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Biography

Malini Olivo is Distinguished A*STAR Fellow and Distinguished Principal Scientist of A*STAR Skin Research Labs (A*SRL) where she leads the Translational Biophotonics Laboratory. Concurrently, she is also an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National University Health System, NUS, Singapore, LKC School of Medicine NTU, òòò½Íøand Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. Her current research interest is in Biophotonics, nano-biophotonics and  its applications in translational clinical medicine. Her efforts include bridging the gap between cutting edge optical technologies and unmet clinical needs by developing photonics-based devices for various unmet needs in medicine. For more than 25 years, Prof Malini has been pioneering bio-photonics and analytical-based point-of-care technologies and wearable technology for clinical applications across oncology, skin, cardio-respiratory & womens health. She has led 5 First-in-human clinical studies using innovation in biophotonics technologies to improve healthcare outcomes in skin cancer, breast cancer and skin inflammatory disease such as eczema and psoriasis.

She has succeeded in obtaining competitive research funding of over USD 35 million to support her research in òòò½Íøand overseas. She has published over 500 scientific papers and over 75 patents on medical technology platforms and devices in photo-acoustic hybrid imaging, confocal Raman and Surface enhanced raman,  and diffused-optics in clinical imaging and biosensors. She is also the co-founder of 2 Medtech companies. 

Since 2017, Prof Malini’s team stepped on a revolutionary discovery of a new way of measuring lung physiology that would go on to be a game-changer into how clinical decisions are made across healthcare’s care continuum. Lung physiology plays a pivotal role to monitor patient conditions across all touch-points in healthcare’s care continuum; from post-operative, general wards to home settings. 

For her scientific contributions in Singapore, she has been awarded Women in GovTech, for contribution to advancing tech to transform the public sector. She is also honoured for her contribution as a woman in Photonics by SPIE and OPTICA, American institute medical and bioengineering. Prof Malini is also among the Top 2% Stanford Cited Scientist in the World.

Prof Malini holds many advisory international roles and is well recognised internationally for her research in biophotonics and her pioneering contributions including in the Nobel sub committee.  Her pioneering contribution in biophotonics has been recognized internationally. She has been conferred Fellow of Optical Society of America (Optica), Fellow of American Institute of Medical Bioengineering (AIMBE) and Fellow of Institute of Physics and more recently the prestigious Fellow of òòò½ÍøNational Academy of Science (SNAS).

Research Interest

Her current research interest is in Medtech and nano-biophotonics and its applications in translational medicine. Her efforts include bridging the gap between cutting edge optical technologies and unmet clinical needs by developing in-house photonics-based devices for various industries. 

Li, X., Yew, Y. W., Ram, K. V., Oon, H. H., Thng, S. T. G., Dinish, U. S., & Olivo, M. (2024). Structural and functional imaging of psoriasis for severity assessment and quantitative monitoring of treatment response using high-resolution optoacoustic imaging. Photoacoustics, 38, 100611. Published on 7 Aug. 2024.

Zhang, R., A’dawiah, R., Choo, T. W. J., Li, X., Balasundaram, G., Qi, Y., Goh, Y., Bi, R., & Olivo, M. (2024). Navigating challenges and solutions in quantitative photoacoustic imaging. Applied Physics Reviews, 11(3). Published on 16 Jul. 2024.

Bi, R., Zhang, R., Meng, L., Du, Y., Low, J., Qi, Y., Rajarahm, P., Lai, A. Y. F., Tan, V. S. Y., Ho, P., & Olivo, M (2024). A portable optical pulsatile flowmetry demonstrates strong clinical relevance for diabetic foot perfusion assessment. APL bioengineering, 8(1). Published on 21 Feb. 2024.

Zhang, S., Wu, S. Q. Y., Hum, M., Perumal, J., Tan, E. Y., Lee, A. S. G., Teng, J., Dinish, U. S., & Olivo, M. (2024). Complete characterization of RNA biomarker fingerprints using a multi-modal ATR-FTIR and SERS approach for label-free early breast cancer diagnosis. RSC advances, 14(5), 3599-3610. Published on 23 Jan. 2024.

Dinish, U. S., Logan, S., Balasundaram, G., Xinhui, V. T., Vinod Ram, K., Ruochong, Z., Renzhe, B., Silvani, S., Hua Cheng, K., Xia, X., Giap Hean, G., Choolani, M., & Olivo, M. (2024). Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and imaging for non-invasive objective assessment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause: a pilot study. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 1085. Published on 11 Jan. 2024.

S. Zhang, K. Vinod Ram, Z.T. Chua, C.Y.Foo, P. Jayakumar*, U. S Dinish *, M. Olivo*, "Biophotonics Technologies for the Detection of VOCs in Healthcare Applications: Are We There Yet?" Applied Physics Reviews, vol. 10, no. 3, p. 031304, Published 21 Jul. 2023.

Y. Qi, R. Zhang, P. Rajarahm, S. Zhang, A. B. Ebrahim Attia, R. Bi*, and M. Olivo, "Simultaneous Dual-Wavelength Source Raman Spectroscopy with a Handheld Confocal Probe for Analysis of the Chemical Composition of In Vivo Human Skin," Analytical Chemistry, vol. 95, no. 12, pp. 5240–5247, Published on 17 Mar. 2023.

Shuyan Zhang, Qing Yang Steve Wu, Yi Fan Chen, Melissa Hum, Dave Chi Lok Wong, Ern Yu Tan, Ann Siew Gek Lee*, Jinghua Teng*, Dinish U.S* and Malini Olivo*, “Label-free detection of MiRNA biomarkers using broadband multi-resonant infrared metasurfaces for early breast cancer diagnosis”, Nanoscale, vol. 15, no. 23, pp. 10057–10066, Published on 24 May 2023.

Zhang, S., Bi, R., Zhang, R., Qi, Y., Salim, R. B. S. M., & Olivo, M. (2022). An all metasurface-based fiber needle probe for Raman spectroscopy. Frontiers in Physics, 10, 1093284. Published on 20 Dec. 2022.

Choo, T. W. J., Zhang, R., Bi, R., & Olivo, M. (2022). Experimental characterization of diffuse speckle pulsatile flowmetry system. Frontiers in Physics, 10, 1006484. Published on 26 Sept. 2022.

Xiuting Li, Mohesh Moothanchery, Cheng Yi Kwa, Wan Ling Tan, Yik Weng Yew, Steven Tien Guan Thng, U.S. Dinish, Amalina Binte Ebrahim Attia, Malini Olivo. “Multispectral raster-scanning optoacoustic mesoscopy differentiate lesional from non-lesional atopic dermatitis skin using structural and functional imaging markers.” Photoacoustics, DOI: 10.1016/j.pacs.2022.100399. Published on 27 Aug. 2022.

Mohesh Moothanchery, Jayakumar Perumal, Aniza Puteri Mahyuddin, Gurpreet Singh, Mahesh Choolani, Malini Olivo*. Rapid and sensitive detection of ovarian cancer biomarker using a portable single peak Raman detection method. Sci Rep 12, 12459 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13859-x. Published on 21 Jul. 2022.

Yonggeng Goh, Ghayathri Balasundaram, Hui Min Tan, Thomas Choudary Putti, Siau Wei Tang, Celene Wei Qi Ng, Shaik Ahmad Buhari, Eric Fang, Mohesh Moothanchery, Renzhe Bi, Malini Olivo*, Swee Tian Quek. “Biochemical "decoding" of breast ultrasound images with optoacoustic tomography fusion: First-in-human display of lipid and collagen signals on breast ultrasound.” Photoacoustics, DOI: 10.1016/j.pacs.2022.100377. Published on 15 Jun. 2022.

Jayakumar Perumal, Hann Qian Lim, Amalina Binte Ebrahim Attia, Riazul Raziq, David Ian Leavesley, Zee Upton, U S Dinish, Malini Olivo*. “Novel Cellulose Fibre-Based Flexible Plasmonic Membrane for Point-of-Care SERS Biomarker Detection in Chronic Wound Healing,” International Journal of Nanomedicine 2021; 16: 5869-5878 DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S303130. Published on 27 Aug. 2021.

Ruochong Zhang, Renzhe Bi, Chris Ho Jun Hui, Poongkulali Rajarahm, U.S. Dinish, and Malini Olivo*. "A Portable Ultrawideband Confocal Raman Spectroscopy System with a Handheld Probe for Skin Studies", ACS Sensors. 2021, 6, 8, 2960–2966, DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.1c00761. Published on 11 Aug. 2021.

Amalina Binte Ebrahim Attia, Mohesh Moothanchery, Xiuting Li, Yik Weng Yew, Steven Tien Guan Thng, U.S. Dinish, Malini Olivo. “Microvascular imaging and monitoring of hemodynamic changes in the skin during arterial-venous occlusion using multispectral raster-scanning optoacoustic mesoscopy,” Photoacoustics. 2021; 22: 100268. DOI: 10.1016/j.pacs.2021.100268. Published on 20 Apr. 2021.

Jayakumar Perumal, Yusong Wang, Amalina Binte Ebrahim Attia, U.S. Dinish *, Malini Olivo* (*joint corresponding authors). “Towards point-of-care SERS sensor for biomedical and food analysis applications: a review of recent advancements,” Nanoscale. 2021; 13(2): 553-580. DOI: 10.1039/D0NR06832B. Published on 8 Dec. 2020. 

Yew, Y.W., Dinish, U., Kuan, A.H.Y., Li, X., Dev, K., Attia, A.B.E., Bi, R., Moothanchery, M., Balasundaram, G., Aguirre, J. and Ntziachristos, V. (2020). Raster-scanning optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM) imaging as an objective disease severity tool in atopic dermatitis patients. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol, 84, 1121-1123. Published on 16 Jun. 2020.

Renzhe Bi, Yao Du, Gurpreet Singh, Chris Jun-Hui Ho, Shuyan Zhang, Amalina Binte Ebrahim Attia, Xiuting Li, Malini Olivo. “Fast pulsatile blood flow measurement in deep tissue through a multimode fiber,” Journal of Biomedical Optics, 2020; 25(5): 055003. DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.25.5.055003. Published on 13 May 2020.

Jayakumar Perumal, Aniza Mahyuddin, Ghayathri Balasundaram, Douglas Goh, U.S. Dinish, Mahesh Choolani and Malini Olivo. “SERS-Based Detection of Haptoglobin in Ovarian Cyst Fluid as a Point-of-Care Diagnostic Assay for Epithelial Ovarian cancer,” Cancer Management and Research, 2019, 2019(11), Pages 1115-1124. Published on 31 Jan. 2019.