Return to Vascular Anomalies Center    Dept. of Otolaryngology    UAMS
Gal Shafirstein, Ph.D. Reseach Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Phone: 501-364-3528 Email: shafirsteingal@uams.edu Specialties: Laser-tissue interaction, image analysis, mathematical modeling and medical device development. Team Role: Research, mathematical modeling of laser-tissue interactions in port-wine stain, development of new methods for 3-dimensional reconstruction of vascular lesions, and new imaging modalities for diagnosis of vascular lesions. [ Other team members ]
Dr. Gal Shafirstein was born and raised in Israel. In 1992 Dr. received his Ph.D. from the materials department at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. During his studies Dr. Shafirstein was recognized with four awards for distinction in research and studies. Upon completing his Ph.D., Dr. Shafirstein joined the National Physical Laboratories in the United Kingdom. While there he developed computer analysis methods for state-of-the-art analytical techniques such as nanoindention, atomic force microscopy and high resolution electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD). In 1995 he joined Timex Corporation to lead their worldwide materials research for advanced products. He was part of the team that developed such advanced products as the heart rate monitor watch. Dr. Shafirstein joined Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute in 2001. In 2002, Dr. Shafirstein was the recipient of the New Scientist Development Marion B. Lyon Award for the Mathematical and Pathological Analyses of the Response of Port Wine Stains to Pulsed Laser Treatment. Working closely with the physicians of the vascular anomalies team, he developed a new mathematical approach to predict clinical outcomes of laser treatments of vascular malformations, a corrosion casting process for the reconstruction of vessel architecture in vascular lesions, and a new concept for cutting soft and hard fresh tissue for histopathology, immunohistochemistry and high-resolution reconstruction of gene and protein expression patterns. Dr. Shafirstein is also co-inventor of four novel technologies in Bioengineering. He is the Chief Operating Officer of IntraTherm LLC, a UAMS BioVenture company, that was set up to bring new technologies developed at ACH and UAMS to the clinical arena.