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Dennis L. Matthews, Ph.D.

Dennis L. Matthews

Clinical/Research Interests

Dr. Matthews's thesis work dealt with understanding the radiative and collisional ionization properties of energetic heavy ions moving through gases and solids. He is an expert on the radiative properties of ions in plasmas as well as in the conversion of laser light into x-rays. He is also an expert in developing optically based biosensors and medical devices. Dr. Matthews is Principal Investigator and Director of the UC Davis National Science Foundation's Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology. He is also the Associate Director and Biomedical Technology Program Leader for the UC Davis Cancer Center that received NCI designation in 2002. In addition, Dr. Matthews is responsible for the development of industrial and medical applications of Lawrence Livermore National Lab technology, especially for the prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as diabetes, stroke, brain trauma, chronic pain and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Matthews leads a multi-directorate center within Livermore whose mission is to develop medical devices in collaboration with industry. Current projects and those already successfully transferred to industry include: an opto-acoustic recanalization device for treating ischemic stroke; a miniature x-ray source which is mounted on a microcatheter and used to treat coronary artery restenosis; micropower impulse radar for numerous medical diagnostics, including: differentiating hemorrhagic vs. ischemic stroke; an implantable, continuous-glucose monitor; and ultra-short-pulse laser microsurgery devices. Dr. Matthews also has worked for short periods at the Hahn Meitner Institut in Germany, the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratories in Great Britain, the University of Paris-Orsay and the Centre d'Etudes de Limeil-Valenton in France. He has also lectured at numerous universities and research centers in the United States, Europe and Japan. Dr. Matthews is widely acknowledged to have invented and developed the x-ray wavelength lasers. Among many other applications of that technology, he continues to collaborate with biologists in order to use x-ray lasers to generate x-ray images of living subcellular material, and with materials scientists to develop new methods of studying materials properties and defects. Finally, Dr. Matthews is extremely active in commercializing technologies developed at the national laboratories. He specializes in helping investors or small companies obtain the technologies needed to capture profitable new markets. He has already helped investors put together several start-up companies based on Livermore and other national lab technologies. He has broad scientific management and marketing skills, having managed programs as large as $30M/year while at Livermore and having successfully garnered project funding from both government and private sources that totals more than $150M in his career to-date.

Title:

 Professor IR
Director, National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Biophotonics
Associate Director, UC Davis Cancer Center
Professor, UC Davis College of Engineering and the School of Medicine
Director of the Center for Biotechnology, Biophysical Sciences and Bioengineering, LLNL

Specialty:

 Neurological Surgery

Education:

 University of Texas, Austin
Austin, Texas
Ph.D. 1974

Education:

 University of Texas
Austin, Texas
B.S. 1970

Professional Memberships:

 American Physical Society; Division of Electron, Atomic Physics; Division of Plasma Physics
American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery
Assessment Committee for Professorship in Biophotonics, Riso National Laboratory, Optics and Plasma Research Department, Roskilde, Denmark
IEEE/LEOS (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Laser and Electro-Optics Society)
Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics (JSTQE) Biophotonics - Reviewer for IEEE/LEOS editorial staff
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, Board on Physics and Astronomy
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
SPIE (International Society for Optical Engineering)
The Optical Society of America

Select Recent Publications:

Chuang FYS, Lane SM, Matthews DL. Government research highlights "Shedding Light on Life" at the NSF Center for Biophotonics. IEEE/LEOS Newsletter, 19(3):4-7, 2005.

Rao RS, Visuri SR, McBride MT, Albala JS, Matthews DL, Coleman MA. Comparison of multiplexed techniques for detection of bacterial and viral proteins. Journal of Proteome Research, 3:736-742, 2004.

Metzger MF, Wilson TS, Schumann D, Matthews DL, Maitland DJ. Mechanical properties of mechanical actuator for treating ischemic stroke. Biomedical Devices, 4(2):89-96, 2002.

Matthews DL, Hagelstein PL, Rosen MD, Eckart MJ, Ceglio NM, Hazi AU, Medecki H, MacGowan BJ, Trebes JE, Whitten BL, Campbell EM, Hatcher CW, Hawryluk AM, Kauffman RL, Pleasance LD, Rambach G, Scofield JH, Stone G, Weaver TA. Demonstration of a soft x-ray amplifier. Physical Review Letters, 54(2):110-113, 1999.

MacGowan BJ, Maxon S, Hagelstein PL, Keane CJ, London RA, Matthews DL, Rosen MD, Scofield JH, Whelan DA. Demonstration of soft x-ray amplification in nickel-like ions. Physical Review Letters, 59(19):2157-2160, 1999.

MacGowan BJ, Maxon S, Da Silva LB, Fields DJ, Keane CJ, Matthews DL, Osterheld AL, Scofield JH, Shimkaveg G, Stone GF. Demonstration of x-ray amplifiers near the carbon-K edge. Physical Review Letters, 65(4):420-423, 1999.

Koch JA, MacGowan BJ, Da Silva LB, Matthews DL, Underwood JH, Batson PJ, Mrowka S. Observation of gain-narrowing and saturation behavior in Se x-ray laser-line profiles. Physical Review Letters, 68(22):3291-3294, 1999.

Koch JA, MacGowan BJ, Da Silva LB, Matthews DL, Underwood JH, Batson PJ, Lee RW, London RA, Mrowka S. Experimental and theoretical investigation of neon-like selenium x-ray laser spectral line-widths and their variation with amplification. Physical Review A, 50(2):1877-1898, 1999.

Keane CJ, Matthews DL, Rosen MD, Phillips TW, MacGowan BJ, Whitten BL, Louis-Jacquet M, Bourgade JL, DeCoster A, Jacquemot S, Naccache D, Thiell G. Soft-x-ray amplification in a laser-produced strontium plasma. Physical Review A, 42(4):2327-2339, 1999.

Fields DJ, Walling RS, Shimkaveg GM, MacGowan BJ, Da Silva LB, Scofield JH, Osterheld AL, Phillips TW, Rosen MD, Matthews DL, Goldstein WH, Stewart RE. Observation of high gain in Ne-like Ag lasers. Physical Review A, 46(3):1606-1609, 1999.