Overview
Roarke Horstmeyer is an assistant professor within Duke's Biomedical Engineering Department. He develops microscopes, cameras and computer algorithms for a wide range of applications, from forming 3D reconstructions of organisms to detecting neural activity deep within tissue. His areas of interest include optics, signal processing, optimization and neuroscience. Most recently, Dr. Horstmeyer was a guest professor at the University of Erlangen in Germany and an Einstein postdoctoral fellow at Charitè Medical School in Berlin. Prior to his time in Germany, Dr. Horstmeyer earned a PhD from Caltech’s electrical engineering department in 2016, a master of science degree from the MIT Media Lab in 2011, and a bachelors degree in physics and Japanese from Duke University in 2006.
Office Hours
Office hours for Fall 2020 - Spring 2021:
Wednesdays 10-11:30am
Thursdays 10am - 11:30am
Wednesdays 10-11:30am
Thursdays 10am - 11:30am
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
·
2026 - Present
Biomedical Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2026 - Present
Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
·
2018 - Present
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences,
University Institutes and Centers
Recent News Items
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Recent Scholarly Works
Autocorrelation Bias in Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy Observable via SPAD Arrays
Journal article IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics · July 1, 2026 Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is an emerging optical technique for non-invasive cerebral blood flow monitoring. Extraction of the DCS blood flow index typically involves calculating the temporal autocorrelation of the measured light intensity and ... Full text CiteChromatix: a differentiable, GPU-accelerated wave-optics library.
Journal article Nature methods · July 2026 Many current microscopy methods incorporate computational modeling as an integral part of the imaging process, either to solve inverse problems or optimize the optical system design itself. These methods often depend on differentiable optics simulations, y ... Full text CiteVery Preterm Infant Retinal Microanatomy at 36 Weeks' Postmenstrual Age and 2-Year Neurodevelopment.
Journal article JAMA Ophthalmol · June 4, 2026 IMPORTANCE: If noninvasive optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal imaging could predict 2-year neurodevelopment of very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks' gestational age) infants in neonatal intensive care, it might help to guide management. OBJECTIVE: To evalu ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Duke Ophthalmology Mentored Physician Scientist Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2026 - 2031Analyzing Retinal Microanatomy in Retinopathy of Prematurity to Improve Care
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2026 - 2030Mapping p53 dynamics to cell-fate outcomes in reprogramming and oncogenesis
ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2025 - 2029View All Grants
Education
California Institute of Technology ·
2016
Ph.D.
Duke University ·
2006
B.S.