MAURICE WHELAN BEng PhD
Adjunct Professor, Stokes Research Institute, College of Engineering
Head of Photonics Sector, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy

e: maurice.whelan@jrc.it

t: +39-0332-786234

Professor Maurice Whelan is head of the Photonics Sector of the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) at the European Commission DG Joint Research Centre, based in Ispra, Italy (www.jrc.org). He graduated in 1990 with a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Limerick, followed by a PhD in computational and experimental stress analysis in 1994. Since then he has worked in the field of photonics and optical metrology focusing on applications in structural and material mechanics, bioengineering and medical diagnostics. His current research contributes to the IHCP Action on nano-biotechnology and concerns the development of biosensors and biomedical imaging systems for molecular and morphological analysis of tissues and cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Recently he was appointed project leader of the IHCP initiative to develop advanced techniques for high throughput ADME-Tox testing of chemicals. This will involve the installation of a modern robotic facility for in vitro cell-based assays, the development of novel cell screening methods and the creation of a comprehensive database on chemical toxicity. He is the author of twelve international patents and numerous scientific publications related to optical measurement techniques and instrumentation.