Dr. Eliza Konofagou, professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, New York, was chosen for her innovations in the field of therapeutic ultrasound and medical imaging technologies in general and their related clinical applications in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, etc.

"The pioneering research effort of Dr. Konofagou is a true testament to the impact of interdisciplinary collaboration between engineering and medicine. Her work in therapeutic ultrasound is widely recognized as breaking new ground in medical practice and treatment. This is a great honor for Eliza, for the Columbia Engineering department, and for the University,” said Dr. Shih-Fu Chang, Interim Dean of Columbia Engineering.

Columbia University Biomedical Technology and Radiology professor Eliza Konofagou lives and works in New York. However, our phone appointment for the conversation, "child" of which this text is, took place at seven in the morning, Pacific Winter Time (PST), as he was in San Francisco for work. And she was already at seven in the morning ready and full of appetite for a day full of meetings. Because, as her interlocutor understands right from the start, she is a woman who loves what she does, who had decided exactly what she wanted to do since she was 12 years old, who declares that "research is a blessing". And what is the blessing in her case? Harnessing ultrasound for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes against extremely common forms of cancer, and beyond.

Researcher with soft nails

Dr. Konofagou was born in Paris but finished high school in Greece – she graduated from Varvakeio Model School in 1989. As she says “science entered my life from an early age. This was helped by the fact that both my parents are PhDs, my father a chemical engineer and my mother an economist, and since we were young, my brother and I analyzed a number of scientific topics with them. A trip I took with my mother to the USA when I was 12 years old for her own research reasons was of crucial importance for me. We visited Harvard University and MIT where I first learned about the existence of the field of Biomedical Engineering. It immediately captivated me as it combined Engineering with serving the population through medical applications. I will never forget that moment. At the age of 12, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up."

Having a clear goal in her mind, it was next that after the National Examinations, even though she had accumulated enough credits to enter the School of Civil Engineering at NTUA, she decided that she did not want to follow this specific direction. So she returned to her hometown of Paris, where she initially studied at Paris VI University Biophysics and Physical Chemistry – receiving her diploma in 1992. This was followed by postgraduate studies in Biomedical Technology at Imperial College London and a PhD in Biomedical Technology at the University of Houston in Texas. , which she completed in 1999. From 1999 to 2003, Dr. Konofagou pursued post-doctoral studies at Harvard University Medical School, where she took a lecturer position. In 2003, she was elected an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Technology of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as well as in the Department of Radiology at Columbia, and since 2014 she has been a full professor emeritus at Columbia, where she directs the Ultrasound and Elastic Imaging Laboratory.

A continuously upward trajectory with more than 210 publications and 450 presentations at international conferences to date, as well as numerous awards, such as from the US National Science Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health, the American Institute of Medical Ultrasound and the Radiological Society of North America.

Supersonic for therapy too

What the professor and her team of about 30 are doing is developing new ultrasound techniques for elastic imaging – elastography, as the test is called, essentially captures how the elasticity of different tissues changes when a tumor is present – but and for therapeutic intervention in a multitude of diseases, from cancer to Parkinson's disease. "Elastography can prove valuable in the case of some tumors that do not show up on 'classic' ultrasound. A typical such example is invasive serous carcinoma of the breast in which elastography can increase the accuracy of ultrasound from 70% to over 90%. But also in other cases, such as prostate, thyroid or liver cancer, elastography has a very great diagnostic value".

But ultrasounds can also heal, according to Dr. Konofagou. "The rationale is that instead of removing a tumor, it is cauterized and destroyed using ultrasound. In the USA therapeutic ultrasounds are already applied in cases of prostate cancer and comparative results so far show that they are superior to classical surgery. The problem is that the approach is not covered – it costs around $10,000, so it's not yet widely used.

However, I believe it has enormous potential in a number of areas, even in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, where specific areas of the brain are cauterized with ultrasound to stop patients from shaking."

The Greek researcher is working intensively in order to "marry" elastography with therapeutic ultrasound. “I believe we can achieve imaging of tumors with ultrasound and then destroying them again with ultrasound. I wish one day that these approaches will be widely applied in Greece and for this reason I have several collaborations with colleagues from Greek universities".

After all, Greece is always in her heart – therefore, she accepted the proposal to be one of the members of the new National Research, Technology and Innovation Council (ESETEK) with other prestigious colleagues. "I think that Greece provides very good theoretical bases to scientists, but what it lags behind is the infrastructure in terms of mainly applied research. And we will try to change this as much as possible through the work of ESETEK".

In closing, she has a piece of advice - as a mother of two children, 10-year-old Filippos and eight-year-old Aris - specifically for women who want to engage in research. "It may seem difficult for a woman to balance an academic career with a family, but an academic career can offer flexibility in everyday life. That's why I have to tell all women who love research not to hesitate. They can fit two loves in our lives, as long as we really want it!”.

Source: medlabnews.gr iatrikanea https://medlabgr.blogspot.com/2020/02/eliza-konofagou-i-kathigitria-apo-thn-nea-yorki-pou-therapeyei-me-yperixous-karkino-alla-kai-parkinson.html#ixzz7YLOx7jAI

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