Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute

Mini Das, Moores Professor in the University of Houston College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and a leading innovator in advanced x-ray and optical imaging, has been elected a 2026 Optica Fellow, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the optics and photonics community.

Optica, formerly the Optical Society of America, selects Fellows for distinguished contributions to the field, including advances in research, engineering, education and service. The honor is limited to no more than 10 percent of the society’s total membership, and the 2026 class was chosen from 239 nominations reviewed by the Optica Fellow Members Committee. New Fellows will be recognized at Optica conferences and events throughout the year.

Das, who holds appointments in physics, biomedical engineering, and electrical and computer engineering, is known for pioneering work that merges optical physics, engineering concepts. image science, advanced detector technology and computational imaging to address longstanding challenges in medical and biological imaging.

Breakthroughs in Imaging Physics and Perception

Das’s research group develops new imaging methods that reveal “hidden contrast” in tissues and materials—details that current clinical x-ray systems struggle to detect without increasing radiation dose.

“For decades, the field has grappled with how to improve x-ray and CT contrast without adding dose,” Das said. “Our group has introduced concepts and instrumentation that open the door to practical, translatable solutions.”

Her lab also leads major efforts in image perception and human decision-making in medical imaging. By examining how radiologists interpret complex images and identifying the visual features that drive detection, her team works to strengthen the link between image formation and diagnostic performance.

“Image formation is one challenge but understanding how humans perceive and interpret these images is equally critical,” she said. “Our work connects optics and physics with vision science to improve detection and decision-making in real-world settings.”

In addition to X-ray optics and imaging, Das group is also exploring topics in near-infrared optical imaging methods to develop multi-modality solutions for discriminating deep seated cancers with both structural and functional imaging.

Expanding Impact Across Disciplines

Although her innovations are rooted in biomedical imaging—such as breast cancer screening, pediatric imaging and lung imaging—their applications extend far beyond health care. Researchers in materials science, geophysics, petroleum engineering and defense have contacted her group to explore how her imaging techniques might address their own challenges.

“My hope is that this recognition brings broader awareness of how these developments can benefit many fields,” Das said. “We are increasingly seeing interest from communities we had not initially anticipated.”

Das also collaborates with scientists at CERN to evaluate and advance next-generation photon-counting and quantum detectors. These technologies support spectral and phase-sensitive imaging methods that were long considered impractical for clinical use.

Transforming Imaging for the Next Decade

Das envisions that advances from her lab will help reshape the physics of x-ray imaging—an area that has seen limited fundamental change since the discovery of x-rays more than a century ago.

“Millions of women receive breast cancer screenings using imaging physics developed over a century ago,” she said. “We aim to translate new methods that make screening safer, more informative and more accessible. This requires combining advanced physics models, system designs, instrumentation and computational approaches.”

Her work also has potential to reduce radiation exposure, improve soft-tissue visibility in small-animal imaging, and enable longitudinal studies that are currently limited by dose constraints.

“In the next five to 10 years, I anticipate significant impact in lung imaging, breast imaging, pediatric imaging and small-animal research,” she said. “Our goal is to bring practical, robust innovations to the clinic and beyond.”

Funding Support and Recognitions

Das’s interdisciplinary research is funded through multiple agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and National Institutes of Health. She mentors students from physics, biomedical engineering and electrical engineering. Das is also a Fellow of the International society of Optics and Photonics (SPIE) since 2022.

 Das credits the University of Houston support for fostering an interdisciplinary environment where physics, engineering and computational science intersect.

“The University of Houston, the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Cullen College of Engineering have been incredibly supportive from the beginning,” she said. “Our group brings together students from physics and multiple engineering departments, and that diversity of expertise is essential for our work. UH has provided an outstanding environment to pursue these ideas.”

About Optica

Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the leading society dedicated to promoting the generation, application and dissemination of knowledge in optics and photonics. Founded in 1916, Optica supports a global community of scientists, engineers, business professionals, and students. Its publications, conferences, online resources, and programs accelerate scientific discovery and technological innovation. Learn more at Optica.org.

University of Houston researchers developed a new X-ray imaging method capable of revealing hidden features in a single shot, a breakthrough that could advance cancer detection, disease monitoring, security screening and material analysis. 

This study, soon to be published in scientific journal Optica, introduces a system that captures far more detailed diagnostic information without requiring multiple exposures or complex mechanical movement. The research was led by physics researcher Jingcheng Yuan and Mini Das, Moores professor at UH’s Cullen College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Conventional X-ray and CT imaging rely solely on attenuation contrast, which shows how tissues and materials absorb X-rays.

While effective for bone and large-density differences, it struggles to reveal early-stage cancers or subtle changes in microstructures like the lung’s tiny air sacs. Emerging methods that aim to overcome these limitations need complex system designs and require long exposures to capture meaningful images, leading to higher radiation doses and difficulty translating clinically.

“A lot of the methods being explored often need long imaging time because they require a system component to be moved multiple times — often over 10 or 20 times — to make these multiple image contrast,” Das said.

How It Works

To overcome these limitations, the UH team proposed and demonstrated new patent pending system designs and corresponding physics-based models.

The new configuration makes it possible to achieve three contrast types — attenuation, differential phase and dark field — from a single X-ray exposure. The design determines optimal placement of a single, slatted plate, or mask, between the X-ray source and detector.

The additional contrast types offer new insights:

• Differential phase, which Das introduced in a 2024 paper, shows how X-rays bend, enhancing visibility of boundaries, shapes and structural variations that are otherwise hard to see.
• Dark field captures how small-angle X-rays scatter from microstructures, revealing tiny structures such as lung air pockets or microscopic defects in materials.

Das said dark-field imaging may be especially promising for diagnosing lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, where current imaging can’t detect the microstructural changes. One can also examine changes in lung cancer and their response to therapies.

“We know there will be benefit, but how much that will help clinicians diagnose, detect and follow up for therapy monitoring is an open avenue right now,” she said.

Retrieved images of a dried fish from single-mask dark-field configuration. Image "a" shows attenuation contrast, "b" shows a dark field image, and image "c" combines attenuation and dark-field signal.

Why It Matters

The new single-shot and motion-free method produces images that are more informative, low-dose and faster — helping to lower patients’ dose of radiation, which can be especially beneficial for children and small animals.

The cost-effective design could be integrated into existing X-ray and CT systems with only minor modifications, making clinical translation feasible. The team’s next steps include adapting the system for small-animal studies and exploring clinical applications such as lung imaging and low-dose breast cancer screening.

“We expect that this will become practical, translatable,” Das said.

Beyond medicine, the technique could transform imaging for industries that rely on detecting internal defects or microstructures. Potential applications range from the petroleum industry and rock analysis, materials research and real-time monitoring of chemical or structural changes in engineered components.

“We know there will be benefit, but how much that will help clinicians diagnose, detect and follow up for therapy monitoring is an open avenue right now."

— Mini Das, UH’s Cullen College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Das has long been at the forefront of imaging innovation, previously advancing methods that investigated the wave nature of X-rays and applying photon-counting detectors with novel algorithms to allow for more precise 3D visualization.

Her motivation traces back to her early work in developing breast CTs where it became evident that the poor contrast in X-ray radiography and CT could not always reliably detect breast cancers. X-ray mammography has relied on the same contrast mechanism for over a century.

“This is the modality that millions of women are using today for breast screening around the world,” Das said. “I realized that this is really a big problem, so when I came to Houston for my position, one of my goals was to try to change this to see how we can contribute to this field by combining physics, optics and engineering.”

Das’s interdisciplinary research is funded through multiple agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and National Institutes of Health. She mentors students from physics, biomedical engineering and electrical engineering.

Das was also recently elected as a fellow of Optica, recognizing her distinguished contributions to the advancement of the field, and has been a fellow of the Society for Optics & Photonics (SPIE) since 2022.