Rebekah's laboratory conducts research in two emerging areas in biomedical engineering: nanobiotechnology and biophotonics. These projects emphasize developing new technologies to improve women's health care with a current focus on detection, diagnosis, and monitoring therapy of breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer.

In the area of nanotechnology, Drezek's team is designing, fabricating, and validating imaging agents that are part of a comprehensive nanoshell-based technology that Rice University is developing to both diagnose and treat cancer.

In biophotonics, Drezek works with clinicians at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to develop novel optical technologies that allow detection of cancer at a much earlier stage than conventional methods. Her laboratory also creates the computational tools and mathematical algorithms that doctors need in order to make a diagnosis based on optical imaging data.

In this presentation, Rebekah will describe past, present, and future research aimed at the development and clinical translation of optical imaging tools to improve women's health care. Specific applications which will be discussed include an optical approach to the early detection of cervical precancers which offers a promising alternative to the Pap smear and colposcopy and the development of a nanoparticle-based molecular-specific platform technology for integrated detection and therapy of breast cancer in collaboration with researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.