Christine Hendon

Christine P. Hendon is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she also serves as Vice Dean for Engagement and Provost's Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar. She earned her B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004, M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2007, and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2010. Hendon conducted her postdoctoral research at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, from 2010 to 2012. She joined Columbia Engineering as Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering in September 2012, advancing to Associate Professor in January 2018. In addition to her research and administrative roles, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including Optical Systems and Digital Image Processing, and advises student chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers and SPIE.

Hendon's research in biomedical optics develops next-generation optical coherence tomography and near-infrared spectroscopy systems integrated into therapeutic catheters, along with real-time processing algorithms to extract physiological information from tissues. Her work addresses cardiac electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, oncology, and women's health, enabling structure-function analysis of normal, diseased, and treated biological tissues to improve procedure guidance and monitoring. With over 2,700 citations on Google Scholar, her contributions have significantly impacted clinical imaging technologies. Key publications include "Collagen fiber orientation and dispersion in the upper cervix of non-pregnant and pregnant women" (PLoS ONE, 2016; 115 citations), "Automated classification of optical coherence tomography images of human atrial tissue" (Journal of Biomedical Optics, 2016; 88 citations), "Analyzing three-dimensional ultrastructure of human cervical tissue using optical coherence tomography" (Biomedical Optics Express, 2015; 87 citations), and "Depth resolved detection of lipid using spectroscopic optical coherence tomography" (Biomedical Optics Express, 2013; 97 citations). Hendon has received major awards such as the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, 2017), NSF CAREER Award (2015), NIH DP2 New Innovator Award (2014), fellowships from SPIE (2021), Optica (2021), and AIMBE College of Fellows (2020), MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 (2013), and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science and Healthcare (2012). She serves on NIH study sections, the Optica Board of Directors (elected 2024), and has organized conferences like the Optical Coherence Tomography Conference (co-chair, 2020). Recent recognitions include the 2025 EQT Foundation Women's Health Grant and HICCC-SEAS Joint Seed Grant.

Professional Email: christine.hendon@columbia.edu