The mission of Biophotonics and Optical Radiology Laboratory is to establish optical tomography as a viable biomedical imaging modality. To this end Prof. Hielscher's team is developing state-of-the-art imaging hardware and software that provide 3-dimensional distributions of physiologically relevant parameters in biomedical systems. The laboratory is currently applying this emerging technology to the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in finger joints, for studying effects of cerebral ischemia and stroke, and for cancer diagnostic based on fluorescence molecular imaging. The work of the laboratory is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).