About

Wawrzyniec (Wawosz) Lawrence Dobrucki is currently Associate Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Programs in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with affiliations in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. He also holds a faculty position at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, where he serves as co-chair for the Integrative Imaging theme and directs the Experimental Molecular Imaging Laboratory (EMIL). His expertise is in preclinical molecular imaging, focusing on developing novel targeted multimodal imaging strategies to noninvasively assess tissue microenvironments and biological processes in vivo, including therapeutic neovascularization, atherosclerosis, neoplastic progression, and cancer response to experimental therapies. Prof. Dobrucki has over 17 years of experience in developing and validating novel SPECT/PET radiotracers and multimodal contrast agents, contributing significantly to translational bioimaging. His research aims to create integrated imaging approaches to monitor and track physiological processes such as cancer progression, angiogenesis, and vascular remodeling using modalities like SPECT/PET, optical imaging, and X-ray CT, with the goal of advancing individualized disease prevention, diagnosis, and targeted therapies.

Selected publications

• The Role of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-Products in Cancer: Evidence from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-02-16

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE) has been implicated in driving cancer growth, aggression, and metastasis through the fueling of chronic inflammation in the tumor microenvironment. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarize and analyze current clinical and preclinical data to provide insight into the relationship between RAGE and cancer, cancer grade, metastasis, patient survival, and cellular processes. A multi-database search was performed to identify original clinical and preclinical research studies examining RAGE expression in cancer. After screening and review, 53 clinical and 233 preclinical studies were included. Associations of RAGE with clinical cancer outcomes were estimated using odds ratio (OR) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CI). The meta-analysis found that RAGE expression was highly correlated with cancerous tissue when compared to controls; high-grade tumors; regional lymph node invasion; and was somewhat negatively associated with patient survival. In addition, meta-analysis estimates of preclinical studies found positive associations between RAGE expression/activation and cancer growth, metastatic potential, evasion of apoptosis, and activated NF-κB expression. This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first comprehensive study through which both preclinical and clinical research in all available cancer types are assessed for correlations with RAGE expression and activation, demonstrating that RAGE does indeed play a significant role in cancer progression and that further research is warranted.

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• Beyond fluorodeoxyglucose: High-definition macrophage imaging to predict heart failure

  Journal of Nuclear Cardiology · 2026-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Development of a novel protocol for processing fluorescent microspheres used in quantifying tissue perfusion

  Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Alteration of blood perfusion leads to some of the most common cardiovascular pathologies. Current methods for measuring perfusion use fluorescent polystyrene microspheres (MS) that are systemically injected prior to processing to obtain the absolute number of MS trapped inside the tissue. The current standard method is cost-intensive and carries a high risk of MS loss, leading to underestimation of regional perfusion. This study aimed to develop an improved, cost-efficient protocol for measuring regional perfusion through the processing and direct imaging of fluorescent MS embedded ex vivo. Porcine and control samples treated with MS were chemically digested, filtered through either a polycarbonate (PCTE) or cellulose filter, and fluorescence was measured either through the standard fluorometric method or through the proposed direct imaging method. In the standard fluorometric method, interactions were found between the PCTE filter and porcine samples, leading to dampened signal and the subsequent underestimation of regional perfusion in practice. The proposed direct imaging method with cellulose filters showed improved sensitivity even within low MS levels (limit of detection improved significantly), amplification of sample fluorescence (11-13× when compared to PCTE filters), parity between porcine and control samples, and a reduction in cost providing a significant improvement over the industry standard for fluorescent MS perfusion measurement (28–51 % reduction compared to standard method). The proposed method also removed the need for 2-ethoxy ethyl acetate, a teratogen and plastic softener, and reduced complexity in the workflow.

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• Neutrophils exposed to a cholesterol metabolite secrete extracellular vesicles that promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stemness in breast cancer cells

  Cancer Letters · 2025-10-29 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access
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• Integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools and Competencies in Biomedical Engineering Education

  Biomedical Engineering Education · 2025-02-25 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
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• A graph-theoretic framework for quantitative analysis of angiogenic networks

  BioData Mining · 2025-10-02 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The endothelial tube formation assay is an established in vitro model for evaluating angiogenesis. Although widely used, quantification of angiogenic behavior in such assays remains semi-empirical and often lacks spatial, topological, and structural context. Here, we present a graph-theoretic framework to quantify network morphology, temporal dynamics, and spatial heterogeneity in tube formation assays. We simulated two distinct angiogenic network morphologies using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) seeded at two densities and imaged at 2, 4, and 18 h post-seeding. Skeletonized images were converted to mathematical graphs from which 11 graph-based metrics were extracted. This framework captured both morphological differences and temporal progression. Sparse networks exhibited significantly higher average node degree (p = 0.00079), clustering coefficient (p = 0.00109), and tortuosity (p = 0.0171), whereas dense networks showed greater node and edges counts (p = 0.00109). Over time, networks evolved from fragmented forms at 2 h to integrated structures at 18 h, as reflected by increased largest component size (p = 0.00216), connectivity index (p = 0.00216), and efficiency (p = 0.0152). ROC AUC analysis revealed that metrics such as average degree (AUC = 0.98) and clustering coefficient (AUC = 0.96) effectively distinguished between sparse and dense morphologies, while component-based metrics perfectly separated 2- and 18-hour networks (AUC = 1.00). Radial zone analysis revealed that vascular distribution becomes more compartmentalized over time, with increasing standard deviation and coefficient of variation. This approach provides a sensitive and scalable method for quantifying angiogenic dynamics, offering insight into both therapeutic efficacy and disease-related vascular remodeling.

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• Enhancing radiomic feature selection in PET-based heterogeneity analysis through tumor-volume-weighted normalization

  Physica Medica · 2025-12-16

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  PURPOSE: Accurate assessment of intratumoral heterogeneity is critical for tumor characterization and monitoring, but variations in tumor size make it difficult to determine whether radiomic differences reflect true biological heterogeneity or mere volume effects. To address this, we developed Tumor-Volume-Weighted Normalization (TVWN), a framework that minimizes size-related biases while preserving intrinsic image heterogeneity. METHODS: ) acquired at four time points. We analyzed 97 radiomic features, including texture metrics from GLRLM and GLSZM, before and after normalization to assess and correct volume dependence. RESULTS: TVWN consistently reduced the influence of tumor volume across various acquisition and reconstruction conditions, including different noise levels, Gaussian filtering (2 mm), number of iterations and spatial resolutions (0-6.0 mm FWHM). For example, the volume dependence ofGlcm_IDNwas effectively reduced (Spearman ρ: 0.290 ± 0.097 to 0.007 ± 0.103 at α = 0.01). In phantom experiments, TVWN reduced the CoV ofGlrlm_REfrom 17.75 % to 3.18 % in filtered data and from 20.14 % to 3.87 % in unfiltered data. It also enhanced heterogeneity discriminability (p = 0.0286). In vivo, TVWN decoupled radiomic features from tumor size progression, ensuring that observed changes reflected biological rather than volumetric effects. CONCLUSION: TVWN offers a simple, scalable approach to normalizing radiomic features against tumor volume effects, improving their reproducibility and biological interpretability in longitudinalstudies.

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• Correction: Integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools and Competencies in Biomedical Engineering Education

  Biomedical Engineering Education · 2025-05-05 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
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• Cutting-edge approaches to diagnosing and treating limb ischemia in peripheral arterial disease

  Progress in Biomedical Engineering · 2025-10-23 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common circulatory condition that leads to reduced blood flow to the limbs, often resulting in limb ischemia which can severely impact a patient's quality of life and increase the risk of amputation. Early diagnosis and timely intervention are critical in managing PAD-associated limb ischemia. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for PAD and limb ischemia. We explored both non-invasive and invasive diagnostic techniques including ankle-brachial index, duplex ultrasonography, magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography and emerging technologies like molecular imaging and near-infrared spectroscopy. Therapeutic strategies discussed include pharmacological treatments such as antiplatelet agents and statins, endovascular interventions like angioplasty and stenting as well as advanced options such as gene and stem cell therapies. Emerging treatments including non-thermal plasma and extracellular vesicle therapy are also highlighted for their regenerative potential. We have also addressed the challenges of current approaches, including diagnostic limitations, barriers to new therapies and cost considerations aimed at improving outcomes for PAD patients.

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• Facing the challenges of peripheral arterial disease in the era of emerging technologies

  JVS-Vascular Insights · 2024-01-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a significant worldwide health burden, yet it remains woefully under-diagnosed and under-treated. By the time PAD manifests symptomatically, patients may already suffer from critical limb ischemia (CLI) and require invasive surgical intervention. This can be attributed in part to the heterogeneity of PAD pathogenesis as well as shortcomings in current clinical assessment techniques and standards of care. To address these challenges, clinicians need new approaches to prevent, identify, and treat patients at risk for PAD. In this article, we present three clinical cases that exemplify different needs faced by PAD patients and their providers. These include the need for improved methods of disease detection, more efficient long-term care, and less-invasive treatment strategies. The case studies drive our subsequent review and discussion of key areas of translational research that may address each of these needs. The primary objective of this review is to evaluate the current limitations of clinical practice and survey the landscape of emerging research that will hopefully allow clinicians in the near future to better identify and treat patients with PAD. This research encompasses both technological advances in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, as well as the development of new strategies for optimizing patient management and care delivery. When combined, these different areas of research will address some of the most pressing challenges posed by PAD, and will help usher in a new era of holistic, patient-centric care.

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Labs

• Experimental Molecular Imaging LaboratoryPI

Awards & honors

• Neil and Carol Ruzic Faculty Scholar