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Wesley B. Baker, PhD

Assistant Professor of Neurology
Department: Neurology

Contact information
3501 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 8145713886
Graduate Group Affiliations
Education:
BS (Physics)
Bucknell University, 2005.
PhD (Physics)
University of Pennsylvania, 2015.
Post-Graduate Training
Postdoc in Anesthesiology & Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, 2015-2017.
Research Associate in Neurology , Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2017-2020.
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Description of Research Expertise

I am a physicist with specialization in optics in biological tissues. In 2015, I received my PhD in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Arjun Yodh. I then completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship mentored by W. Andrew Kofke in the department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Emergent themes from my previous work include (1) studying ischemic pathophysiology with diffuse optics, (2) formulating new analytical models/paradigms to improve the fidelity of cerebral hemodynamic data based on optical signals, and (3) devising new clinical applications for diffuse optics, such as non-invasive monitoring of cerebral perfusion pressure. As a researcher in biomedical optics, I aim to develop optical tools for clinical use. Broadly, I envision designing clinical research that furthers the prognostic utility of optical tools in the treatment of acute brain injury. I also envision harnessing cerebral hemodynamic data from optical measurements in human patients and pre-clinical animal models to illuminate etiologies of neurological injuries/disorders with the hope of establishing novel therapies (e.g., ischemic stroke, hydrocephalus).

Selected Publications

Benson EJ, Aronowitz DI, Forti RM, Lafontant A, Ranieri NR, Starr JP, Melchior RW, Lewis A, Jahnavi J, Breimann J, Yun B, Laurent GH, Lynch JM, White BR, Gaynor JW, Licht DJ, Yodh AG, Kilbaugh TJ, Mavroudis CD, Baker WB, Ko TS: Diffuse Optical Monitoring of Cerebral Hemodynamics and Oxygen Metabolism during and after Cardiopulmonary Bypass: Hematocrit Correction and Neurological Vulnerability. Metabolites 13(11): 1153, November 2023.

Mavroudis CD, Lewis A, Greenwood JC, Kelly M, Ko TS, Forti RM, Shin SS, Shofer FS, Ehinger JK, Baker WB, Kilbaugh TJ, Jang DH: Investigation of Cerebral Mitochondrial Injury in a Porcine Survivor Model of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. J Med Toxicol. October 2023.

Silva LEV, Shi L, Gaudio H, Padmanabahn V, Morgan RW, Slovis JM, Forti RM, Morton S, Lin Y, Laurent GH, Breimann J, Yun B, Ranieri NR, Bowe M, Baker WB, Kilbaugh TJ, Ko TS, Tsui F: Prediction of Return of Spontaneous Circulation in a Pediatric Swine Model of Cardiac Arrest Using Low-Resolution Multimodal Physiological Waveforms. IEEE J Biomed Health Inform. (eds.). 27(10), October 2023.

Favilla CG, Forti RM, Carter S, Kofke WA, Kasner SE, Baker WB, Yodh AG, Messé SR, Cummings S, Kung DK, Burkhardt JK, Choudhri OA, Pukenas B, Srinivasan VM, Hurst RW, Detre JA: Microvascular reperfusion during endovascular therapy: the balance of supply and demand. J Neurointerv Surg. October 2023.

Laurent GH, Ko TS, Mensah-Brown KG, Mavroudis CD, Jacobwitz M, Ranieri N, Nicolson SC, Gaynor JW, Baker WB, Licht DJ, Massey SL, Lynch JM: Electroencephalography as a tool to predict cerebral oxygen metabolism during deep-hypothermic circulatory arrest in neonates with critical congenital heart disease. JTCVS Open August 2023.

Shaw K, Mavroudis CD, Ko TS, Jahnavi J, Jacobwitz M, Ranieri N, Forti RM, Melchior RW, Baker WB, Yodh AG, Licht DJ, Nicolson SC, Lynch JM: The use of novel diffuse optical spectroscopies for improved neuromonitoring during neonatal cardiac surgery requiring antegrade cerebral perfusion. Front Pediatr 11: 1125985, June 2023.

Forti RM, Hobson LJ, Benson EJ, Ko TS, Ranieri NR, Laurent G, Weeks MK, Widmann NJ, Morton S, Davis AM, Sueishi T, Lin Y, Wulwick KS, Fagan N, Shin SS, Kao SH, Licht DJ, White BR, Kilbaugh TJ, Yodh AG, Baker WB: Non-invasive diffuse optical monitoring of cerebral physiology in an adult swine-model of impact traumatic brain injury. Biomed Opt Express 14(6): 2432-2448, June 2023.

Forti RM, Martins GG, Baker WB, Mesquita RC: Optimizing a two-layer method for hybrid diffuse correlation spectroscopy and frequency-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy cerebral measurements in adults. Neurophotonics 10(2): 025008, April 2023.

Luckl J, Baker WB, Boda K, Emri M, Yodh AG, Greenberg JH: Oxyhemoglobin and Cerebral Blood Flow Transients Detect Infarction in Rat Focal Brain Ischemia. Neuroscience 509: 132-144, January 2023.

WB Baker, R Forti, P Heye, K Heye, Y Lin, KN Andersen, J Jahnavi, J Breimann, H Gaudio, S Morton, AG Yodh, DJ Licht, BR White, M Hwang, TJ Kilbaugh, TS Ko: A Two-layer Modified Beer-Lambert Algorithm for Optical Monitoring of Critical Closing Pressure. Optics and the Brain, Optica Publishing Group Page: BTu3B.2, 2023.

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Last updated: 01/22/2024
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