Paola Taroni

Paola Taroni (born 1963) is an Italian engineer and physicist who works at the Polytechnic University of Milan. Her research considers the development of optical approaches for cancer diagnoses. She has held various leadership positions.

Early life and education Taroni was born in Como. She studied nuclear engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan. Her doctorate considered the development of instrumentation for optical mammography. She performed fluorescence spectroscopy of molecular probes. After earning her degree, she moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a visiting research, where she worked alongside Harrison. She has shown that by measuring the optical properties (absorption, diffusion) of brast cancer tissue and applying diffusion theory it is possible to understand the microscopic structure of the tissue. SOLUS uses diffuse optical imaging to characterise several different parameters simultaneously, which can help with accurate diagnoses and avoid false positives. She organised several scientific conferences, including SPIE BiOS, OSA Biomedical Topical Meetings and European Conferences on Biomedical Optics.

Selected publications