Kirill V Larin

Kirill Vladimirovich Larin is an American academic who is the Cullen Endowed Chair and Professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Houston (UH). He currently serves as the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and holds a joint appointment as an adjunct professor of physiology and biophysics at the Baylor College of Medicine. Larin is recognized for the development and application of optical coherence tomography and elastography.

Early life and education Larin was born in Russia. He attended Saratov State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in laser physics and mathematics. In the late 1990s, he relocated to the United States for graduate studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. He obtained a master's degree in cellular physiology and molecular biophysics in 2001 and completed his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and biomedical engineering in 2002. He is also the director of the Biomedical Optics Laboratory.

Larin also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Larin also helped establish optical coherence elastography (OCE), a technique used to measure the mechanical properties of tissues. His group developed methods to map the elasticity of structures such as the cornea, skin, and blood vessels, with applications in detecting eye diseases and monitoring cardiovascular tissue stiffness. Other research initiatives include laser-based imaging for assessing embryo viability in in vitro fertilization (IVF) and optical monitoring of decompression sickness. In 2020, he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). In 2025, he received the SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award.