Jennifer Barton, PhD, is the interim vice provost for health programs and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair at the College of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering. In the former capacity, she oversees the research and administrative functions within the University of Arizona Health Sciences, as well as the clinical partnership with Banner Health.

Barton’s research develops miniature endoscopes that combine multiple optical imaging techniques, particularly optical coherence tomography and fluorescence spectroscopy. She evaluates the suitability of these endoscopic techniques for detecting early cancer development. She has a particular interest in the early detection of ovarian cancer, the deadliest gynecological malignancy.  

She has served as head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, associate vice president for research, interim vice president for research, and, most recently, director of the BIO5 Institute. She has joint appointments in biosystems engineering, electrical and computer engineering, optical sciences, and medical imaging at the University of Arizona and is a member of the U of A Cancer Center and the BIO5 Institute.

Barton received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in the same field from the University of California, Irvine. She worked for McDonnell Douglas, which later became Boeing, on the space station program before returning to the University of Texas at Austin to obtain her doctorate in biomedical engineering.

She has published over 130 peer-reviewed journal articles. She is a fellow and past president of SPIE – International Optics Society and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.