Cybersecurity-CTA
Info Card - Climate and Power
Info Card - Cyber
David Cuccia, M.S. ’03, Ph.D. ’06, Biomedical Engineering
Founder, CEO and CTO, Modulated Imaging
David Cuccia began thinking about a novel light-based imaging technology when he was a physics major at UC. He went on to earn both a master’s and a doctorate in biomedical engineering, and his dissertation was on spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI).
SFDI uses visible and near-infrared light to measure blood, oxygen, melanin and other chromophores, while also visualizing many sub-dermal structures. Unlike many other imaging systems that use potentially harmful radiation or strong magnetic fields, SFDI uses only safe light waves. SFDI can be used for preventing, diagnosing and curing medical conditions. For example, it can help diabetic patients avoid complications, such as ulcers and amputations, and it can catch changes in blood perfusion early so physicians can intervene sooner.
After graduating, Cuccia started his medical device company, Modulated Imaging, Inc., to commercialize his research. He has secured $13 million in funding and seven patents. His first medical device, Ox-Imager CS, was cleared by the FDA in December 2016. Since then, Cuccia has been hard at work developing a smaller, lower-cost device for deployment at primary care clinics.
He says he could not have succeeded without the support of his mentors at UCI. “Professor Bruce Tromberg has been such a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. His belief and investments in me are what gave me confidence in myself, as well as the resources I needed to develop my career as a scientist and entrepreneur.”
The hardest part of school, Cuccia says, was probably taking challenging courses outside his specialty, such as the Humanities Core course as an undergraduate. “But these were in some ways the most important,” he adds. “The rigorous instruction on how to translate one's critical thinking into persuasive communication prepared me for scientific paper and grant writing.”
Cuccia also credits UC for his happy domestic life. He met his future wife the first day of Welcome Week. His latest passion is making beer at home, where he applies his engineering instincts to developing creative novel flavors: a home-brewed American cream ale, a blood orange IPA, a French saison, and an oak-and-bourbon-infused Belgian tripel.