Dr. Samuel Achilefu received the 2014 St. Louis Award for his invention of “cancer goggles” one year after they were first used in a successful breast cancer operation. An injected dye reacts with infrared light to make cancerous tissue light up, helping surgeons locate the tumor and separate it from healthy tissue. He is professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University and director of its Optical Radiology Lab.
