DR. CHARLES CHURCH

• Research Scientist, Molecular Biosystems, Inc., 1992-1995
• Principal Scientist, Acusphere, Inc., 1995-2002
• Senior Research Scientist, National Center for Physical Acoustics, 2002- present
• Associate Research Professor, University of Mississippi, 2002- present

MEMBERSHIPS

• Acoustical Society of America
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Sigma Pi Sigma

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Church's primary research interests lie in the general area of biomedical acoustics. Among the specific topics that we are currently investigating are:

1. the use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to reduce or stop clinically significant hemorrhage from individual blood vessels and solid organs
2. the use of controlled fields of cavitation bubbles to improve HIFU therapy for solid tumors
3. the physical responses and biophysical effects of ultrasound contrast agents, i.e., microbubbles/microparticles, during preclinical and clinical diagnostic ultrasound examinations
4. the effect of acoustic nonlinearity on predictions of temperature rise made using the soft-tissue thermal index (TIS) vs actual temperatures in tissue phantoms

This work involves close collaboration with colleagues at Boston University, the University of Rochester and the University of Washington, as well as several commercial firms.

In the future, our group will join an international group of researchers to develop an engineered system for image-guided HIFU therapy. The "engineered system" concept involves a multi-disciplinary integration of science and technology applied to complex problems. The final engineered system will combine HIFU therapy, ultrasound imaging, cavitation monitoring, and control capabilities in a single, integrated treatment device.