My recent optics projects are related to optical design of microscopes and telescopes, writing analysis routines for clients in multiple languages such as Python and Matlab, and looking at problems of specifying surface errors in freeform surfaces.

The animated image above shows real-time beating of live cardiac myocytes grown on a slide and imaged using the QPM described above. These kinds of cellular contractions are imaged in real time without the use of any toxic dyes or fluorescent markers.

My goal in these endeavors has been to work toward non-invasive imaging techniques to image and monitor cellular processes.

Making music has always been a large part of my life. For my second PhD I studied Music Theory, Music Technology and Music Perception. For my research I wanted to study the effects of music on healing. But we humans have so many likes and dislikes that skew most studies. So I looked for a biological system that had the capability of having a simple measure of the effects of musical sound. This led to a series of experiments utilizing musical sound, pink noise and no sound.

Dr. Creath is a Fellow of the Optica (formerly Optical Society of America) and SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. She has organized numerous SPIE conferences related to Interferometry, Optical Testing and The Nature of Light. She is the author of more than 175 technical publications including 15 book chapters, 5 encyclopedia articles and editor of 15 books, the best known of which are the “Encyclopedia of Optics” published by John Wiley and Sons and “The Nature of Light: What is a Photon?” published by Taylor and Francis.