Dr. Kostia Sokolov received his Diploma Degree in Physics in 1987 from the Moscow Engineering-Physics Institute, Russia, and Ph.D. in Biophysics in 1992 from Moscow State University, Russia. His Ph.D. thesis focused on biomedical applications of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Subsequently, he carried out research in the field of optical spectroscopy of biomolecules and bioanalytical chemistry as a postdoctoral fellow and a staff scientist at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia; the University of Reims, Reims, France; and the Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, U.S.A. Before joining the MD Anderson Cancer Center as a faculty member in 2002, Dr. Sokolov was a Research Scientist in Biomedical Engineering Program, the University of Texas at Austin.

Currently, Dr. Sokolov is a Professor of Imaging Physics and the director of the Biomedical Optics and NanoDiagnostics (BOND) laboratory, which develops nanotechnology-based platforms and optical imaging/spectroscopy devices for early detection, diagnosis/prognosis, and treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Achieving these objectives requires synergy between fundamental, exploratory, and translational research. Therefore, Dr. Sokolov’s approach to solving challenging biomedical problems is through fundamental studies leading to future clinical applications.

Dr. Sokolov has made seminal contributions to new directions of research in the field of bio-nanotechnology especially in the areas of ultra-sensitive biomolecular assays and molecular imaging that utilize unique physicochemical properties of plasmonic nanoparticles. Research and advanced-degree training in Dr. Sokolov’s lab has been funded by major grants from NCI, NIBIB, NHLBI, NSF, and the Whitaker Foundation.