Dr. Shafirstein is a member and Professor of Oncology at the Department of Cell Stress Biology and Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY. He earned is Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from the materials department at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.
His research has been focused on developing computer models for simulating light and heat propagation in materials and tissues for the last 20 years. His research group was the first to publish the use of finite element modeling to simulate light propagation in heterogeneous tissue structures. In this novel approach the diffusion model can be used to simulate laser therapies with micrometers resolution, taking into account the effect of latent heat and changes in blood flow. His group was also the first one to use this technique to develop a model for simulating the propagation and absorption of white-light (500-1000 nm) in tissues. These models have been validated in preclinical studies and have been successfully used to explain clinical outcomes and design clinical studies.
Dr. Shafirstein also pioneered the use of conductive thermal ablation for the treatment of solid cancerous tumors. He is the primary inventor of the conductive thermal ablation device and the principal investigator of NIH and DoD funded projects that demonstrated the efficacy of this technology in pre-clinical studies.
Dr. Shafirstein holds 6 US patents and has published 58 papers in peer reviewed journals. He served on study sections for the US army Medical Research and Materials Command for Breast Cancer program and US Army Deployment Related Medical Research Program. He is on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Hyperthermia and served as a Physics/Engineering councilor, for the Society of Thermal Medicine.
Dr Shafirstein research interests are: photodynamic therapy, thermal ablation, and mathematical simulations of laser tissue interaction and thermal ablation.