Jennifer Barton

Director, BIO5 Institute
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Biosystems Engineering
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor of Medical Imaging
Professor of Optical Sciences
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the Graduate Faculty

Jennifer Barton received BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and University of California Irvine, respectively. She worked for McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) on the Space Station program before returning to The University of Texas at Austin to obtain a PhD in biomedical engineering in 1998. She is currently professor of biomedical engineering, electrical and computer Engineering, optical sciences, and agriculture and biosystems engineering at the University of Arizona. She has served as department head of biomedical engineering, associate vice president for Research, interim vice president for Research, and is currently interim director of the BIO5 Institute, a collaborative research institute dedicated to solving complex biology-based problems affecting humanity.

Barton develops miniature endoscopes that combine multiple optical imaging techniques, particularly optical coherence tomography and fluorescence spectroscopy. She evaluates the suitability of these endoscopic techniques for detecting early cancer development in patients and pre-clinical models. Additionally, her research into light-tissue interaction and dynamic optical properties of blood laid the groundwork for a novel therapeutic laser to treat disorders of the skin’s blood vessels. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal papers in these research areas. She is a fellow of SPIE- the International Optics Society, and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Degrees

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering
    • The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States

Work Experience

  • University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (1999 - Ongoing)
  • McDonnell Douglas (1988 - 1994)

Interests

Teaching

Biomedical Engineering, Bioinstrumentation
 

Research

Biomedical Optics, Optical Coherence, Tomography, Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Tissue Optics, Colon Cancer, Ovarian Cancer

Courses

Challenges Biomed Engr

BME 295C (Spring 2023)
BME 295C (Spring 2022)
BME 295C (Spring 2021)
BME 295C (Spring 2020)
BME 295C (Spring 2019)
BME 295C (Spring 2018)
BME 295C (Spring 2017)
BME 295C (Spring 2016)
 

Honors Independent Study

BME 299H (Spring 2022)
BME 299H (Fall 2021)
BME 299H (Spring 2021)
OPTI 299H (Fall 2018)
 

Directed Research

BME 492 (Spring 2024)
BME 492 (Fall 2023)
BME 492 (Spring 2023)
BME 492 (Spring 2018)
BME 492 (Fall 2017)
BME 492 (Spring 2017)
ECE 492 (Fall 2022)
OPTI 492 (Summer I 2016)
 

Rsrch Meth Biomed Engr

BME 592 (Fall 2022)
BME 592 (Spring 2022)
BME 597G (Fall 2019)
BME 597G (Fall 2018)
BME 597G (Spring 2017)
 

CBIO GIDP Seminar Series

CBIO 596H (Spring 2019)
CBIO 596H (Spring 2018)
CBIO 596H (Spring 2017)
 

Independent Study

BME 599 (Fall 2023)
OPTI 599 (Fall 2022)
OPTI 599 (Spring 2020)
 

Research Conference

CBIO 695A (Fall 2018)
CBIO 695A (Fall 2017)
 

Directed Graduate Research

OPTI 792 (Spring 2024)
OPTI 792 (Fall 2023)
OPTI 792 (Spring 2022)
OPTI 792 (Fall 2021)
OPTI 792 (Spring 2021)
OPTI 792 (Fall 2020)
OPTI 792 (Spring 2020)
OPTI 792 (Spring 2017)
 

Research

BME 900 (Fall 2020)
 

Thesis

BME 910 (Spring 2023)
BME 910 (Fall 2022)
BME 910 (Spring 2018)
BME 910 (Fall 2017)
OPTI 910 (Fall 2024)
OPTI 910 (Spring 2019)
OPTI 910 (Fall 2018)
OPTI 910 (Fall 2017)
OPTI 910 (Spring 2017)
OPTI 910 (Fall 2016)
 

Dissertation

BME 920 (Fall 2024)
BME 920 (Spring 2024)
BME 920 (Fall 2023)
BME 920 (Spring 2023)
BME 920 (Fall 2022)
BME 920 (Spring 2022)
BME 920 (Spring 2016)
CBIO 920 (Fall 2018)
CBIO 920 (Fall 2017)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2024)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2024)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2023)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2023)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2022)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2022)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2021)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2021)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2020)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2020)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2019)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2019)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2018)
OPTI 920 (Fall 2016)
OPTI 920 (Spring 2016)

Selected Publications

Journals/Publications

  • Howard, C., Rice, P. F., Keenan, M., Dominguez-Cooks, J., Heusinkveld, J., Hsu, C. H., & Barton, J. K. (2022). Study of fallopian tube anatomy and mechanical properties to determine pressure limits for endoscopic exploration. Journal of histotechnology, 1-11.
  • Schwartz, D., Sawyer, T. W., Thurston, N., Ditzler, G., & Barton, J. K. (2022). Ovarian Cancer Detection Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Convolutional Neural Networks. Neural Computing and Applications, 34(11), 8977-8987.
  • Cordova, R., Kiekens, K., Burrell, S., Drake, W., Kmeid, Z., Rice, P., Rocha, A., Diaz, S., Yamada, S., Yozwiak, M., Nelson, O. L., Rodriguez, G. C., Heusinkveld, J., Shih, I. M., Alberts, D. S., & Barton, J. K. (2021). Sub-millimeter endoscope demonstrates feasibility of in vivo reflectance imaging, fluorescence imaging, and cell collection in the fallopian tubes. Journal of biomedical optics, 26(7).
  • Kiekens, K. C., Vega, D., Thurgood, H. T., Galvez, D., McGregor, D. J., Sawyer, T. W., & Barton, J. K. (2021). Effect of an Added Mass on the Vibration Characteristics for Raster Scanning of a Cantilevered Optical Fiber. Journal of engineering and science in medical diagnostics and therapy, 4(2), 021007.
  • Larson, M. C., Gmitro, A. F., Utzinger, U., Rouse, A. R., Woodhead, G. J., Carlson, Q., Hennemeyer, C. T., & Barton, J. K. (2021). Using FDA-approved drugs as off-label fluorescent dyes for optical biopsies: from in silico design toproof-of-concept. Methods and applications in fluorescence, 9(3).
  • Russell, S., Barton, J. K., Rodriguez, G., Zhang, H., & Alberts, D. S. (2021). Karyometry Identifies a Distinguishing Fallopian Tube Epithelium Phenotype in Subjects at High Risk for Ovarian Cancer. Analytical and Quantitative Cytopathology and Histopathology, 43(2), 44-51.
  • Vega, D., Galvez, D., Romano, G., Kiekens, K., Pham, N., Heusinkveld, J., Hatch, K. D., Vaughn, A., & Barton, J. K. (2021). Triple modality co-register endoscope featuring wide field reflectance imaging, and high-resolution multiphoton and optical coherence microscopy. Journal of Optical Microsystems, 1(044502).
  • Vega, D., Galvez, D., Romano, G., Pham, N. Y., Cordova, R., Aitken, M., Suebka, S., Heusinkveld, J., & Barton, J. K. (2021). Triple-modality co-registered endoscope featuring wide-field reflectance imaging, and high-resolution multiphoton and optical coherence microscopy. Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering, 1(4).
  • Kiekens, K. C., Romano, G., Galvez, D., Cordova, R., Heusinkveld, J., Hatch, K., Drake, W., Kmeid, Z., & Barton, J. K. (2020). Reengineering a falloposcope imaging system for clinical use. Translational Biophotonics, 2(4), e202000011.
  • Sawyer, T. W., Koevary, J. W., Howard, C. C., Austin, O. J., Rice, P. F., Hutchens, G. V., Chambers, S. K., Connolly, D. C., & Barton, J. K. (2020). Fluorescence and Multiphoton Imaging for Tissue Characterization of a Model of Postmenopausal Ovarian Cancer. Lasers in surgery and medicine, 52(10), 993-1009.
  • Vega, D., Sawyer, T. W., Pham, N. Y., & Barton, J. K. (2020). Use of embedded and patterned dichroic surfaces with reflective optical power to enable multiple optical paths in a micro-objective. Applied optics, 59(22), G71-G78.
  • Barton, J. K., & Kiekens, K. C. (2019). 3D printed lens for depth of field imaging. OSA Continuum, 2(11), 3019-3025.
  • Hoyer, P. B., Rice, P. F., Howard, C. C., Koevary, J. W., Dominguez Cooks, J. P., Hutchens, G. V., Chambers, S. K., Craig, Z. R., Connolly, D. C., & Barton, J. K. (2019). Comparison of Reproductive Function in Female Transgenic and Wildtype C57BL/6 Mice. Comparative medicine, 69(1), 16-21.
  • Loh, T. Y., Goldberg, M. S., Falsey, R. R., Barton, J. K., Sagerman, P., & Goldberg, G. N. (2019). Insight into the mechanisms of type III minocycline-induced pigmentation removal: A case of repeated immediate pigment clearing with the Q-switched 755-nm alexandrite laser over a 13-year period. JAAD case reports, 5(10), 865-867.
  • Qin, Y., Ou, Y. H., Cromey, B., Batjargal, O., Barton, J. K., & Kieu, K. (2019). Watt-level all-fiber optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier working at 1300  nm. Optics letters, 44(14), 3422-3425.

Proceedings Publications

  • Kiekens, K. C., Galvez, D., Romano, G., Cordova, R., & Barton, J. K. (2020). Falloposcope Modifications for Clinical Trials. In CLEO: Applications and Technology.
  • Vega, D., & Barton, J. K. (2020). Using customized computational analyses to evaluate the feasibility and risk of endoscopes with an SNR analysis as an example (Conference Presentation). In Design and Quality for Biomedical Technologies XIII, 11231.
  • Barton, J. K., Tate, T., & McGregor, D. (2017, February). Single lens system for forward-viewing navigation and scanning side-viewing optical coherence tomography. In SPIE Photonics West, Endoscopic Microscopy XII, Proc. SPIE 10040.
  • Winkler, A. M., F., P., Troutman, T. S., Backer, M. V., Backer, J. M., Drezek, R. A., Romanowski, M., & Barton, J. K. (2008, January). Fluorescent and scattering contrast agents in a mouse model of colorectal cancer. In Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE, 6851.

Presentations

  • Barton, J. K. (2016, June 9, 2016). Optical Imaging Falloposcope for Ovarian Cancer Detection. Point of Care Translational Research Network. Bethesda, MD: NIH.
  • Barton, J. K. (2016, Nov 9). Validating a mouse model of ovarian cancer for early detection through imaging. Oncology Models Forum. Bethesda, MD: NIH/NCI.
  • Keenan, M., Tate, T., Swan, E. J., Black, J. F., Utzinger, U., & Barton, J. K. (2015, Spring). Dual-modal optical imaging microendoscope for ovarian cancer detection. BIOS Photonics West. San Francisco.

Awards

  • Women of Impact
    • Research Innovation & Impact, University of Arizona, Fall 2022
  • Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair
    • College of Engineering, Fall 2020
  • Best Campus Collaborator
    • Tech Launch Arizona, Spring 2019
  • President's Award
    • SPIE, Fall 2016