Lisa Poulikakos: "My research leverages the nanoscale science of light to develop improved, accessible diagnostic techniques for patients and doctors in need."

What was your dream job as a child?

I have always been naturally curious about and interested in many different fields, ranging from physics, biology, mathematics to art, literature and philosophy. Therefore, my childhood and teenage aspirations ranged from astrophysics to poetry.

Today, as a scientist and engineer, I love coming to work every day to the opportunity to learn something new and exciting, tackle intellectual challenges and broaden my horizons. I love working at the frontiers of human knowledge and the thrill of scientific discovery. I also find it extremely motivating to be able to put that new knowledge to use to address important societal questions.

Within ten years, you did a bachelor, master and PhD at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH. What memories do you have from that time?

I very much appreciate having had the opportunity to earn my engineering degrees at ETH Zürich. The world-class resources available at ETH have provided me with outstanding tools, knowledge and expertise to address important societal and technological challenges in my career as a researcher. I was particularly inspired by the pioneering efforts of the Mechanical and Process Engineering department of ETH to translate and adapt classical engineering principles at the forefront of micro- and nanotechnology for exciting future applications including the areas of biomedicine, robotics, energy or information technology. Furthermore, I have greatly benefitted from the opportunity to learn from the outstanding faculty at ETH Zürich who are international leaders in their fields, including my PhD advisor Prof. David Norris and my collaborator and thesis committee member Prof. Lukas Novotny.

Since November 2018, you are a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in California. What does your work involve? What motivates you to do research?

I am an engineering scientist in the area of optical materials at Stanford University. My research uses the science of light to build a bridge between engineering and medicine. Currently, I am working to develop new ways to diagnose serious diseases – such as heart disease, Alzheimer's or cancer – more quickly, accurately and at a lower cost than doctors can today. I have always had a natural curiosity to understand the world around me and love how, as a scientist and engineer; it is my job to explore these questions every day.

Have you ever watched a crystal prism split white light into a rainbow of color? This is just one example of the wealth of information that is encoded in light. The science of light has an immense potential to address key biomedical challenges: My research develops an on-chip technology which can split light into its constituent colors (just like a prism) and, when interfaced with a patient’s tissue sample, enables doctors to distinguish healthy from diseased tissue by changes in color they observe in a simple optical microscope. This technology will provide doctors with important information on disease stage and appropriate treatments in a manner which is faster and less expensive than current techniques.

When my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she did not have access to state-of-the-art analysis of her disease. Consequently, an inaccurate diagnosis of her cancer stage led her to receive ineffective treatment and her cancer progressed beyond therapy. My research leverages the nanoscale science of light to develop improved, accessible diagnostic techniques. Today as a scientist and engineer, I am motivated to help patients like my grandmother. Using the science of light to address societally-relevant biomedical challenges is a central driving force behind my work.

During your studies, you founded LIMES (Ladies in Mechanical and Electrical Studies). Can you tell us more about it?

When I entered my undergraduate program in Mechanical and Process Engineering, I joined a class where 8.2 percent of my approximately 500 classmates were women. As the daughter of two engineering scientists, I grew up in an environment that always nurtured and encouraged my natural scientific curiosity. That is why I knew that this low percentage was not due to a lack of talented potential female students, but due to their lack of awareness of the amazing opportunities that engineering can provide. I was fortunate to have had such a perspective on science and engineering from my family, but I wanted to provide more young women with this opportunity.

I founded "LIMES" - www.limes.ethz.ch - the first student-led organization devoted to female engineering students at our university, which continues to flourish today. As president of this organization, I initiated a series of networking events for undergraduate and graduate students and national outreach events for high school students, each hosting 100 participants, to create a network of female engineers and inspire the next generation of engineering students.

L'Oréal has a promotional program for women in science. You are one of five women to have received a prize for their research in the USA. What does this prize mean to you?

I am incredibly honored to have been selected as one of 5 L'Oréal USA For Women in Science (FWIS) Postdoctoral fellows. I am very grateful to L'Oréal USA and AAAS for this amazing opportunity and to my scientific mentors at Stanford University and ETH Zürich (Profs. Jennifer Dionne, Stefanie Jeffrey, David Norris) for their support.

The FWIS fellowship will provide essential equipment and experimental resources to realize my research goals. It will also help cover travel costs to present my research at scientific conferences. Additionally, the FWIS fellowship provides a unique platform to raise awareness of the necessity for innovative, affordable breast cancer diagnostic tools, a gender-specific health issue annually affecting hundreds of thousands of women in the US, while enabling me to organize an outreach event for Women in Biomedical Optics at Stanford University. Finally, the FWIS fellowship provides an excellent platform to act as a role model for a more diverse new generation of scientists in the future.