Tom Brown – School of Physics and Astronomy
Tom undertook a BSc in Physics at Imperial College London graduating in 1993. Following a period of employment for the Defence Research Agency, Tom completed a PhD at the University of Southampton, graduating in 1997. Following a spell of work in the City of London, Tom came to St Andrews as a Research Fellow in 1999 studying optical non-linearities in semiconductor materials. He was awarded a Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) Lectureship in Biophotonics in 2005. He was then promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2009, Reader in 2013 and became a Professor in 2017.
Tom’s research interests are in the development of laser systems and related technologies for biomedical applications including photodynamic therapy. Tom’s developments in optical coherence tomography pioneered the field deployment of OCT systems in Antarctica in association with the Australian Antarctic Division. Since 2019, Tom is the current Vice-Principal for Research and Innovation.
Research areas:
- Development of laser technologies for biology and medicine
- Photodynamic therapy
- Optical coherence tomography
- Novel laser materials for biomedical/dentistry applications