Tromberg to lead the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Bruce Tromberg, Ph.D., director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic (BLIMC) and professor of biomedical engineering and surgery at the University of California, Irvine (UCI; Irvine, CA), has been chosen by the National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, MD) to head the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB; also in Bethesda). He will take on the role of NIBIB's second director in early 2019.

In his role, Tromberg will manage NIBIB's $378 million annual budget. While a portion of that is allocated to research labs at the NIH, a greater part funds more than 800 active grants awarded to universities around the world. In addition, Tromberg will supervise about 230 employees who conduct or support research and development (R&D) of new biomedical imaging and bioengineering technologies and techniques to improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of disease. NIBIB also sponsors multidisciplinary studies in the physical, mathematical, and computational sciences.

Bruce Tromberg, director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic and professor of biomedical engineering and surgery at UCI, will become the second director of the NIH's National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in early 2019. (Copyright: 2018 Paul R. Kennedy)

Tromberg holds dual appointments in UCI's biomedical engineering and surgery departments. As BLIMC director, he oversees the development, application, and dissemination of optical technologies in biology and medicine. Since his appointment as director in 2003, Tromberg has helped expand the BLIMC's scope to approximately 200 scientists, staff, and students engaged in basic research and technology development, clinical translation, and commercialization. These programs are facilitated, in part, by a multidisciplinary clinic that treats some 3000 patients per year and manages about 30 clinical protocols. In addition, the BLIMC photonics incubator has 12 affiliated companies and has generated more than $55 million in patent royalty revenue for the university.

As a UCI faculty member, Tromberg has contributed to the establishment and growth of several major campus units, including the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, and UCI Applied Innovation, as well as the Convergence Optical Sciences Initiative.

Tromberg has been principal investigator for over $45 million in sponsored research projects and has trained more than 70 graduate students and fellows with expertise in subjects ranging from physics and biomedical engineering to pharmacology and neuroscience. In 2005, he co-founded Modulated Imaging, a BLIMC spinoff that develops imaging devices for assessing and managing diabetic foot and vascular diseases.

For more information, please visit www.bli.uci.edu.