at a glance
Dr. Rickson Mesquita is an Associate Professor at the School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham. He earned his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Campinas, Brazil, and has also worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania, USA. For over a decade, he led the Biomedical Optics Lab in Brazil, where he helped pioneer diffuse optical methods for neuroscience and clinical applications throughout Latin America before relocating to the UK. His research focuses on developing innovative methods for the optical quantification of biological tissues and translating these technologies into health applications, with particular emphasis on applying diffuse optical techniques (such as fNIRS and DCS) in real-world clinical settings. Dr. Mesquita currently serves as the fNIRS lead at the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH), is an associate editor of Neurophotonics, and is an active member of SPIE, Optica, and the Society for Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, where he serves on the board of directors and co-chair the Society’s Education Committee.
Education
2009 Ph.D., Institute of Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil
2008 Teacher qualification in Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil
2005 M.Sc. in Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil
2003 B.Sc. in Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil
Professional Experience
2023- Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, UK
2019-2025 Associate Professor of Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil
2011-2019 Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Campinas, Brazil
2009-2012 Postdoctoral Research Associate with Arjun G. Yodh, University of Pennsylvania, USA
2007-2008 Visiting Research Scholar with David Boas, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
2000-2002 Research Assistant with Esther M. D. Nicola, University of Campinas, Brazil
Honors, Leadership Positions, Fellowships, Memberships
Post-Graduate Research Tutor, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham (2024- )
Head of Post-Graduate Research Admissions, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham (2024- )
fNIRS Lead, Centre for Human Brain Health, CHBH, University of Birmingham (2023- )
Steering Committee Member, Neurotech-R (2023- )
Line Manager, Hub of Artificial Intelligence for Health and Well-Being, Viva Bem (2022- )
Elected Member at Board of Directors, Society for functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopoy, SfNIRS (2021- )
Community Reviewer, Frontiers in Neuroergonomics (2020- )
Head of Undergraduate Studies, Institute of Physics, University of Campinas (2018-2021)
Associate Editor, Neurophotonics (2017- )
Deputy Head of Undergraduate Studies, Institute of Physics, University of Campinas (2014-2018)
Depty Director, Exploratory Museum of Science, University of Campinas (2014-2014)
Research Coordinator, Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, BRAINN (2013-2023)
Visiting Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania (2012-2018)
Member, Society for functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, SfNIRS
Member, Optica (former Optical Society of America, OSA)
Young Investigator travel award, International Society on Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2011
Trainee abstract award, Organization for Human Brain Mapping (2008)
Travel award, OSA Biomedical Optics (2008)