Prof. Samuel I. Achilefu

Samuel Achilefu, Ph.D., is a professor and the inaugural chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He holds the Lyda Hill Distinguished University Chair and serves as a professor of radiology at the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Before joining UTSW in February 2022, Dr. Achilefu spent over two decades at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he served as the inaugural Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Professor of Radiology and a professor of Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Medicine. He directed the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center, the Center for Multiple Myeloma Nanotherapy, and the Siteman Cancer Center’s Molecular Imaging Program.
An expert in optical and multimodal imaging, image-guided cancer surgery, portable imaging systems, and nanotherapeutics, Dr. Achilefu has published over 300 scientific papers and holds more than 70 issued U.S. patents. His work has been recognized with over 20 national and international awards, including the SPIE Britton Chance Award, the inaugural DoD BCRP Distinguished Investigator Award, and the St. Louis Award.
Dr. Achilefu is an elected member of the National Academies of Medicine and Engineering and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is a fellow of several professional societies, including SPIE, Optica, the AIMBE, AAAS, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Royal Society of Medicine.
He has served on several national advisory boards, including for NCI-designated cancer centers, the SPIE Board of Directors, and the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
Dr. Achilefu earned his Ph.D. from the University of Lorraine in Nancy, France, as a French Government Scholar, and he completed postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.