Prof. Tayyaba Hasan, PhD is a Professor of Dermatology at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and as well as a Professor for the combined Health Sciences and Technology division of Harvard-MIT.  

 

Famous as an inventor of a PDT eye treatment, used in millions of patients worldwide, she has over 300 publications, 30+ inventions, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the OSA. She has earned 13 Significant or Lifetime Achievement awards from our foremost bodies, such as the International Conference on Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, the Society of American Asian Scientists in Cancer Research, the American Society for Photobiology, including 2 Gold Medals, from the European Society for Photobiology and from the International Photodynamic Association recognizing her significant career. Most recently she received the US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), recognizing both her mentoring and her scientific achievements and just concluded a successful 4 month Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship to broaden the exchange between Portugal and the US in her field. Dr Hasan is also internationally known for her mentoring, teaching, and for promoting equitable representation in science. 

 

Dr. Hasan’s scientific efforts are focused on photochemistry-based approaches (photodynamic therapy, or PDT) for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer and infection using targeted strategies, especially nanotechnology. The overall strategy is to develop molecular mechanisms and optical imaging-based combination treatment regimens where one treatment arm involves light activation of certain near-infrared-absorbing chemicals. This is designed to identify various cellular and molecular targets for specific diseases and design constructs for optimal photochemical treatment effects.

 

Dr. Hasan leads an NCI-funded multinational Program Project grant focused on image-guided treatment of pancreatic and skin cancers and an international consortium developing low-cost technologies for image-guided photodynamic therapy of oral cancer in low resource settings, in addition to several investigator-initiated programs.

 

Her leadership experience has included many senior roles, such as terms as the President of the American Society for Photobiology, Co-Chair and President of the International Photodynamic Association, Member of the Advisory Board for the Planning Committee of the European Society for Photobiology and many Study Sections and grant review panels both for the US NIH as well as international funding panels.  She has been a member of ESP since 1988, where Dr Dumoulin has also been actively involved.