Our research centers on the application of engineering and physical sciences imaging principles to improve the diagnosis and management of human disease. Our specific interests are in the major health problems of retinal degeneration, cardiovascular disease and tumor formation. The unifying theme of this research is the application of imaging techniques and the design of probes to characterize molecular phenomena in diseased versus normal states. Much of our work involves the application of multiple imaging modalities. By using modalities in combination, we can exploit the strengths of each to maximize the information obtained by imaging. But the use of more than one imaging modality requires specialized probes with multiple modes of signal enhancement. Therefore, a primary component of our research is the development of novel imaging agents for molecular imaging, where molecular imaging is defined as the in vivo visualization of specific molecules or molecular function.