Dr David Adams
NHMRC Grant-Funded Researchr B
School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering and Information Technology
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD as Co-Supervisor only - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr. David Adams is a physicist specialising in biomedical imaging, with a focus on novel technology and applications related to endobronchial optical coherence tomography (OCT). He is a former Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School who has recently relocated to Australia to begin a new phase in his research career.
His research has been peer reviewed and published a number of prestigious international journals, including first-author publications in Science Translational Medicine (cover article, publicity including the NIH Director’s Blog), Physical Review Letters, and Respirology (cover article, focus of an editorial), as well as other publications in Science Translational Medicine and Nature Photonics. In total, his research has been cited over 1500 times with a current (2026) h-index of 18. He has been the lead chief investigator on 3 grant awards funded by the U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling in excess of US$5 million.
Dr. David Adams' research interests reflect a well-rounded and diverse scientific career. Beginning with a foundation in Computer Science, Dr. Adams transitioned to Physics for his PhD, where his research was focused on the development and interrogation of quantum quasi-particle mediated and meta-surface enhanced optical devices. He followed his PhD research with a long tenure at Harvard Medical School, working in Massachusetts General Hospital to develop and utilise novel biomedical imaging technology primarily for the study of the lung. Working daily with clinicians and physician-scientists, Dr. Adams developed a deep understanding of the need for biomedically-informed technological development. A brief summary of his current interests are detailed below.
Novel Fibre Optic Probe Development. Fibre optic-based endoscopic probes allow for in vivo imaging of luminal organ systems such as the lung and cardiovascular at optical resolutions. Key avenues for improvement involve miniaturisation, optical performance of distal lens assemblies, and functional capabilities tied to individual clinical or biomedical research-based needs. Leveraging his expertise in quantum and meta-enhanced optical designs, Dr. Adams' research in this area is maximising biomedical impact through cutting-edge development tailored to specific practical need.
Intrinsic Contrast Mechanisms in Optical Imaging. Biology-specific optical signatures such as birefringence and scattering anisotropy offer unique potential for characterising the state and composition of soft tissues. However, developing platforms to take advantage of intrinsic contrast mechanisms is only part of the challenge. Dr. Adams' main interest in developing intrinsic contrast imaging platforms is to utilise the platforms in order to identify novel techniques and applications for taking advantage of their full potential.
Multi-Disciplinary Translational Research. Technology is a means to an end, and the greatest impact is realised by first identifying the need and then developing the technology so that the need is addressed. Multi-disciplinary translational research naturally prioritises a needs-first scientific approach. Dr. Adams' research interests span all stages of biomedical research, including technology development, pre-clinical, and clinical studies.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 - 2025 | Assistant Professor of Medicine | Harvard Medical School |
| 2016 - 2020 | Instructor of Medicine | Harvard Medical School |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Clemson University | United States | Master of Science |
| 2024 | Clemson University | United States | Bachelor of Science |
| 2012 | University of Massachusetts Lowell | United States | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Date | Title | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 - 2016 | Postdoctoral Fellow | Harvard Medical School | United States |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Truong, N. T. P., Shishkov, M., Jahan, D., Bouma, B. E., Suter, M. J., & Adams, D. C. (2025). Development and characterization of a clinically viable metalens-enhanced optical endoscope. Optics Express, 33(23), 49200. |
| 2022 | Adams, D. C., Majid, A., & Suter, M. J. (2022). Polarization mode dispersion correction in endoscopic polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography with incoherent polarization input states. Biomedical Optics Express, 13(6), 3446. |
| 2021 | Adams, D. C., Holz, J. A., Szabari, M. V., Hariri, L. P., Mccrossan, A. F., Manley, C. J., . . . Suter, M. J. (2021). In vivo assessment of changes to canine airway smooth muscle following bronchial thermoplasty with OR-OCT. Journal of Applied Physiology, 130(6), 1814-1821. |
| 2019 | Hariri, L. P., Adams, D. C., Applegate, M. B., Miller, A. J., Roop, B. W., Villiger, M., . . . Suter, M. J. (2019). Distinguishing Tumor from Associated Fibrosis to Increase Diagnostic Biopsy Yield with Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography. Clinical Cancer Research, 25(17), 5242-5249. |
| 2019 | Adams, D. C., Miller, A. J., Applegate, M. B., Cho, J. L., Hamilos, D. L., Chee, A., . . . Suter, M. J. (2019). Quantitative assessment of airway remodelling and response to allergen in asthma. Respirology, 24(11), 1073-1080. |
| 2018 | Hariri, L. P., Adams, D. C., Wain, J. C., Lanuti, M., Muniappan, A., Sharma, A., . . . Suter, M. J. (2018). Endobronchial Optical Coherence Tomography for Low-Risk Microscopic Assessment and Diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis <i>In Vivo</i>. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 197(7), 949-952. |
| 2018 | Hariri, L. P., Adams, D. C., Wain, J. C., Lanuti, M., Muniappan, A., Sharma, A., . . . Suter, M. J. (2018). Reply to Wijmans <i>et al.</i> : Optical Coherence Tomography: A Valuable Novel Tool for Assessing the Alveolar Compartment in Interstitial Lung Disease?. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 197(9), 1232-1233. |
| 2018 | Shostak, E., Hariri, L. P., Cheng, G. Z., Adams, D. C., & Suter, M. J. (2018). Needle-based Optical Coherence Tomography to Guide Transbronchial Lymph Node Biopsy. Journal of Bronchology & Interventional Pulmonology, 25(3), 189-197. |
| 2018 | Adams, D. C., & Suter, M. J. (2018). Processing-based approach for resolving the sample optic axis in endoscopic polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. Optics Express, 26(19), 24917. |
| 2018 | Pahlevaninezhad, H., Khorasaninejad, M., Huang, Y. -W., Shi, Z., Hariri, L. P., Adams, D. C., . . . Suter, M. J. (2018). Nano-optic endoscope for high-resolution optical coherence tomography in vivo. Nature Photonics, 12(9), 540-547. |
| 2017 | Adams, D. C., Pahlevaninezhad, H., Szabari, M. V., Cho, J. L., Hamilos, D. L., Kesimer, M., . . . Suter, M. J. (2017). Automated segmentation and quantification of airway mucus with endobronchial optical coherence tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 8(10), 4729. |
| 2016 | Adams, D. C., Wang, Y., Hariri, L. P., & Suter, M. J. (2016). Advances in Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography Catheter Designs. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 22(3), 210-221. |
| 2016 | Adams, D. C., Hariri, L. P., Miller, A. J., Wang, Y., Cho, J. L., Villiger, M., . . . Suter, M. J. (2016). Birefringence microscopy platform for assessing airway smooth muscle structure and function in vivo. Science Translational Medicine, 8(359). |
| 2016 | Cho, J. L., Ling, M. F., Adams, D. C., Faustino, L., Islam, S. A., Afshar, R., . . . Luster, A. D. (2016). Allergic asthma is distinguished by sensitivity of allergen-specific CD4 <sup>+</sup> T cells and airway structural cells to type 2 inflammation. Science Translational Medicine, 8(359). |
| 2012 | Law, S., Adams, D. C., Taylor, A. M., & Wasserman, D. (2012). Mid-infrared designer metals. Optics Express, 20(11), 12155. |
| 2011 | Passmore, B. S., Adams, D. C., Ribaudo, T., Wasserman, D., Lyon, S., Davids, P., . . . Shaner, E. A. (2011). Observation of Rabi Splitting from Surface Plasmon Coupled Conduction State Transitions in Electrically Excited InAs Quantum Dots. Nano Letters, 11(2), 338-342. |
| 2011 | Thongrattanasiri, S., Adams, D. C., Wasserman, D., & Podolskiy, V. A. (2011). Multiscale beam evolution and shaping in corrugated plasmonic systems. Optics Express, 19(10), 9269. |
| 2011 | Anglin, K., Ribaudo, T., Adams, D. C., Qian, X., Goodhue, W. D., Dooley, S., . . . Wasserman, D. (2011). Voltage-controlled active mid-infrared plasmonic devices. Journal of Applied Physics, 109(12). |
| 2010 | Adams, D. C., Thongrattanasiri, S., Ribaudo, T., Podolskiy, V. A., & Wasserman, D. (2010). Plasmonic mid-infrared beam steering. Applied Physics Letters, 96(20). |
| 2010 | Mason, J. A., Adams, D. C., Johnson, Z., Smith, S., Davis, A. W., & Wasserman, D. (2010). Selective thermal emission from patterned steel. Optics Express, 18(24), 25192. |
| 2009 | Ribaudo, T., Adams, D. C., Passmore, B., Shaner, E. A., & Wasserman, D. (2009). Spectral and spatial investigation of midinfrared surface waves on a plasmonic grating. Applied Physics Letters, 94(20). |
| - | Adams, D. C., Inampudi, S., Ribaudo, T., Slocum, D., Vangala, S., Kuhta, N. A., . . . Wasserman, D. (2011). Funneling Light through a Subwavelength Aperture with Epsilon-Near-Zero Materials. Physical Review Letters, 107(13). |
| - | Adams, D. C., Szabari, M. V., Lagares, D., McCrossan, A. F., Hariri, L. P., Tager, A. M., & Suter, M. J. (2020). Assessing the progression of systemic sclerosis by monitoring the tissue optic axis using PS-OCT. Scientific Reports, 10(1). |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Adams, D. (2017). U.S Patent No. 9,689,661 B2, Compensating for input polarization mode variations. United States. |
|
US National Institutes of Health R01 (2025-2029, CI: David Adams; transferred on relocation to Australia) Funding amount: USD 3,210,313. Project title: Transbronchial diagnosis and characterization of pulmonary hypertension with Mechanomicroscopy |
|
US National Institutes of Health R21 Trailblazer Award (2024-2027, CI: David Adams; returned on relocation to Australia) Funding amount: USD 647,900. Project title: Non-rotating nano-optic endoscope for 360 degree in vivo imaging |
|
US National Institutes of Health K25 (2019-2025, CI: David Adams) Funding amount: USD 941,257. Project title: Assessing Airway Smooth Muscle Tone in Asthma with Endobronchial Optical Coherence Tomography |
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| Date | Topic | Location | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 - ongoing | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Tonmoy Thamidul |
| 2026 - ongoing | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Kichul Park |
| 2022 - 2025 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Dishary Jahan |
| 2022 - 2025 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Phong Truong |
| 2018 - 2020 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Andrew McCrossan |
| 2016 - 2021 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Hamid Pahlevaninezhad |
| 2015 - 2020 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Margit Szabari |
| 2015 - 2017 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Jasmin Holz |
| 2014 - 2015 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Chris Manley |
| 2013 - 2014 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Eugene Shostak |
| 2013 - 2014 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | George Cheng |
| 2013 - 2015 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Yan Wang |
| 2012 - 2024 | Endobronchial OCT | Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital | Alyssa J. Miller |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 - ongoing | Member | SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering | United States |
| 2008 - 2012 | Member | American Physical Society | United States |
| Date | Institution | Department | Organisation Type | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 - ongoing | Massachusetts General Hospital | Medicine | Scientific research | United States |
| 2018 - 2021 | 3SAE | Research and Development | Business and professional | United States |
| 2014 - 2015 | Ninepoint Medical | Research and Development | Scientific research | United States |
| Date | Title | Type | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 - ongoing | Ad-hoc Reviewer | Peer Review | Plos One | - |
| 2014 - ongoing | Ad-hoc Reviewer | Peer Review | Journal of Biomedical Optics | - |
| 2013 - ongoing | Ad-hoc Reviewer | Peer Review | Optics Express | - |
| 2012 - ongoing | Ad-hoc Reviewer | Peer Review | Applied Optics | - |
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