Dr. James Fujimoto is the Elihu Thomson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has maintained a distinguished academic career since joining the faculty in 1985. He earned his undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT in 1979, 1981, and 1984, respectively, establishing the technical foundation for his groundbreaking work in optical technologies. In addition to his MIT appointment, he serves as a visiting professor of ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine and holds an adjunct professorship at the Medical University of Vienna, reflecting his interdisciplinary impact across engineering and medicine. His early research in ultrafast laser phenomena provided the critical foundation for his subsequent revolutionary contributions to medical diagnostic imaging.
Dr. Fujimoto is universally recognized as the principal inventor of optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging technology that has transformed diagnostic capabilities in ophthalmology and numerous other medical specialties. Working with colleagues at MIT and the New England Eye Center, he developed OCT into the clinical gold standard for retinal imaging, enabling high-resolution cross-sectional visualization of biological tissues with unprecedented detail and precision. His innovations in ultrahigh-speed and ultrahigh-resolution OCT systems have expanded applications from ophthalmology to cardiology, oncology, and surgical guidance, with millions of patients worldwide benefiting from this technology annually. Through co-founding startup companies that were later acquired by major medical device manufacturers including Carl Zeiss Meditec, he successfully translated his laboratory discoveries into clinical practice, establishing OCT as the standard of care in diagnostic ophthalmology globally.
His exceptional contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the 2023 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the 2023 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2025. As a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Fujimoto has profoundly influenced biomedical imaging through his scholarly leadership and mentorship of generations of researchers who now lead prominent academic institutions worldwide. His laboratory continues to advance optical imaging frontiers with research focused on next-generation OCT technologies for early disease detection and precision medicine applications. With over 400 journal publications, numerous patents, and sustained translational impact, Dr. Fujimoto's legacy as a pioneering innovator endures through the millions of patients whose lives have been improved by his transformative imaging technology.
