Investigator: Conor Evans, PhD

Phone: 617-726-1089

Dr. Conor L. Evans is an Associate Professor at the Harvard Medical School, an Affiliated Faculty member of the Harvard University Biophysics Program, a Faculty member of the Laser Biomedical Research Center, and leads his lab at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Evans received his Bachelors of Science in Chemical Physics from Brown University and his PhD in Chemistry from Harvard University.

Dr. Evans lab’s research is focused on the development and clinical translation of optical microscopy and spectroscopy tools, with specific interests in ultrasensitive detection of molecular markers, label-free imaging of drugs and tissues, and the imaging and quantification of tissue oxygenation. Dr. Evans has led the use of coherent Raman imaging technologies in biomedicine, and was the first to apply this imaging toolkit for the real-time visualization of lipids in skin in vivo. He has developed a number of imaging devices and methods in the fields of coherent Raman imaging, nanoscience, and “smart” wearable sensing technologies. A recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, his efforts in the synthesis of bright oxygen sensors has resulted in the creation of new oxygen imaging technologies currently in clinical trials. He is a Royce Fellow of Brown University and has been honored with several awards, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, and ASP New Investigator Award, and the Craver Award.

Dr. Evans is an editor for Scientific Reports, Biophotonics Discovery, and PLOS One and has written over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He holds 14 patents and patent applications and works to translate his technologies to the clinic. He serves the Wellman Center as Faculty Liaison to the Department of Defense, and focuses his efforts in the areas of Combat Casualty Care and Rehabilitative Medicine. Dr. Evans additionally serves as a faculty member of the Ludwig Center at Harvard.

Selected Publications (from total 104)

  • Allouche J, Rachmin I, Adhikari K, Pardo LM, Lee JH, McConnell AM, Kato S, Fan S, Kawakami A, Suita Y, Wakamatsu K, Igras V, Zhang J, Navarro PP, Lugo CM, Noonan HR, Christie KA, Itin K, Mujahid N, Lo JA, Won CH, Evans CL, Weng QY, Wang H, Osseiran S, Lovas A, Németh I, Cozzio A, Navarini AA, Hsiao JJ, Nguyen N, Kemény LV, Iliopoulos O, Berking C, Ruzicka T, Gonzalez-José R, Bortolini MC, Canizales-Quinteros S, Acuna-Alonso V, Gallo C, Poletti G, Bedoya G, Rothhammer F, Ito S, Schiaffino MV, Chao LH, Kleinstiver BP, Tishkoff S, Zon LI, Nijsten T, Ruiz-Linares A, Fisher DE, Roider E

    NNT mediates redox-dependent pigmentation via a UVB- and MITF-independent mechanism. Cell. 2021;184(16):4268-4283.e20 - PMID: 34233163 - PMCID: PMC8349839 - DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.022

  • Marks H, Bucknor A, Roussakis E, Nowell N, Kamali P, Cascales JP, Kazei D, Lin SJ, Evans CL

    A paintable phosphorescent bandage for postoperative tissue oxygen assessment in DIEP flap reconstruction. Sci Adv. 2020;6(51):ePub - PMID: 33355131 - PMCID: PMC11206211 - DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd1061

  • Cascales JP, Roussakis E, Witthauer L, Goss A, Li X, Chen Y, Marks HL, Evans CL

    Wearable device for remote monitoring of transcutaneous tissue oxygenation. Biomed Opt Express. 2020;11(12):6989-7002 - PMID: 33408975 - PMCID: PMC7747925 - DOI: 10.1364/BOE.408850

  • Roussakis E, Li Z, Nichols AJ, Evans CL

    Oxygen-Sensing Methods in Biomedicine from the Macroscale to the Microscale. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015;54(29):8340-62 - PMID: 26084034 - DOI: 10.1002/anie.201410646

  • Roussakis E, Li Z, Nowell NH, Nichols AJ, Evans CL

    Bright, "Clickable" Porphyrins for the Visualization of Oxygenation under Ambient Light. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015;54(49):14728-31 - PMID: 26510549 - PMCID: PMC4715754 - DOI: 10.1002/anie.201506847

  • Evans CL, Xie XS

    Coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering microscopy: chemical imaging for biology and medicine. Annu Rev Anal Chem (Palo Alto Calif). 2008;1:883-909 - PMID: 20636101 - DOI: 10.1146/annurev.anchem.1.031207.112754