New episode is out 
The premise is really simple: each episode the fantastic hosts Tim and Giannis invite one senior academic guest to discuss their favourite publication from the recent literature.
Pour yourself a nice glass of wine (we always record late in the evening) and join us as we delve into recent literature, and perhaps learn a little from the minds that have shaped the field.
We’ll find out what caught their eye, and why it is worth taking a closer look at this particular publication. Along the way, we will learn about their publication strategies and possibly even glimpse into the future of this amazing field of research.
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Edition June / 2025
Episode #15: Vasilis Ntziachristos, Munich
Tune in for a dynamic discussion on how the interplay of light and sound is revolutionizing our understanding of disease.
🎙️ Welcome to Episode 15 of “Dive into Imaging Science”!
IIn this edition, we’re delighted to introduce: none other than Vasilis Ntziachristos as our guest!
Vasilis is a distinguished leader in the field of optical and optoacoustic imaging, renowned for his pioneering work in fluorescence molecular tomography, fluorescence-guided surgery, and optoacoustic mesoscopy. But his career didn’t begin there. In this episode, we learn how a shift from physics to engineering – and from NMR to optical imaging – was sparked by the influence of key mentors in the field.
With his characteristic charm and charisma, Vasilis reflects on the importance of surrounding oneself with those who challenge boundaries and reimagine what’s possible – an ethos that has defined his own scientific journey.
🎯 Staying close to home, this episode explores how optoacoustic mesoscopic imaging is being used to study colitis, inspired by research from the labs of Sarah Bohndiek in Cambridge and Adrian Regensburger in Erlangen:
Published in Advanced Science, their work introduces a novel ‘transrectal absorber guide’ – an imaging approach that enables visualization of the colon from outside the body. Using this new method, they surprisingly demonstrate how inflammation reduces blood vessel coverage and length but increases vessel diameter.
Vasilis walks us through the fundamentals of this technique, and we dive into the nuances of signal acquisition and image segmentation.
For this episode it was quite easy to choose. Something that takes us back 20 years or so in Boston and the early days of fluorescence molecular tomography, a drink enjoyed at Sonsie, one of the best bars in downtown Boston at Newbury street: The Grey Goose martini – a twist on the vodka martini cocktail
Recipe: 3 parts Grey Goose Vodka, 1 part dry Vermouth and garnish with cocktail olives. Great things can come in very simple forms.
Selected publication:
In Vivo Assessment of Deep Vascular Patterns in Murine Colitis Using Optoacoustic Mesoscopic Imaging
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About the Hosts
Tim Witney is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and Reader in Molecular Imaging at King’s College London’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences. His Group’s research focuses on the development of next-generation imaging tools for cancer diagnosis, monitoring of therapeutic response, and detection of drug resistance. Tim has been serving as member of the ESMI Board since 2018, he served as its Secretary from 2023 to 2025, and was elected as Vice President in 2025.
Giannis Zacharakis is a Principal Researcher at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser – Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH – IESL) in Heraklion, Crete and the Head of the Laboratory for Biophotonics and Molecular Imaging. Giannis was elected as ESMI Vice President in 2018 and served as President from 2019 to 2020.
About the music
- Andreas Jacobs – violin
- Jacob Niller – accordion
- Wolfgang Platen – contrabass
All of you who attended the EMIM 2021 in Göttingen certainly remember Andreas – one of the society’s founding fathers and past presidents – on stage playing the violin. Together with two young, talented musicians, he recorded Olecht Konflytt* again for the special occassion of becoming the “Dive into Imaging Science” theme – we could not be more grateful!
*composer: Guido Jäger “Olecht Konflytt”
LATEST Edition | 2/2025
Guest: Vasilis Ntziachristos, Munich
Selected Publication:
In Vivo Assessment of Deep Vascular Patterns in Murine Colitis Using Optoacoustic Mesoscopic Imaging
All Guests & Editions
- #15: Vasilis Ntziachristos, Munich
- #14: Peter J.H. Scott, Ann Arbor
- #13: Fabian Kiessling, Aachen
- #12: Elisa Konofagou, New York
- #11: John Ronald, London ON
- #10: Kevin Brindle, Cambridge
- #9: Mikhail Shapiro, Pasadena
- #8: Jason Lewis, New York
- #7: Annemie Van Der Linden, Antwerp
- #6: Elisabeth de Vries, Groningen
- #5: Bernd Pichler, Tübingen
- #4: Zaver Bhujwalla, Baltimore
- #3: Clemens WGM Lowik, Rotterdam
- #2: Simon Cherry, UC Davis
- #1: Jolanda de Vries, Nijmegen
- #0: Bertrand Tavitian, Paris