{"id":15064,"date":"2026-04-27T10:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/?p=15064"},"modified":"2026-04-29T06:41:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T10:41:56","slug":"found-in-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics\/2026\/04\/27\/found-in-translation\/","title":{"rendered":"Found in Translation: Darren Roblyer’s Path From Hands-On Research to Research In-Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"
Darren Roblyer pioneers discoveries not only in translational biophotonics, but also through new voices and programming opportunities<\/i><\/span><\/h6>\n

By Danny Giancioppo<\/em> | Photos by Kelly Pe\u00f1a<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dr. Darren Roblyer, BME, ECE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In order to measure blood pressure noninvasively, it may be prudent to measure how blood flows through the body using light rather than using the standard cuff-based technique. To detect fibrosis in the skin, one may find more luck using advanced optical imaging than relying on the currently used \u201cpinch\u201d scale. And to elevate the field of biophotonics, one may not simply focus on advancing the technologies itself, but the people, outlets, and resources within the research ecosystem. <\/span>This is the path <\/span>Dr. Darren Roblyer (BME, ECE)<\/span><\/a> has been carving throughout his career, chasing both common and unsought biomedical engineering opportunities to improve clinical procedures and enhance the field for new and incoming voices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roblyer\u2019s passion for advancing technology sprouted from a young age. \u201cI would ride my bike to RadioShack and buy resistors and capacitors and make circuits,\u201d he explains. \u201cI would get soldering iron burn marks on the carpet in my room\u2013\u2013which, you know, did not really excite my parents.\u201d Once he went to college, it was \u201cobvious\u201d that his electrical engineering interests were set to collide with a high school love of biology: biomedical engineering was the perfect fit.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a specialization in biophotonics, namely through diffuse optics\u2013\u2013utilizing light to take two- and three-dimensional tissue measurements of the body\u2013\u2013Roblyer says the field is \u201can exciting area. The idea is that you can measure deep in tissue with photons. Measure the function and structure of tissue. You don\u2019t have any contrast agents, you don\u2019t have any ionizing radiation. So you really can get to the patient quite quickly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Roblyer has pioneered new and advancing research within the field of biophotonics, and within the last two years, he\u2019s earned a <\/span>promotion to the rank of full professor<\/span><\/a>, and been appointed editor-in-chief for SPIE\u2019s new journal <\/span>Biophotonics Discovery<\/span><\/a>. Now, he\u2019s gearing up for an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in Translational Biophotonics<\/a>. But what does translational biophotonics research look like, and how does it transition from lab hands to clinicians?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Convergence with a Light Touch<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Dr. Roblyer looking over the blood-pressure cuff prototype with PhD student Ana Perez (BME) and Research Scientist Lina Lin Wei.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two of the largest ongoing projects in the <\/span>Biomedical Optical Technologies Lab (BOTLab)<\/span><\/a> focus on identifying scleroderma and advancing blood pressure technology. The first, \u201c<\/span>Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging for Monitoring of Scleroderma<\/span><\/a>,\u201d is a convergent research project spanning Boston University\u2019s CRC and MED campuses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“On one side of the spectrum is a physicist. The other side of the spectrum is the more clinical aspect […] and in the middle there\u2019s lots of engineering, making devices and testing.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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An inside look at the spatial frequency domain imaging prototype.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working alongside <\/span>Associate Professor Andreea Bujor<\/span><\/a>\u2019s team from the Boston Medical Center (BMC), Roblyer\u2019s lab is endeavoring to enhance the detection of scleroderma: an autoimmune disease which creates a build-up of fibrosis, or collagen, in the skin, eventually spreading to the internal organs. Because the skin is typically affected first, a common tracking method involves pinching up to seventeen select areas around the body and taking a rating from zero to three. Therein lies the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you\u2019re trained to do this, you and I might have a different \u2018two\u2019 or \u2018three,\u2019\u201d Roblyer says. \u201cAnd there\u2019s this hypothesis that there\u2019s been drugs that have gone through the pipeline that may have had some benefit, but because everybody\u2019s pinch scores were a little bit different, the benefit got washed out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A close-up example of the spatial frequency domain imaging<\/span> prototype’s swirling light pattern on the skin, with lights on (top image) and off (bottom image), on PhD student Sarah Sheng’s (BME) hand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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So arises the need for an objective assessment, which Roblyer and team have been able to address working with Dr. Bujor\u2019s team. They have tested dozens of patients with a device utilizing spatial frequency domain imaging, which was previously being used on small animal imaging studies. By taking a non-contact measurement of the hand or arm, clinicians can get a quantitative read on how optically scattering a patient\u2019s skin tissue is, thereby informing how far along the fibrosis is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take long to pinch people,\u201d Roblyer says. \u201cIf you want a new technology to replace that, you better be better than the pinch score; you also better not take a lot more time for the clinician.\u201d The BOTLab\u2019s current efforts are therefore aimed toward creating a \u201cquick point-and-shoot technology that gives you the answer on the back of the device in real time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The other of the two current research projects in the BOTLab is \u201c<\/span>Speckle Contrast Optical Spectroscopy for Cuffless Blood Pressure<\/span><\/a>,\u201d where Roblyer is collaborating with Neurophotonics Center director Dr. <\/span>David Boas<\/span><\/a>, as well as Drs. <\/span>John Forman<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Naomi Hamburg<\/span><\/a> of the BMC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Boas works studying blood flow in the brain using speckle technology, and Roblyer and team are working to adapt this technology to improve upon traditional photoplethysmography (PPG) methods, which currently measure changes in blood volume in superficial blood vessels, like those in your wrist or finger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou need something new,\u201d Roblyer says. \u201cThe PPG tells you about how blood volume changes with each beat of the heart. Speckle tells you about how blood flow changes with each beat of the heart. Flow and volume together help you start building up a model of pressure. It tells you about the relationship between flow and volume, tells you about the stiffness, the compliance of the arteries you\u2019re measuring. A much richer data set that\u2019s related to blood pressure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A close-up look at the blood-pressure cuff prototype, as worn by Lina Lin Wei.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a prototype already well in development, the BOTLab is seeing new and improved methods of differentiating patients with hypertension and tracking their blood pressure noninvasively. The current goal, similarly, is to make the device more easily accessible. [<\/span>Read The Brink\u2019s article to learn more about the device<\/span><\/a>]. To do this, Roblyer looks for students who can fall along a spectrum of research for his lab.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talk to potential students [about the lab], the framing I usually give is: on one side of the spectrum is a physicist,\u201d Roblyer says of the range of their lab members. \u201cThe other side of the spectrum is the more clinical aspect […] and in the middle there\u2019s lots of engineering, making devices and testing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prospective students and collaborators anywhere along that spectrum are always of interest to the BOTLab, but all students in Roblyer\u2019s lab follow a similar cadence during their research.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Students] will start by building a technology, testing it in the lab, often in healthy volunteers, and then going to the hospital and measuring patients with disease.\u201d These are complex domains, Roblyer adds, but his lab members are able to span that spectrum \u201cextremely well,\u201d and he finds most prospective students are motivated to follow a similar path.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Roblyer\u2019s work isn\u2019t limited strictly to research. As he elevates to the next stage of his career, he\u2019s helping develop not only the flow of research, but the community within.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Student Becomes the Master(\u2019s Student)<\/span><\/h3>\n

As a longtime member of SPIE, Roblyer has often collaborated with the organization on events, including helping to run a Photonics West conference for many years. When discussions arose regarding a new journal outlet, he felt confident in fulfilling that need, and <\/span>Biophotonics Discovery<\/span><\/a> was born with Roblyer as editor in chief.<\/span>
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