Investigator: Tianhong Dai, PhD

Email: tdai@mgh.harvard.edu
Lab: Anderson, Rox

Dr Tianhong Dai's research interests include biomedical optics, dermatological laser therapy, photo-thermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, low-level laser/light therapy, UVC therapy, bio-heat transfer, optical measurement, and numerical simulation. Currently, his research focuses on light-based therapy for multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections.

Dr. Dai is an Associate Professor at Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is a current world leader responsible for launching the new research area of antimicrobial blue light therapy for multidrug-resistant infections.

Dr. Dai’s past research has resulted in over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals with an h-factor of 55 and >12,000 citations (Google Scholar data), and over 20 invited, plenary, and keynote presentations at both national and international conferences. In addition, Dr. Dai has been the PI of independent grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (R01, R21, and R13), the Department of Defense, Consortia for Improving Medicine w/ Innovation & Technology (CIMIT), and various other funding agencies. 

Dr. Dai’s professional recognition is also evidenced by his service on the grant review panels (or study sections) at the US National Institutes of Health, US Department of Defense, US National Science Foundation, Harvard Catalyst, French National Research Agency, Ministry of Education of Singapore, Leibniz Association of Germany, etc. In 2021, Dr. Dai served as a member of the FDA/CBER Laboratory Site Visit Review Team.

Dr. Dai received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at China Agricultural University, China and completed his postdoc training at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. Prior to coming to US, Dr. Dai was an Associate Professor at the Energy Research Institute, State Development & Reform Commission, China. Dr. Dai  moved to the US in 1999 and did his postdoc trainings at Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and Rice University before joining Harvard Medical School in 2006 and adding Massachuseets General Hospital to his profile in 2012.

Tianhong Dai MGRI profile

Publications

  • Yin H, Liu X, Wang M, Wang Y, Dai T, Chiang LY

    Selective Targeting and Enhanced Photodynamic Inactivation of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by a Decacationic Vancomycin-Mesochlorin Conjugate. Antibiotics (Basel). 2025;14(10):ePub - PMID: 41148670 - PMCID: PMC12561113 - DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics14100978

  • Tuchin VV, Dai T, Oliveira LM

    Optical technologies in monitoring mobility and delivery of drugs and metabolic agents. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2025;226:115699 - PMID: 41016639 - PMCID: PMC12794560 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2025.115699

  • Ozdemir GD, Dos Anjos C, Ozdemir MA, Leanse LG, Dai T

    Lights out for Superbugs: Is antimicrobial blue light a potential approach for future infection Control?. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2025;224:115654 - PMID: 40651507 - PMCID: PMC12338029 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2025.115654

  • Hui J, Moon W, Dong PT, Dos Anjos C, Negri L, Yan H, Wang Y, Tam J, Dai T, Anderson RR, Goverman J, Gelfand JA, Yun SH

    Low-Irradiance Antimicrobial Blue Light-Bathing Therapy for Wound Infection Control. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025;12(20):e2412493 - PMID: 40229974 - PMCID: PMC12120825 - DOI: 10.1002/advs.202412493

  • Wang Y, Li X, Chen H, Yang X, Guo L, Ju R, Dai T, Li G

    Antimicrobial blue light inactivation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Unraveling the multifaceted impact of wavelength, growth stage, and medium composition. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2024;259:113023 - PMID: 39241393 - PMCID: PMC11390306 - DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2024.113023

  • Hickok NJ, Li B, Oral E, Zaat SAJ, Armbruster DA, Atkins GJ, Chen AF, Coraça-Huber DC, Dai T, Greenfield EM, Kasinath R, Libera M, Marques CNH, Moriarty TF, Scott Phillips K, Raghuraman K, Ren D, Rimondini L, Saeed K, Schaer TP, Schwarz EM, Spiegel C, Stoodley P, Truong VK, Tsang SJ, Wildemann B, Zelmer AR, Zinkernagel AS

    The 2023 Orthopedic Research Society's international consensus meeting on musculoskeletal infection: Summary from the in vitro section. J Orthop Res. 2024;42(3):512-517 - PMID: 38146070 - DOI: 10.1002/jor.25774

  • Dos Anjos C, Wang Y, Truong-Bolduc QC, Bolduc PK, Liu M, Hooper DC, Anderson RR, Dai T, Leanse LG

    Blue Light Compromises Bacterial β-Lactamases Activity to Overcome β-Lactam Resistance. Lasers Surg Med. 2024;56(7):673-681 - PMID: 39039622 - PMCID: PMC11665815 - DOI: 10.1002/lsm.23819

  • Marasini S, Leanse LG, Dai T

    Erratum to "Can microorganisms develop resistance against light based anti-infective agents?" [Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 175 (2021) 113822]. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2023;199:114971 - PMID: 37380574 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.114971

  • Leanse LG, Marasini S, Dos Anjos C, Dai T

    Antimicrobial Resistance: Is There a 'Light' at the End of the Tunnel?. Antibiotics (Basel). 2023;12(9):ePub - PMID: 37760734 - PMCID: PMC10525303 - DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12091437

  • Leanse LG, Anjos CD, Kaler KR, Hui J, Boyd JM, Hooper DC, Anderson RR, Dai T

    Blue Light Potentiates Antibiotics in Bacteria via Parallel Pathways of Hydroxyl Radical Production and Enhanced Antibiotic Uptake. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023;10(36):e2303731 - PMID: 37946633 - PMCID: PMC10754126 - DOI: 10.1002/advs.202303731

  • Dos Anjos C, Leanse LG, Ribeiro MS, Sellera FP, Dropa M, Arana-Chavez VE, Lincopan N, Baptista MS, Pogliani FC, Dai T, Sabino CP

    New Insights into the Bacterial Targets of Antimicrobial Blue Light. Microbiol Spectr. 2023;11(2):e0283322 - PMID: 36809152 - PMCID: PMC10101057 - DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02833-22

  • Dai T, Prestidge CA

    Light and drug delivery-based antimicrobial therapies in the fight against infectious diseases. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2023;197:114792 - PMID: 36948462 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.114792

  • Wong NCK, Meshkinfamfard S, Turbé V, Whitaker M, Moshe M, Bardanzellu A, Dai T, Pignatelli E, Barclay W, Darzi A, Elliott P, Ward H, Tanaka RJ, Cooke GS, McKendry RA, Atchison CJ, Bharath AA

    Machine learning to support visual auditing of home-based lateral flow immunoassay self-test results for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Commun Med (Lond). 2022;2:78 - PMID: 35814295 - PMCID: PMC9259560 - DOI: 10.1038/s43856-022-00146-z

  • Luo S, Yang X, Wu S, Li Y, Wu J, Liu M, Liu Z, Yu K, Wang X, Dai T, Huang X, Hu X

    Understanding a defensive response of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus after exposure to multiple cycles of sub-lethal blue light. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2022;369(1):ePub - PMID: 35675215 - DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnac050

  • Dos Anjos C, Leanse LG, Liu X, Miranda HV, Anderson RR, Dai T

    Antimicrobial Blue Light for Prevention and Treatment of Highly Invasive Vibrio vulnificus Burn Infection in Mice. Front Microbiol. 2022;13:932466 - PMID: 35903474 - PMCID: PMC9315199 - DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.932466

  • Akasov R, Khaydukov EV, Yamada M, Zvyagin AV, Leelahavanichkul A, Leanse LG, Dai T, Prow T

    Nanoparticle enhanced blue light therapy. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2022;184:114198 - PMID: 35301045 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2022.114198

  • Marasini S, Leanse LG, Dai T

    Can microorganisms develop resistance against light based anti-infective agents?. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2021;175:113822 - PMID: 34089778 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.05.032

  • Lu M, Wang S, Wang T, Hu S, Bhayana B, Ishii M, Kong Y, Cai Y, Dai T, Cui W, Wu MX

    Bacteria-specific phototoxic reactions triggered by blue light and phytochemical carvacrol. Sci Transl Med. 2021;13(575):ePub - PMID: 33408183 - DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aba3571

  • Lu M, Dai T, Murray CK, Wu MX

    Corrigendum: Bactericidal Property of Oregano Oil Against Multidrug-Resistant Clinical Isolates. Front Microbiol. 2021;12:713573 - PMID: 34322110 - PMCID: PMC8312647 - DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.713573

  • Leanse LG, Zeng X, Dai T

    Potentiated antimicrobial blue light killing of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus by pyocyanin. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2021;215:112109 - PMID: 33486397 - PMCID: PMC7856289 - DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112109

  • Leanse LG, Dos Anjos C, Wang Y, Murray CK, Hooper DC, Dai T

    Effective Treatment of Cutaneous Mold Infections by Antimicrobial Blue Light That Is Potentiated by Quinine. J Infect Dis. 2021;224(6):1069-1076 - PMID: 33528496 - PMCID: PMC8448430 - DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiab058

  • Cotter EJ, Cotter LM, Franczek EB, Godfrey JJ, Hetzel SJ, Safdar N, Dai T, Arkin L, Grogan BF

    Efficacy of combinational therapy using blue light and benzoyl peroxide in reducing Cutibacterium acnes bioburden at the deltopectoral interval: a randomized controlled trial. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2021;30(12):2671-2681 - PMID: 34478863 - DOI: 10.1016/j.jse.2021.08.008

  • Mushtaq S, Yasin T, Saleem M, Dai T, Yameen MA

    Potentiation of Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy by Curcumin-loaded Graphene Quantum Dots. Photochem Photobiol. 2021;98(1):202-210 - PMID: 34382232 - DOI: 10.1111/php.13503

  • Leanse LG, Dos Anjos C, Mushtaq S, Dai T

    Antimicrobial blue light: A 'Magic Bullet' for the 21st century and beyond?. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2021;180:114057 - PMID: 34800566 - PMCID: PMC8728809 - DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.114057

  • Besegato JF, de Melo PBG, Tamae PE, Alves APAR, Rondón LF, Leanse LG, Dos Anjos C, Casarin HH, Chinelatti MA, Faria G, Dai T, Bagnato VS, Rastelli ANS

    How can biophotonics help dentistry to avoid or minimize cross infection by SARS-CoV-2?. Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther. 2021;37:102682 - PMID: 34910994 - PMCID: PMC8666148 - DOI: 10.1016/j.pdpdt.2021.102682

  • Wu M, Rubin AE, Dai T, Schloss R, Usta OB, Golberg A, Yarmush M

    High-Voltage, Pulsed Electric Fields Eliminate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Stable Infection in a Mouse Burn Model. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2020;10(9):477-489 - PMID: 33066719 - PMCID: PMC8260897 - DOI: 10.1089/wound.2019.1147

  • Sabino CP, Ball AR, Baptista MS, Dai T, Hamblin MR, Ribeiro MS, Santos AL, Sellera FP, Tegos GP, Wainwright M

    Light-based technologies for management of COVID-19 pandemic crisis. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2020;212:111999 - PMID: 32855026 - PMCID: PMC7435279 - DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.111999

  • Liu X, Chang Q, Ferrer-Espada R, Leanse LG, Goh XS, Wang X, Gelfand JA, Dai T

    Photoinactivation of Moraxella catarrhalis Using 405-nm Blue Light: Implications for the Treatment of Otitis Media. Photochem Photobiol. 2020;96(3):611-617 - PMID: 32105346 - PMCID: PMC10125262 - DOI: 10.1111/php.13241

  • Leanse LG, Goh XS, Cheng JX, Hooper DC, Dai T

    Dual-wavelength photo-killing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. JCI Insight. 2020;5(11):ePub - PMID: 32493838 - PMCID: PMC7308062 - DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.134343

  • Leanse LG, Dong PT, Goh XS, Lu M, Cheng JX, Hooper DC, Dai T

    Quinine Enhances Photo-Inactivation of Gram-Negative Bacteria. J Infect Dis. 2020;221(4):618-626 - PMID: 31565732 - PMCID: PMC7325614 - DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz487

  • Gao J, Wang S, Dong X, Leanse LG, Dai T, Wang Z

    Co-delivery of resolvin D1 and antibiotics with nanovesicles to lungs resolves inflammation and clears bacteria in mice. Commun Biol. 2020;3(1):680 - PMID: 33199819 - PMCID: PMC7669882 - DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01410-5

  • Liu T, Luo W, Ma L, Huang JJ, Stathaki T, Dai T

    Coupled Network for Robust Pedestrian Detection With Gated Multi-Layer Feature Extraction and Deformable Occlusion Handling. IEEE Trans Image Process. 2020;30:754-766 - PMID: 33237856 - DOI: 10.1109/TIP.2020.3038371

  • Wang Y, Ferrer-Espada R, Baglo Y, Gu Y, Dai T

    Antimicrobial Blue Light Inactivation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Roles of Wavelength, Endogenous Photosensitizer, Oxygen, and Reactive Oxygen Species. Lasers Surg Med. 2019;51(9):815-823 - PMID: 31157931 - PMCID: PMC6922002 - DOI: 10.1002/lsm.23104

  • Wang Y, Ferrer-Espada R, Baglo Y, Goh XS, Held KD, Grad YH, Gu Y, Gelfand JA, Dai T

    Photoinactivation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: A Paradigm-Changing Approach for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Gonococcal Infection. J Infect Dis. 2019;220(5):873-881 - PMID: 30629196 - PMCID: PMC6667797 - DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz018

  • Ferrer-Espada R, Liu X, Goh XS, Dai T

    Antimicrobial Blue Light Inactivation of Polymicrobial Biofilms. Front Microbiol. 2019;10:721 - PMID: 31024499 - PMCID: PMC6467927 - DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00721

  • Dong PT, Mohammad H, Hui J, Leanse LG, Li J, Liang L, Dai T, Seleem MN, Cheng JX

    Photolysis of Staphyloxanthin in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Potentiates Killing by Reactive Oxygen Species. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2019;6(11):1900030 - PMID: 31179216 - PMCID: PMC6548961 - DOI: 10.1002/advs.201900030

  • Lu M, Dai T, Hu S, Zhang Q, Bhayana B, Wang L, Wu MX

    Antimicrobial blue light for decontamination of platelets during storage. J Biophotonics. 2019;13(1):e201960021 - PMID: 31407467 - PMCID: PMC7083650 - DOI: 10.1002/jbio.201960021

  • Leanse LG, Goh XS, Dai T

    Quinine Improves the Fungicidal Effects of Antimicrobial Blue Light: Implications for the Treatment of Cutaneous Candidiasis. Lasers Surg Med. 2019;52(6):569-575 - PMID: 31746024 - PMCID: PMC7234921 - DOI: 10.1002/lsm.23180

  • Ferrer-Espada R, Wang Y, Goh XS, Dai T

    Antimicrobial Blue Light Inactivation of Microbial Isolates in Biofilms. Lasers Surg Med. 2019;52(5):472-478 - PMID: 31536154 - PMCID: PMC7080594 - DOI: 10.1002/lsm.23159