R. Rox Anderson

R. Rox Anderson, is an interdisciplinary researcher in photomedicine, the combination of the physics of light with medicine. Anderson is the director of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, and faculty at the Harvard Medical School in the department of Dermatology. His contributions include laser hair removal, photodynamic therapy (use of light-activated localized drugs for cancer and macular degeneration), and basic research into the free electron laser for the selective destruction of lipids (i.e. fats) for possible treatment of acne, cellulite, and atherosclerosis, as well as various uses of photothermolysis using pulsed dye lasers.

Biography
Anderson's peers in his laboratory and department include dermatologists such as Thomas B. Fitzpatrick (one of the fathers of Dermatology), Madhu Pathak (discoverer of PABA as a sunscreen), John Parrish, and Nikiforos Kollias (the resident light physicist). In the early 21st century research directions included the free electron laser, and the noninvasive use of pulsed dye lasers to enabled the administration of vaccines and other drugs through the skin without the use of needles.