David Diaz

I am very thankful and honored to be a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.  The fellowship allows me to pursue the research of my interest while providing much needed financial and academic support. The program will not only allow me to pursue research on my area of interest with greater freedom and flexibility, but will also open opportunities for international collaboration, conference travel, and professional networking with other researchers and scientists in my field of choice.
 
Currently, I am a second-year Ph.D student in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University. I work in the Optics Lab with developing non-invasive technologies for skin characterization and correlation of spectroscopic and imaging information to skin chemistry. Specifically, I am working on the construction, testing, and development of near infrared spectroscopy devices for the characterization of wounds and assessment of healing. The non-invasive devices emerging from our laboratory aim to aid in the assessment of wound healing, helping to reduce treatment time and cost of care.

I am also a 2010 Bridge to the Doctorate (BTD) Graduate Fellow. This prestigious fellowship made possible by the National Science Foundation funds the first two years of my graduate work.