Edik Rafailov 
Professor (Research), AIPT | Aston University
Birmingham, UNITED KINGDOM
Professor Rafailov's research interests include CW and ultrashort-pulse lasers; generation of light from UV to THz and biomedical photonics.
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Biography
Edik U. Rafailov received the Ph.D. degree from the Ioffe Institute in 1992. In 1997 he moved to St Andrews University (UK) and 2005, he established a new group in the Dundee University. In 2014 he and his Optoelectronics and Biomedical Photonics Group moved to the Aston University (UK). He has authored and co-authored over 450 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings, including two books (WILEY), ten invited chapters and numerous invited talks. Prof. Rafailov coordinated the €14.7M FP7 FAST-DOT project development of new ultrafast lasers for Biophotonics applications and the €12.5M NEWLED project which aims to develop a new generation of white LEDs. Currently he coordinate the H2020 FET project Mesa-Brain (€3.3M, aims to develop 3D nano-printing technology for functional three-dimensional human stem cell derived neural networks) and EPSRC proposal (£960k, compact THz based systems for neuroscience applications). He also leads a few others projects funded by EU FP7, H2020 and EPSRC (UK). His current research interests include high-power CW and ultrashort-pulse lasers; generation of UV/visible/IR/MIR and THz radiation, nanostructures; nonlinear and integrated optics; biomedical photonics.
Areas of Expertise (6)
Biomedical Photonics
Nanostructures
Ultrashort-Pulse Lasers
Photonics
THz Radiation
Nonlinear and Integrated Optics
Education (1)
Ioffe Institute: PhD 1992
Links (5)
Media Appearances (5)
EU Project Set up to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease with Lasers
Labiotech.eu online
2020-02-07
“There is an enormous human toll of brain disorders in Europe, with an estimated 83 million people affected,” stated Edik Rafailov, Coordinator of the NEUROPA project and Professor of Photonics at Aston University, UK. “Through NEUROPA, we hope to bring a transformative approach to address this great societal and healthcare challenge.”
NEUROPA initiative receives €3.6 million to develop new theranostic for the brain
EurekAlert! online
2020-01-31
Edik Rafailov, Head of the NEUROPA project and Professor of Photonics, said: "Non-invasive control of dysfunctional neural pathways is a hugely attractive prize to be obtained for medical practice. Currently methods to address brain dysfunction can involve very invasive procedures and our aim to is establish a viable and flexible technology that achieve significant results by shining a laser beam instead. There is an enormous human toll of brain disorders in Europe, with an estimated 83 million people affected. Through NEUROPA we hope to bring a transformative approach to address this great societal and healthcare challenge".
Star Trek-style medical device uses laser beams to diagnose illness
BreakingNews.ie online
2018-06-07
Professor Edik Rafailov, of AIPT, said: “This technology will allow a range of tests to be taken quickly, painlessly and without any reason for patients to feel nervous – there are no needles involved.
Scientists grow human 'mini brains'
Medical Xpress online
2017-09-14
The "miniature brains" start out as human skin cells, before a team at Aston University turns them into stem cells and then brain cells. At the moment, these "mini-brains" are less than 2mm across but the multi-disciplinary MESO-BRAIN team, led by Professor Edik Rafailov, is also researching how to create bigger, 3-D brain cell clusters using tiny scaffold-like structures and nanoprinting.
Tiny human brains grown in lab could one day be used to repair Alzheimer’s damage
The Telegraph online
2017-08-04
Professor Edik Rafailov said the healthy tissue could one day be transplanted into damaged areas of the brain.
Research Grants (5)
Coordinator and Principal Investigator
FET Proactive project PLATFORMA £2,000,000
2020 - 2022
Lead Academic Researcher
COFUND MULTIPY Project £60,000
2019 - 2021
Principal-Investigator
H2020 project called AMPLITUDE £4,700,000
2020 - 2024
Coordinator and Principal Investigator
FET OPEN project NEUROPA £3,600,000
2020 - 2023
Coordinator and Principal Investigator
FET OPEN Launchpad called SCAFFOLD-NEEDS £100,000
2019 - 2020
Articles (4)
The light-oxygen effect in biological cells enhanced by highly localized surface plasmon-polaritons
Scientific ReportsHere at the first time we suggested that the surface plasmon-polariton phenomenon which it is well described in metallic nanostructures could also be used for explanation of the unexpectedly strong oxidative effects of the low-intensity laser irradiation in living matters (cells, tissues, organism).
Conical refraction mode of an optical resonator
Optics LettersThe fundamental mode of a conical refraction resonator, i.e., an optical cavity where light experiences conical refraction (CR) from a biaxial crystal, is experimentally demonstrated in the plano-concave cavity configuration. We have discovered that the fundamental CR mode is characterized by the polarization and intensity structures of CR beams between the plane mirror and CR crystal, and it resembles the fundamental Gaussian mode with homogeneous polarization between the crystal and concave mirror. We theoretically explained this fundamental CR mode using the dual cone model and symmetry of the CR phenomenon and confirmed this explanation by numerical simulations.
Development of two-photon polymerised scaffolds for optical interrogation and neurite guidance of human iPSC-derived cortical neuronal networks
Lab ChipRecent progress in the field of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has led to the efficient production of human neuronal cell models for in vitro study. This has the potential to enable the understanding of live human cellular and network function which is otherwise not possible. However, a major challenge is the generation of reproducible neural networks together with the ability to interrogate and record at the single cell level. A promising aid is the use of biomaterial scaffolds that would enable the development and guidance of neuronal networks in physiologically relevant architectures and dimensionality. The optimal scaffold material would need to be precisely fabricated with submicron resolution, be optically transparent, and biocompatible. Two-photon polymerisation (2PP) enables precise microfabrication of three-dimensional structures. In this study, we report the identification of two biomaterials that support the growth and differentiation of human iPSC-derived neural progenitors into functional neuronal networks.
Diode-pumped Yb:CALGO laser with conical refraction output
Solid State Lasers XXIX: Technology and DevicesA high power conical refraction (CR) laser was demonstrated based on Yb:CALGO laser crystal with a separate intracavity CR element. The CR laser delivered the maximum output power of 6.25 W at 25 W of incident pump power which is the highest output power for the CR lasers to date. The separation of the CR element from the laser gain medium reduced the complexity of laser pumping. The generated CR laser beam exhibited excellent quality with well-resolved concentric rings and the Poggendorff dark ring.
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