anne Clark has a long and distinguished history of navigating the productive intersections between academia and the larger community.

Clark

She was graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1992 with a B.S. in electrical engineering and applied mathematics. Immediately afterward, she attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she received her M. S. in electrical engineering and computer science in 1994.

Before teaching as an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the Air Force Academy, she also led a software team in helping to develop avionics software for the Air Force’s next generation fighter, the F-22.

When Clark decided to return to school and earn a Ph.D., she actively pursued a research program that addressed pressing societal concerns. An electrical engineer by trade, she decided to use her skills in the fight against cancer. Upon entering The University of Texas at Austin, she began working in the Spectroscopy Lab with Dr. Rebecca Richards-Kortum.

Specifically, she is helping to advance the state of the art in biomedical imaging systems. Such advances will allow doctors to diagnose oral cancer in its early stages by performing an optical biopsy.

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States, with survival rates falling drastically if the cancer is detected after it spreads from its initial location.

Oral cancer is an especially shocking example of this problem with overall five-year survival rates of only 54 percent, even though more than 80 percent of cases are cured when the disease is caught early enough.

Editor's Note: Arete is an ancient Greek word for virtue, describing the quest for individual excellence. In this regular feature of On Campus, the university salutes its graduate students—whose considerable contributions to the academy and larger community are truly virtuous. These features will be framed and posted in the lobby of the Office of Graduate Studies, Main 101.

Clark's system gives doctors the tools to examine noninvasively a questionable area in the mouth at a sub-cellular resolution, the same resolution used to examine standard biopsies.

The system builds its images using a technique very similar to ultrasound, but instead of sound, it uses laser light. Multiple filters allow the instrument to isolate light coming from a specific layer within the tissue and look through the tissue to a depth of nearly 0.5 mm.

This would eliminate the need to remove tissue and send it to the lab for processing, cutting down on painful procedures and long wait times for results.

In fact, techniques such as this open up the possibility of a doctor on one end of video feed imaging an area, with a pathologist on the other end giving immediate direction and feedback.

Once the basic technique is demonstrated, Clark plans to improve the system by adding an endoscope that will allow imaging within restricted cavities and to explore other areas of the body for which this technique could be used. Soon, Clark said, the day will come when cancer can be diagnosed during a routine visit to the doctor without the additional levels of screening and tests now needed.