Education

• Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 2006
• B.S., Texas A&M University, 2001

Background

Dr. Dixon began at Georgia Tech in August 2009 as an Assistant Professor. Prior to his current appointment, he was a staff scientist at Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne) doing research on tissue-engineered models of the lymphatic system. Dr. Dixon received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering while working in the Optical Biosensing Laboratory, where he developed an imaging system for measuring lymphatic flow and estimating wall shear stress in contracting lymphatic vessels.

Research

• Bioengineering: Lymphatics, lipid metabolism, biomechanics, biomedical optics, image processing, and tissue engineering

Dixon directs the Laboratory for Lymphatic Biology and Bioengineering where his research focuses on the development and application of engineering technologies for studying fundamental problems in lymphatic biology and disease and developing therapeutic approaches for targeted restoration of lymphatic function. By combining in vivo lymphatic imaging, tissue engineered model systems of the lymphatic microenvironment, and computational modeling, his research is providing new insights into how lymphatics interact with their mechanical and biological environment in both health and disease. Given that the lymphatics are essential for immune cell trafficking, for lipid transport from the intestine and the periphery, and for maintaining fluid balance and resolving lymphedema, enhanced capabilities to quantify how the lymphatics fulfill these roles will have a broad impact in human health. While every project in the lab has centered around lymphatic physiology and biology, the lab has secured diverse funding sources which has allowed them to pursue completely new directions in recent years such as engineered microphysiologic system models of lymphatic malformations, lipid nanoparticle delivery systems to lymphatics, the role of lymphatics in exosome trafficking, lymphatic involvement in osteoarthritis, lymphatics as a niche for filariasis, and lymphatic lipid trafficking, to name a few. At the same time, the core of the lab has remained focused on understanding the basic mechanisms that are involved in the progressive failure of the lymphatic pump in the context of lymphedema. He is also a co-founder of LymphaTech, a start-up company focused on developing enabling technologies for assessing and managing clinical lymphedema.