Patrice Tankam
School of Optometry
Expert Bio
Patrice Tankam joined the IU School of Optometry as an assistant professor in 2017. His research and teaching activities involve the physics of light and its interaction with biological tissues and specifically the eye. His research primarily focuses on developing novel imaging technologies to facilitate the understanding, diagnosis and management of eye diseases in both animal models and humans, research that has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the industry.
He is a passionate teacher interested in demystifying complex math and physic concepts for the easy understanding of his students. He has been elected Professor of the Year several times for outstanding teaching methods and dedication to students. He also received the 2022 Trustees’ Teaching Award, celebrating outstanding IU Bloomington faculty who have had a positive impact on student learning.
Tankam received a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, and an M.S. degree in optical engineering and a Ph.D. in optical sciences from the University of Le Mans, France. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Saint-Etienne, France, from 2011 to 2012 and a research associate at the Institute of Optics and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, New York, from 2012 to 2016. He was a senior optical scientist at Corning Inc. from 2016 to 2017 before joining the IU faculty.
Areas of Expertise
Optical engineering, optical coherence tomography, microscopy, anterior segment imaging, optical design.