Michael Hamblin is a Principal Investigator at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School. He was trained as a synthetic organic chemist and received his PhD from Trent University in England. He joined Wellman Labs in 1994. He worked initially in targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) and prepared and studied conjugates between photosensitizers and antibodies, targeted proteins and polymers of varying charge.

His research interests are now broadly in the area of phototherapy for multiple diseases. One focus is the study of new photosensitizers for infections, cancer, and heart disease. A specialty of the Hamblin lab is the development of new animal models for testing PDT approaches. The study of how PDT can activate the host immune system to attack advanced cancer is a new direction in the Hamblin lab. A second focus is low-level light therapy (LLLT) for wound healing, arthritis, traumatic brain injury and hair regrowth.

Dr. Hamblin has published over 95 peer-reviewed articles, over 100 conference proceedings, book chapters and international abstracts, and he holds eight patents. He has edited the most recent and comprehensive textbook on PDT entitled “Advances in Photodynamic Therapy: Basic, Translational and Clinical”. He has developed an interest in elucidating the basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of LLLT, and for the past four years has chaired an annual conference at SPIE entitled "Mechanisms for Low Level Light Therapy".

Research Interests

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a relatively new and exciting approach for treating cancers and other diseases. Non-toxic dyes known as photosensitizers are administered systemically, locally or topically and accumulate in the tumor or other lesion. Illumination with (otherwise harmless) visible (usually red light, frequently from a laser) excites the sensitizer, which in the presence of oxygen, produces reactive oxygen species that mediate cytotoxic effects. Undesirable cells such as infectious microbial cells or malignant cancer cells can be selectively killed by this approach.

Low-level light therapy (LLLT) (light alone, no photosensitizer) can stimulate healing, prevent tissue death and relieve pain and inflammation. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie this effect are under investigation. We believe that reactive oxygen species are also involved and cause activation of redox sensitive transcription factors. Applications of LLLT to healing and treatment of traumatic brain injury are being studied

Anti-tumor immune response occurs after PDT in some small animal models of cancer. We are studying the complex interplay between factors such as the tumor type and whether it contains a recognizable antigen, the strain of mouse and its population of host suppressor cells, the type of PDT and the acute inflammatory response it causes. Combination of PDT with certain immunostimulants can produce highly synergistic benefits including regression of distant untreated tumors.

Wound healing and infectious disease is beings studied in animal models. The use of optical imaging of infections caused by genetically engineered bioluminescent and fluorescent microbes allows testing of PDT and other antimicrobial therapies in real time. Wound healing can be stimulated by both PDT and light alone and mechanistic and animal studies are underway.

Atherosclerotic vulnerable plaque may be detected and treated using a novel dual purpose “seek and destroy” approach to be able to detect macrophage-rich plaques by use of an intra-arterial fluorescence catheter, and to potentially treat them by intravascular PDT. It is based on the targeting of macrophage scavenger receptors using a conjugate between modified albumin and chlorine(e6).